This is the first part of three, outlining the 6 courses my brother and I checked out in Maine over Columbus Day weekend. We played Cape Arundel and the 9-hole Wawenock GC on Saturday, Northeast Harbor GC and Kebo Valley on Sunday, and the 9-hole Castine GC and the Samoset Resort GC on Monday. What a weekend if you like shorter, quirkier courses, most from the Golden Age, quick rounds, and beautiful scenery! We did quite a bit of driving during the weekend, probably about 700 miles, but it was worth it, and we lucked out to have sun and highs of 60, 68, and 74 degrees for the three days in the North country!
Cape Arundel GC
Kennebunkport, ME
~5900 yards, par 69
Cape Arundel is pretty well known on this site, as it was designed by Golden Ager Walter Travis, and it serves as the well-known summer golf home of the Walker-Bush clan. There is a wonderful aura of what golf was like 100 years ago here, as the course and facilties are somewhat modest, and the player can see four or five holes around at almost all time. While the layout is a bit cramped for today's ball and club technology, birdies do not come easy here. The course is generally short and wide open, but the greens keep players on their toes, as most are very small, pushed up, and very undulating, requring well-placed iron shots. The course is easily in the state's top five, and possibly the most important course in Maine historically.
Holes to note (didn't get many pics here b/c the course was pretty crowded):
Hole #3: A shortish par 3 of about 140 yards, the hole has a nice setting alongside the tidal inlet, and a fun little false front that comes into play for non-agressive shots, and even putts after tee balls that are played too conservatively over a front pin (like front right in the pic).
Hole #5: As discussed in a thread or two in the past, this par 4 is short at about 330 yards, but dares the player to try for the green. A creek runs parallel to the fairway before the hole turns left over it, as most players do, but the gorilla is tempted to try the 280+ yard carry over the small trees to the left of the green.
Hole #7: A medium-length par 4 with a green that needs to be seen to be believed. It has (at least) three distinct pinnable areas, and all but the flat front section are crowned. The only greens I have seen like this in 2006 are #5 at Bandon Trails (although the contours are in a green half that size) and #13 at Salem CC.
Hole #10: A short par 4 where the tee shot must carry over or be played left of a field of chocolate drop mounds, then the approach to a tiny bi-level green separated from the green of hole #12 by a walking path.
Hole #12: A beautiful 170-yard par 3 played over the largest tidal inlet to a severely back to front sloping green with a steep false front.
Hole #17: One of the toughest 345-yard par fours in New England. After a benign tee shot, the second is played blind over a cross bunker, then straight downhill to a two tiered green. The front tier is higher than the much larger back two thirds, and more often than not, the pin is up front. A 120 yard shot may need to be carried only 80 yards to hold the front tier, if it is even possible with the conditions of the day!
Even though the course is as short as it is, this scratch handicapper can't break 72....+3!
Wawenock Golf Club
Walpole, ME
3100 yards, par 35
Wawenock is a sleepy 9-holer designed in 1928 by Stiles and Van Kleek. It is certainly a step away from the crowded courses around Boston and Southern NH, as the woman in the pro shop took our greens fees for nine holes ($16 for adults, $8 for under-18s) told us to "play as many as you can get in" before dark 2 hours and 45 minutes away. The course has a few strategic holes, and typical Stiles (and Ross-looking) pushed up greens with deep grass-faced bunkering. The course was extremely wet still, an indication of how wet our summer was in the Northeast this year as most courses have firmed up by this time of year. The nine is a meadow-styled course, as trees rarely come into play, or even border holes. The course, while fun, is a bit out of the way to make a special trip, but under better conditions, there are much worse places to spend an autumn afternoon.
Holes to note:
Hole 3: This long par 3 played into the wind, and necessitated a driver. Although downhill, the shot was to a very small green surrounded by sand and marsh to the right.
Hole 4: A short par 5 of about 475, doglegging right around a pond and marsh area. The second, from 200-230 yards out, can be layed up well to the left over a crossing stream, or played with a wood directly at the green, all carry over the marsh.
A view of the line on the second shot, the green is in the shadows in the center.
Hole 6: The greatest vista on the course is found at the 6th tee, where one can see all the way to the 8th green. The 6th itself is a short par 4 of 320 yards that progressively narrows to the green, which is tightly bordered on the right by a creek.
The view from the 6th tee...the brown line is (unfortunately) work on a new cart path.
Hole #8: A par 3 of about 150 yards (in the center of the picture above), uphill to a pushup green about 10 feet above its surrounds. Deep bunkers flank left and right, the right one especially deep with steep grass-faced walls. The green is saddle-shaped, sloping hard down the hill towards the tee.
Coming soon....part 2 featuring Northeast Harbor GC and the Kebo Valley Club....