Bass Rocks Golf Club in Gloucester, MA

[Mark McKeever]

All,

Aside from finding some information on their website, and a few sparse comments on here, I was surprised to see there is little discussion about this golf course on the coast just north of Boston.  It has a great pedigree with Leeds and Findlay, with some really wild looking rock outcropping, shared fairways, and some really neat old stone walls and local roads crossing the holes.  It appears that a couple of holes were lost were the driving range is currently, but you can still make out tee and green features.

Any input from the board?  I am hoping to get out there at some point this fall.  The course seems to ooze that old school feel.

Mark

[Phil McDade]

Mike:

That's a pretty cool looking course -- I just got done comparing the club hole-by-hole on the website to the aerial, and it looks interesting. Short at 6,000, but a par of 69, and some solid-looking stuff -- the par 4 6th looks/plays vaguely similar to Merion's 16th?

I'm wondering how many of those last four holes are new, and I wonder if they did those and ripped up some of the old holes for a driving range, why not do the opposite -- keep the original holes and use what land they had for those final four as the range? Those last four holes don't look to hold the same interest as the first 14, save for backside of the 17th -- a foot long there, and it's a bounce off the road into the Atlantic!

[Mark McKeever]

Agreed Phil, I think it looks really neat. 

According to the old drawing on the website, the last four holes and the driving range are the plot of land for the orignal course laid out by Findlay, then someone else (Leeds?) re-routed the original holes and also did the rest of the routing which look really interesting.  Pretty cool how the stone walls have been utilized as hazards from the very beginning.   

Mark

[Phil McDade]

Mark:

Reading more on the course website, it looks like greens close to public roads were a factor in the decision to add four new holes (you can see an old green on the driving range quite close to a public road). They also added parking, and I can sense that they got rid of a hole or green where a large parking lot abuts the main road leading to the clubhouse. But they still have a couple of holes with greens precariously close to roads -- the par 3 2nd green is just a few steps from the main road leading down to the ocean, and the 17th is quite close as well. And the opening tee shot at #1 seems like a real go-or-no-shot over the road -- its under 400 yards, so I assume most folks are trying to clear the road on their drive. Tough shot right off the bat!

[Mark McKeever]

Phil,

You definitely can still make out two tees and a green in the current driving range.  The way the course is routed in and amongst the properties reminds me of Rockaway Hunt Club a little bit.  I am glad they didnt move the 2nd hole though.  It looks awesome from above!

The tee shot on number one looks really interesting.  I was looking through some old threads and one member talks about using an old ball off of the first tee becuase it usually gets scuffed by the road.  I am not sure if he posts on here anymore though?  If it's under 400 yards, I would guess that most are trying to hit it over the road, but its definitely a small landing area with rocks everywhere!  I can only imagine some of the crazy bounces you can get playing out there!

Mark

[Phil McDade]

Mark:

One of the things I can't quite figure out about that one (old) green tucked into a corner by two roads (inside the current driving range), is how it fits into the original routing. One of the things that looks really neat about the course is that, for the most part, and despite its meandering, irregular shape, the transitions between holes seem really natural and logical, with next-hole tees usually quite close to the proceeding green. That abandoned hole looks like a long par 3, but I can't tell where the next hole would logically be. Maybe it's followed by another par 3 that skirts the pond now found inside the driving range (the one adjacent to the first tee)? Take plenty of pics when you go -- looks to be a course with a lot of on-the-ground interest with all of those rock outcroppings.

[Mark McKeever]

I will surely have my camera out for this one.  Hopefully towards the end of the day the range will be empty and I can walk around a bit to get a better idea.

I'd like to see some old aerials...maybe they are somewhere in the clubhouse.

Mark   

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Phil, any shot long and right on #17 ends up in my front yard!

I was a member until recently.  I joined after the redesign, but here is what I think I know:

• The redesign was prompted by a dispute with an abutting homeowner.  The old hole, to the left of the current #6, doglegged by this property.  The homeowner complained, and the club decided to redesign instead of fight.
• You can see remnants of the older holes in the satellite photos.  On Google Maps, you can see cars parked on grass across the street from the parking lot, and a red-roofed house.  That house is at the top of a hill, and there used to be a tee there.  The small practice green with a bunker near the clubhouse used to be the green, I believe.
• The green in the driving range that Phil refers to is now a practice green.  The old tee is now used as a lesson tee, which is a bit hard to spot in the satellite images.  If you follow the cart path from the parking lot, it loops right in front of the tee before it crosses Mooralnd Road.
• The first tee is by the pond on the left edge of the range.  The blind tee shot is uphill, crosses Souther Road, then goes downhill to the green.  I always hit driver on this hole, and usually scuffed up the ball on the road.  But the bounce usually left me about 50 yards short of the green, away from the trouble.
• The "new" holes are #6 through #9.
• The last 4 holes are called "The Meadows".  They are not new, but have recent changes.  The two bunkers on #17 used to be a single large bunker, and the two bunkers on #15 are new.  That hole is pretty short, and it used to be a simple tee shot down to the bottom of the hill.

