Golf Digest magazine rated Newry, Maine’s Sunday River Golf Club among the top 10 new public courses in the United States for 2006. The course finished at No. 6.
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Sunday River Golf Club, located next to Sunday River Ski Resort in Bethel, was designed by world-renowned course architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Jones also designed Osprey Meadows in Idaho, which finished first in the same “upscale public” category.
Jones routed the original Sunday River layout almost a decade ago. Plans to build the 7,130-yard, par-72 course stalled until Bath, Maine-based Harris Golf acquired the rights to develop the layout and moved forward with the project. Sunday River GC is part of a 350-acre site with sweeping views across Sunday River Valley to the Mahoosuc mountain range. The facility includes a driving range and 10,000-square-foot, log-and-stone clubhouse with 57 housing lots bordering the course.
“The whole team can take credit,” added Harris, “the architect, the builder and the staff at Harris Golf. Robert Trent Jones was very involved and on-site architect Ty Butler was fantastic. Sunday River skiway was also extremely helpful in the whole process.”
Jones also designed Maine’s Sugarloaf/USA Golf Club in Carrabassett, Maine, perennially rated the top public course in New England since it opened in 1986. The architect noted, however, that Sugarloaf was built with a limited budget that took advantage of the rushing waters of the Carrabassett River, a wilderness setting and elevated greens with significant contour.
“Sunday River is also a wilderness golf course,” Jones explained. “But while Sugarloaf has relentless golf holes that leave golfers constantly sucking in their breath and waiting for the next challenge, Sunday River allows golfers to take a deep breath, let it out, enjoy the great vistas and then hit the shot as far as they can. The fairways at Sunday River tend to be fairly concave. If golfers miss left or right, they tend to kick the ball back toward the center. Sunday River is a bit more forgiving than Sugarloaf for most players.”
Greens fees at Sunday River are $120 Friday-Sunday, including cart; $95 the remainder of the week. The season runs from early May through late October. For more information, contact 207-824-4653 or visit www.harrisgolfonline.com