Kebo Valley Golf Club - 1888

[David Cronheim]

I had an opportunity while up at a wedding in Northeast Harbor, Maine to play Kebo Valley Golf Club. The Club, located in Bar Harbor and designed by H.C Leeds, was founded in 1888 and proclaims itself to be the 8th oldest golf club in the United States. It's a relatively short course at just over 6,100 yards, but boasts small, very undulating, and speedy greens that put a premium on maneuvering your ball adroitly so as to avoid unstoppably quick downhill putts and chips. The course also affords great views of the surrounding mountains, most notably Cadillac Mountain (c. 1,500'), the highest point along the Atlantic coast of the United States.

A brief history of the course is available on the club's website. Perhaps the most noteworthy occurance was President Taft carding a 27 on the course's 17th hole.

http://www.kebovalleyclub.com/history.html

I was playing quickly to catch a ferry to the wedding lunch, so my apologies for not having a full photo tour. I was taking pictures more for the scenary than the course, but a few pictures will give you a good enough impression of the course. The course beautifully follows the natural contours of the land and many of the bunker complexes are reminiscent of Seth Raynor in that they are deep pits with steep grassed embankments.


View from behind the second green up to the clubhouse


behind the 11th green


Cadillac Mountain


My favorite feature were these chocolate drop mounds in the middle of the fairway about 80 yards on the par 4-13th. Note the severe right to left slope. The green also pitches back to front, so getting the ball close even with a wedge was a challenge due to the mounds and the sloping.

I was also struck by the fact the course incorporated a few Raynor template holes on the outer 9 completed in 1920. The 12th is a wonderful example of a "Short" - it's a driveable 285 yd. par 4 that is an island guarded on the front three sides by deep, Raynor bunkers.

Course tour available here: http://www.kebovalleyclub.com/course.html (you can click on the holes)

If you're ever up near Bar Harbor, it's worth a play.


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EDIT - looks like someone beat me to the punch (and did a better job). What a treat to play though.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,5224.0.html

[Michael Ryan]

David,

I am lucky to play Kebo once a year on my family trip to Bar Harbor.  I truly enjoy it and your picture of the mounds on 13 include my favorite feature of the course, the right to left cant of the 13th green that allows for a run up shot on the right side to fall to the hole.  Brings a smile to my face every time I hit the shot properly-which seems to be occuring in odd years lately

Mike

[David Cronheim]

I thought the whole course was just a blast. I've very rarely played a course that short that was both that much fun and that challenging. I think the thing I liked best about it (besides the very Raynor-esque bunkering and green complexes) was that it wasn't tight. You really had to spray it to lose a ball. Very unusual to play a short course in a densely wooded area where that is the case.