Cape Cod Municipals Make for Good Golfing
By BRUCE VITTNER
I envy golfers who live in certain towns on Cape Cod. One of the
best benefits of said residences is the chance to partake in
very good golf at a very reasonable cost.
We recently had the chance to play a course in Hyannis, one in
Brewster, and the last in Yarmouth. Three days of great golf and
each with memberships of over 1,000. Yes, that is three zeros in
the number.
The
signature ninth hole at Bass River G.C.
How do the courses do it? Where do they get this large number of
members? How do they fit them on the courses? The answer is
easy. Charge residents less than $800 to join and give them
access to at least two courses.
The first day we played Hyannis Golf Course. Old-timers might
remember it as Iyanhough Hills. It is just off Route 6 at exit 6
(you can see a couple of holes from the Mid Cape Highway) and
offers easy access when coming on to the Cape or leaving.
Hyannis became a municipal course on January 1, 2007. It gave
residents of Barnstable the opportunity to have a second course
to play as members as well as Old Barnstable G.C.
Designed by Geoffrey Cornish and opened in 1972, Hyannis G.C. is
fun. Many holes make use of the hilly terrain and kettle ponds
that are so prevalent throughout the Cape. Quite a few holes
have elevated greens that make scoring rather difficult. Number
2 is the hardest handicap hole and deserves it. It is 420 yards
with a 180-yard carry over a ravine off the tee, to a dogleg
right up the hill to a well-bunkered green. Make par and you’ll
remember it all day. Number 18 was my favorite. A 429-yard par
4, the tee shot is downhill, but the green is uphill. Watch out
for the kettle pond that sits about 250 yards off the tee on the
right that you can’t see from the tee box.
Mike Ghelfi is the Director of Golf for both courses in
Barnstable. You might remember the name because he was a star
golfer at Providence College under coach Joe Prisco. “We just
took ownership of the course the beginning of the year, and are
really trying to spruce it up,” said Ghelfi. There are five
little ponds on the course and you will do a lot of walking up
and down. One of my partners said he was going to change his
name to “Ilean.” You will use all your clubs and it is a stern
test from the tips with a slope of 72.7 and a rating of 128, but
much easier from the white (6,002) and red (5,149).
The second day we ventured down Cape to Brewster. Those
townfolks who join (over 1,200) have both courses next to each
other at The Captains Golf Course. The first course was opened
in 1985 and was designed by Cornish, Silva and Mungeam. Seven
years later Brian Silva came back and completed another 18 holes
that incorporated ten former holes to make the Starboard Course
and eight former holes to make the Port Course. Notice the
nautical theme; it is Cape Cod, right?
Both courses are challenging. You can tell some of the newer
holes, but Silva did an excellent job seamlessly keeping the
flow of the courses. You’ll love the pretty downhill par 3’s on
both courses. My favorite hole is number 8 on the Port Course. A
573-yard par 5 with a long third shot over a ravine to an uphill
slender green, the key is to get as close to the ravine on your
second shot without going down into it. You’ll be talking about
this hole for quite a while. Replays are available for those
hoping to get in 36 different holes. “We are very proud of our
course conditioning,” said director of golf, Mark O’Brien, who
is one of the driving forces behind Play Golf on Cape Cod
(www.playgolfoncapecod.com),
a consortium of 16 courses on the Cape marketing golf packages.
“We have just gotten started, but we see this as a great way to
market the golf courses on the Cape,” added O’Brien.
The last day we went to Bass River G.C. in Yarmouth. Residents
of Yarmouth can play both Bayberry Hills (27 holes) and Bass
River as members.
Bass River was built in 1900 and redesigned by Donald Ross in
1914. You’ll love the old Scottish feel of greens and tees close
together. The scenery from the Bass River and its tributaries
makes this a must play. The course is basically flat on both
sides of a large ravine that runs through the center of the
course. Holes number 4 (a tough dogleg left par 4), number 9 (a
pretty par 3 over a part of the Bass River) cross the ravine on
the front; and numbers 11, 14, and 15 cross on the back. The par
4 11th was my favorite as you had to hit downhill across the
ravine to an elevated green.
We saw many people walking the course. This makes it really
inexpensive for the resident members. Jim Armentrout, director
of golf for Yarmouth talked about Bass River and Bayberry Hills.
“We have two great places for our residents and outside golfers
to play.” He was right.
Normally you think of seafood when you go to the Cape, but this
time our hostess for the trip, Patti Lloyd from the Cape Cod
Chamber of Commerce, decided to try something different with our
group of golf writers. The first night we ate at the Outback
Steakhouse in Hyannis. The appetizers, steaks, and salmon were a
treat. Brian Cray, the gracious young proprietor of the Outback,
said that they are one of the few Outbacks open for lunch, and
they have room for golf groups who need that big steak to
fortify the multi-rounds of golf.
The second night we went to Sienna Italian Grill and Bar in
Mashpee Commons. “You can’t believe the number of golf groups we
get here,” said owner Graham Silliman, who left the high finance
world to open up the restaurant in 2002. The food was
outstanding. “We wanted to be like the neighborhood restaurants
in Italy,” smiled Silliman who said that the restaurant
specializes in Tuscan cuisine.
Gull Wing Suites in Yarmouth served as our lodging for the trip.
The rooms were large and clean with WiFi available for those of
us who had to fit in some work during the trip. They have a
large pool outside in a center courtyard and also a huge indoor
pool.
Bruce Vittner is a member of the Golf Writers Assn. of
America and can be reached at
bruce@oceanstategolfinc.com.
Useful numbers and websites:
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce: 1-888-33CapeCod,
www.capecodchamber.org
Hyannis Golf Course: 508-362-2606,
www.hyannisgc.com
Captains Golf Course: 508-896-5100,
www.captainsgolfcourse.com
Bass River Golf Course: 508-398-9079,
www.golfyarmouthcapecod.com
Outback Steak House: 508-778-8787,
www.outback.com
Sienna Italian Grill and Bar: 508-477-5929
The Terrace Room at Hyannis Golf Course: 508-362-6936
Gull Wing Suites: 508-394-9300,
www.gullwingsuitescapecod.com
Bayside Resort: 1-866-970-GOLF,
www.baysideresort.com