The main problem with the course was conditioning; the drainage was troublesome, and the course was usually soggy.  Right around the time I had kids and stopped playing, the club got a new superintendent, Chris Donato, who worked miracles on the course.  It now looks amazing, and plays beautifully.

Let me know if you have any more questions.  If I were still a member, I'd invite you all to play.  But now I can only invite you to chip & putt on the 17th green in the late evenings, and to bring your kids to the looping cart path on #17 to learn how to ride their 2-wheel bikes.

[Brad Tufts]

Cool stuff from Martin.

I've also played Bass Rocks a number of times in various qualifiers, etc.

I played the front nine in HS under it's old configuration, but never the old back nine.  The old front nine went current 1, c2, c3, c4, c5, same 6th tee but 90-degree dogleg left, c10, c11, c12.

I think the old routing involving the driving range land went from the current 14th to a tee across the street, played parallel with current #1 to a small green on the hillside as a shortish par four, then back up the hill across the street adjacent to the current parking lot, then further up to a green back in front of a large house at the top...that was a par five that was replaced with the current #7, then a downhill par three to the practice green next to the driving range (replaced by current #8).  I would have loved to have played the old version at least once, as the new holes are a bit awkward, but it all still works.

Seems like BRGC will always have neighbor and road issues...the changes removed a "ball in the yard" situation on the old #6 and a couple road crossings by golfers near the clubhouse in the old routing...but there still is the issue of #1 tee shot over an active road, and an ornery neighbor left of #2 that threatens lawsuits for ball-hawkers.

Not the greatest golf course ever, but most certainly a fun North Shore classic!

[Brad LeClair]

As a north shore native, I am lucky enough to own a copy of Gary Larrabee's The Green & Gold Coast: The History of Golf on Boston's North Shore in which he covers in detail the history of many of the area clubs.  Living down the street from Bass Rocks for a few years I always rode my bicycle or ran by and wondered about the history of the place as it looks incredibly old.  Let me re-read the Bass Rocks history section and give you all some of the snippets.  Separately I am happy to put anyone in touch with Gary who is interested in purchasing the book directly from him.

[Phil McDade]

Seems like BRGC will always have neighbor and road issues...the changes removed a "ball in the yard" situation on the old #6 and a couple road crossings by golfers near the clubhouse in the old routing...but there still is the issue of #1 tee shot over an active road, and an ornery neighbor left of #2 that threatens lawsuits for ball-hawkers.

Not the greatest golf course ever, but most certainly a fun North Shore classic!

Hey -- who was there first? The course or the neighbors? (Maybe that's not always a pat answer in New England... )

Brad and Martin -- thanks for the fascinating back stories. I'd love to have a course like this in my backyard.

[Brad Tufts]

The golf course was there first, of course...but the 3rd/4th owner of an adjacent house forgets that when he/she is a non-golfer, and people come into their yard and balls rain on their backyard BBQs.

Seems like this would be a legal no-brainer, but Essex CC learned that courts like to side on behalf of the complainers, not the club that has been there for 75 years longer than the house.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Hey -- who was there first? The course or the neighbors?

The sheep were there first.

[Martin Del Vecchio]

My friends own the house just to the right of the 17th fairway, about 180 yards from the tee.

They can't use their backyard during golf season.  But they're members of the club, so it's not that big a deal for them.

[Mark McKeever]

Thanks for the background guys!  Brad L., I will be interested to hear some of these bits on the history!


Mark

[Martin Del Vecchio]

Turns out I do have one photo online.  It's a bit, shall we say, "processed":  http://www.flickr.com/photos/martindelvecchio/6130289117/in/photostream/

I took this from atop an old tee at the far end of the range, looking back towards the clubhouse and parking lot.  The first tee is behind the tree on the right, as are holds #15 through #18 (The Meadows).

I will try to take some that actually reveal the course and post them.

[Mark McKeever]

Wow Martin!  Looking forward to more!

Mark

[Brad Tufts]

Yeah so the original (or at least until 2000 or so) 12th came from 9 o'clock in the picture to a green up the rocks to the left of where Martin is standing taking the picture.  The old 13th played from Martin in line with the flags up the hill through the parking lot to the gap in the distant treeline.  The old 14th played from that hill down to a green to the right of the cars.

I've always thought it was cool that it all could be put back someday if some miracle occurred and that was allowed...