Boothbay Harbor Country Club – Played July 2021
- Rankings: None of my four lists
- Location: 50 Sugar Maple Lane, Boothbay, Maine
- Year: 1921
- Original Architects: Wayne Stiles & John Van Kleek
- Redesign: Bruce Hepner
- Course Access: Private
- Walking Rules: Carts Available
Score Card Information:
- V: 6,655 yards, Par 71, 72.2 Rating/138 Slope
- IV: 6,273 yards, Par 71, 70.2 Rating/135 Slope
- III: 5,737 yards, Par 71, 68.3 Rating/129 Slope
- II: 5,248 yards, Par 71, 65.6 Rating/121 Slope (Men’s), 70.6 Rating/124 Slope (Women’s)
- I: 4,733 yards, Par 72, 63.6 Rating/112 Slope (Men’s), 67.5 Rating/120 Slope (Women’s)
I learn more about Maine golf each time I take a trip to the Pine Tree state. Boothbay Harbor Country Club was my next piece of education on an overcast Monday.
The club has a long history. It dates back to 1918 when Stiles and Van Kleek were engaged to build the original course. They finished the first 9 holes by 1921.
Boothbay Harbor didn’t expand to 18 holes until 1999. It would have been intriguing to see the mix of old and new holes. However, the course underwent a complete redesign by Bruce Hepner. The project was spurred on by new owner Paul Coulombe and finished in 2016. Mr. Coulombe has an interesting story and I suggest reading up on him a bit.
Clubhouse
I got paired up with some older members who were talkative and kept me entertained throughout the round. I played the IV tees and all yardages are from those markers.
Hole 1 – 332 yards – Par 4
The opening hole is a gentle start to you round as it is a short par four playing from an elevated tee. Playing less than driver is not a bad idea since you’ll want to set up a good angle for your approach shot.
Hole 2 – 196 yards – Par 3
The large green is a welcome sight with a long shot required. You’ll want to check out the plaque next to this tee box.
Hole 3 – 394 yards – Par 4
You get a heavy dose of elevation change early in the round. Here the uphill adds to the difficulty of this hole. You can unleash the driver here.
Check out the slope of the green from back to front.
Hole 4 – 300 yards – Par 4
My playing partners expertly told me to make sure I didn’t hit anything more than 180 yards. They were right and I might even hit less. There is a creek that crosses the fairway and you want to be short of it to avoid penalty strokes or playing off of a severe downhill lie.
Hole 5 – 411 yards – Par 4
This tee shot presents a choice for the golfer. If you want to shorten the hole, go up the left side. The drawback to that is the angle to the green isn’t as good.
While it looks like you have to carry a greenside bunker on the approach, in actuality the bunker is well short of the green.
Hole 6 – 520 yards – Par 5
My tees were on a bit of peninsula for this hole. An abnormal addition of a suggestion mailbox in the pond gave me a chuckle. The hole traipses uphill and to the right. Your second shot will be blind.
The green itself is relatively flat.
Hole 7 – 184 yards – Par 3
The front right of this green acts as a bit of a kicker, so it’s a great target. Whatever you do, don’t go left.
Hole 8 – 361 yards – Par 4
You can see it all from the elevated tee here. Beware of the water on the left that is certainly in play.
The green complex is super shallow, so your distance control needs to be precise.
Hole 9 – 495 yards – Par 5
This hole should be quite gettable. Just don’t top your three wood into the creek like me 😂.
There is some serious elevation on the way to the green.
Hole 10 – 346 yards – Par 4
Like the first, the tenth eases you into the back nine. The bunker in the distance is a good line and you will likely have a short club to attack this flag.
Hole 11 – 391 yards – Par 4
My playing partners tagged this as one of the most difficult holes at Boothbay Harbor. I tend to agree with them. My drive missed left in the rough and the ball was way above my feet.
My approach ended up here with this intimidating pitch shot.
Hole 12 – 384 yards – Par 4
Go as far right as you dare to shorten the approach shot. Anything in the fairway is satisfactory though as the green is on the smaller side.
Hole 13 – 363 yards – Par 4
If you’ve been reading my posts for long you know I can’t move the ball left to right (on purpose). So this tee shot made me nervous. The right side of the fairway provides the best angle to the green.
Apparently the club built up this tee to be so high. This is the view from the tips.
Hole 14 – 390 yards – Par 4
You don’t often see the infinity fairway, but here we have one. The hole moves slightly left and the green can be obscured by the topography.
Knowing which side the pin is on can really help you out.
Hole 15 – 156 yards – Par 3
The green is a really big target. Take note of the bunkers and how far below the green they are. You can almost see the ridge in the green from the tee box.
Hole 16 – 357 yards – Par 4
Sorry for the blurry picture, but you get the outline of this straightaway hole.
There is quite a bit of uphill grade from front to back on this putting surface.
Hole 17 – 178 yards – Par 3
With the big downhill drop many will struggle with club selection here. The cool thing is the green expands in the back and short is a fine miss. A nice give and take there.
Hole 18 – 515 yards – Par 5
One last opportunity to make a birdie here. The fairway is quite wide and cants to the left.
The hole bends right for your second shot before climbing a steep hill to the green.
Don’t come up short or the ball will be rolling back to you.
Boothbay Harbor Country Club provided a fun day with my playing partners. The course was in very good shape even after getting quite a bit of rain. The greens rolled smooth and there was even some bounce out there. An overcast day with some friendly folks is a nice way to spend time in Maine.