We only list a few 9 holers on the @bestgolfcourses guide, but thanks to our Twitter pal, @Bschneider126, we’ve added another, The Marion Golf Club. It’s known to the local residents as “Little Marion” likely given that it’s overshadowed by nearby Kittansett. The course sits just inland from Butler Point on Buzzards Bay about 1 1/2 hours due south of Boston.
The course is a step back in time so to speak, and was George Thomas’s (L.A. CC, Bel-Air, and Riviera) first course, designed in 1904. Its photo would likely be prominent in Websters for the definition of “quirky golf course.” There’s a unique combination of design features such as as the original rock and turf walls, à la North Berwick, which surround fairways and greens on most of the holes. There’s blind shots, driving chutes through the forest, 90 degree doglegs, lilliputian greens, and OB. Its along mostly generous fairways dotted with trees on the interior with an array of 10 sand traps in some unusual positions and shapes including a horseshoe. It’s eminently walkable and at times scenic with peeks of Sippican Harbor. It’s also reasonably inexpensive, maybe challenged a bit on conditioning, but an enjoyable, unique round at 2,695 yards, par of 34, 33.6/122, course/slope ratings.
The Cape has a bounty of golf clubs open to outside play. Our Cape Cod Golf Trail features the best public accessible Cape Cod golf courses you can play featuring wide range of greens fees suitable to all budgets.
We’ll start on the Outer Cape where Highland Links, a 9 hole relic and one of the true links courses in the United States with faithful adherence to Scottish Links standards.
Chequessett Yacht & Country Club is near Wellfleet and a nine holes as well which provides a parkland setting over some slight change in elevation.
Moving into the Lower Cape now, we find a gaggle of courses in all price ranges and settings. Ocean Edge represents the high end of offerings on the Cape and is available for outside play through on-site accommodations. Then there’s the Cape’s namesake Cape Cod National, an equally exclusive club where access is provided when residing at Wequasett Resort. Literally, right next door is the Captains Golf Course, a Brian Silva design with 36 holes, a tribute to the sea captains who lived in the area. The last of the Lower Cape courses is Cranberry Valley, a Geoffrey Cornish and William Robinson parkland design.
As we now move into the Mid-Cape, we have six courses worthy of a round, a weeks worth of golf in one general area.
Dennis Highlands and Pines are located with a mile of each other offer a good mix of challenging layouts.
The Blue Rock Golf Course is a Geoffrey Cornish design which just might be one of the best par 3 layouts in the United States and conveniently located just off the Grand Army of the Republic Highway in Yarmouth. Just a few miles south you’ll find a Donald Ross classic design from the 1920s, the Bass River Golf Course, a definite shotmaker’s delight. Bayberry Hills in nearby West Yarmouth features 27 holes by Geoffrey Cornish over rolling topography along mature hardwood lined corridors with a generous amount of sand in play. Olde Barnstable Fairgrounds, across the street from Cape Cod Airfield is a Mark Mungeam challenge through the woods over generally level terrain with a couple funky holes. The last of the Mid-Cape features the Hyannis Golf Course just off Highway 6 at Lyannough Road carved through the deep woods.
Now finally, let’s move to the Upper Cape where we find the Quashnet Valley Country Club, another Geoffrey Cornish design over a vast, 330 acre tract of land in Mashpee with water in the form of marsh or ponds in play on half the holes. The balance in the Upper Cape make this a week or longer long destination golf trip without much in the way of travel. The Cape Club, designed by the unlikely duo of Chi Chi Rodriguez and Jim (father to Tom) Fazio. The Cape Cod CC, an ancient layout by Devereux Emmet and Alfred Tull has received zoning approval to scrape the golf course and erect a solar panel farm, so play it soon. The Falmouth Country Club, a veritable classic of Cape Cod golf, is in east Falmouth on Old Barnstable road carved through the deep woods. The Brookside Golf Club in Buzzards Bay is a Dr. Michael Hurdzan design overlooking the Bay and features an interesting and challenging mix of holes and topography. Bringing up the rear, only by geographical location, is the Club at New Seabury, a 36 hole layout featuring 9 holes along Nantucket Sound’s Succonesset Point that’s open to public play through a stay/play program with condos and cottages on site.
As always, should we be missing any Cape Cod public golf courses that belongs in the guide, or one that no longer qualifies as the best golf course in a given area, please let us know here.
