First, a disclaimer: I could also be a bit biased on this evaluation, as a result of whereas I’m newer to being a real golfer, Scituate Country Club and I’ve historical past.
I sat on their porch scarfing down scorching canines and Fanta Oranges after I was just a little woman and my mother was enjoying a few follow holes. One 12 months my mom – whose title graces championship plaques there – endured my hack golf when she graciously hosted me as a companion within the mom/daughter. Generations of members of the family have been champions there. So, sure, my coronary heart beats just a little additional for the place.
Now, enjoying it as a real golfer, I do know my love shouldn’t be solely well-placed, however enduring.
SCC (https://www.scituatecc.com), a non-public membership that opens to the general public every Monday and affords all kinds of personal membership choices, is a marvel of a nine-holer, going up and down and up and down once more on the steep ledge that leads as much as Scituate’s Third Cliff.
You tee off from lofty heights looking over bluffs. Osprey and sea spray scent pop up sometimes, and whereas you might have some slower play right here and there on the busy public days, you gained’t thoughts. The view itself eggs you on to cease and simply savor all of it. And it’s ever-changing: the tides roll out and in creating a brand new vista each hour, each day.
The par 35 (slope 121, score 34.9) is available in at simply over 3,000 yards from the blacks, and packs numerous problem into that yardage, regardless of your tee field.
But let’s begin with the historical past, as a result of whereas it could really feel private to me, it’s not simply mine. SCC sits on what was as soon as the Welch household farm. Much of the present clubhouse was the household’s house there. In 1919, residents of Third Cliff, which lays out simply above the membership itself, bought the land and constructed the golf membership.
When World War II got here, as was the case at many golf equipment (and significantly for girls), SCC thrived. To this present day, it stays busy, beloved and exquisite.
All that magnificence is laced with problem as effectively. Holes run up and down the hilly land, with some lengthy, lush fairways demanding energy drives and good fairway play, and a few surprisingly difficult par 3’s tucked in.
Their No. 2 par 3, the place you tee off up excessive and hit to an elevated inexperienced, is taken into account one of many hardest par 3’s within the area. The reward is mighty although: Hit that inexperienced or finally discover your approach to it and you’re feeling on prime of the world. Views all the way in which to the Spit and North River await.
The subsequent gap sends you manner down beneath for a protracted, straight fairway previous the clubhouse and alongside the marshes of the North River.
Across the road some pretty condos tuck up alongside the holes however the foliage shields them; you are feeling completely in nature. Those holes require some deep pondering: lay-ups earlier than marshy areas to hit over and one other difficult par 3 imply you’ll use all these golf equipment in your bag.
It’s a walkable course, however carts can be found and do bear in mind: the hills might be steep. Our day we performed a combo, two of us in a cart and me on foot. We had been capable of keep collectively simply and savor the play, the view and the corporate as one.
Post-round, whether or not you select to play 9 or loop again round for a complete of 18, put aside time to seize lunch or a drink of their basic New England clubhouse. They nonetheless have scorching canines, however the tall glass Fanta Orange of my childhood is however a reminiscence. I changed it with iced tea. Perfect.
Years in the past, when my now grownup daughter was just a little woman, we had been driving up Old Driftway, the street that cuts by means of the center of SCC, on our approach to the post-funeral lunch on the house of my deceased grandfather, former Superintendent of Boston Schools William H. Ohrenberger, a Third Cliff resident and lengthy, lengthy, long-time member at SCC.
“Hey Mom,” she mentioned from the again seat as we drove previous that stunning view on our approach to his house. “Didn’t you say we are going to where Grandpa lives?” I affirmed. She smiled, eyes broad on the lush inexperienced fairways, white clubhouse and ocean views.
“Oh! So then: This is heaven!”
She wasn’t improper.
Source: www.bostonherald.com