Old Marsh is a spanking new course that just opened in southern Maine. I've been loosely following the progress over the last year, rubbernecking as I've blown past the site while heading north on 95. Designed by Brian Silva, much of the routing was done about 10 years ago, but financial and environmental hang-ups delayed actual earth moving until about 12 months ago. Miraculously, the holes were cut, fairways seeded and clubhouse built in less than a year. This has got to be one of the great membership plans in all of New England: $3,000 initiation fee, $1,500 annual dues. For that, you get unlimited golf, a pool, tennis courts and fitness room. No minimums or assessments. According to the owner (who also owns Sunday River, Boothbay, Freeport, and a few others), they are already at 300 members without doing any advertising. They will close the membership at 325.
Now for the golf. First, I am embarrassed to say that I pulled out my camera on the first tee only to realize that I had left the memory card at home. And this on the most spectacular day of an otherwise rainy summer. Crap. Sorry about that.
We took carts since they were included in the fee ($89), and were glad to have them when we realized that the first tee was a long way from the clubhouse. Definitely an odd start, but after the first two holes I was ready to say that this was shaping up to be one of the best courses in New England. The par 4 first is relatively straight and not very long, with large bunkers jutting in from the right. You have a choice to hit a long iron or utility and lay back at the 150, where the fairway is wide, or hit driver passed the bunkers to a very narrow throat. That leaves about a 70 yard pitch, which for me is an awkward distance, so I would typically lay back. Lots of choices and angles make this a pretty cool way to get into your round.
The next hole was even better. At about 380, this was a very, very good Alps hole. In fact, this might be my favorite hole on any Silva course I have played. I think it was about 260 to where the fairway rose up into a mini-mountain, pocked with bunkers. With more of a tailwind, I would have been tempted to try and fly it with driver, but as it was I hit a utility and had 120 in. I played with a guy who was a member, and he advised playing down the right side of the fairway to get a view of the green. I did and he was right. Anything down the middle leaves a completely blind approach. With the bunkers staring you in the face, it reminded me of the kind of visual intimidation Mike Strantz would have pulled. Even better, the green had no bunkers and had a little bit of a punch-bowl shape. Very forgiving, as it should be when most people will have a blind shot in.
After those two holes, I had a huge smile on my face and was psyched to see what was next. Unfortunately, the rest was only decent with a few exceptions. The biggest problem was that the layout is obviously routed through marsh land. While the fairways weren't terribly narrow, more often than not they were framed by only a few feet of rough and then, outside of that, was all hazard and dense forrest. Really, anyone who is a long hitter but not overly accurate stands to lose many, many balls.
Having said that, there was still some good stuff, including some very good par threes, a par 4 with a redan greensite (that was actually maintained so that you could run the ball in), a 280-yard driveable par 4, and an interesting Cape hole.
I think my favorite after the first two holes was a par 4 named Pinehurst. With a wacky, impossible green, it was obvious where it got its name. In fact, many of the greens were very interesting. It's too bad they didn't have the room to give the course a more open feel like Pinehurst.
In light of Silva's fascination with Raynor, I expected a more engineered look to the site. Instead, it was a combination of some very natural, scraggy-looking bunkers and raised-up, squared-off greens. There was one par 3 that reminded my of Yale's 5th, although without the steep drop-off in the back. The course has a nice aesthetic, although it is very flat (Silva has compared the property to what he has worked on in Florida). After having some options early on, it settles into target golf pretty quickly.
In all, I would say Old Marsh is worth a play. I think my expectations were probably higher than they should have been, which of course resulted in a letdown. It was a spectacular day with pretty consistent 20-mile-per-hour winds . . . absolutely perfect for golf. The fairways and greens were in great shape considering it just opened, and I'm sure I will end up playing there a few times a year. But it just isn't in the same league as Red Tail, Crumpin Fox, Belgrade, or Blackstone, in my opinion. Too bad you can't just play the first two holes over and over . . .