NEWRY – Robert Trent Jones Jr. wants a round at the Sunday River Golf Club to be a breathtaking experience.

Whether it’s the spectacular scenery or the level of difficulty, his new golf course design is certain to leave you breathless.

“I’m hoping that when they look at the golf course, they say ooh’ and aah’ and then they look at the scorecard and they say ooh,'” he said.

The legendary golf course architect was at the club Thursday to oversee work on the back nine. It was his first trip back to Sunday River since last October and his fifth overall.

“I think it’s dramatic,” he said of the course’s development. “It’s going in beautifully. I can’t wait to play it.”

Jones was on hand to do some shaping and sketching of new holes. He says they work on an average of two-and-a-half holes at a time. He arrives for a day’s work here or there to tinker with his designs.

“It’s like a surgeon,” he said. “It’s not how much time you spend, it’s knowing where to cut.”

The first nine holes are expected to be ready for play by fall with the grand unveiling scheduled for next spring.

Though the course is still in the development stages, it has that wilderness feel and charm. It’s already taking on a distinct personality, and that’s exactly what its designer wanted.

“Maine people are very respectful of the wilderness,” Jones said. “They enjoy it. So if you’re having golf in the wilderness, you need to match their philosophy, their point of view and not disturb much of it. You have to weave it in and out of the forest and along the brooks and creeks, enhancing and respecting them. So that the experience will be exhilarating, but also a good golf experience.”

Jones’ experience designing courses in mountain settings made him the logical choice since the Sunday River course is carved into a mountain range.

He was hired in the late 1990s to design the new course, but the project was delayed briefly because of financing.

“I grew up in New Jersey, but I’ve done a lot of work in the Far West,” he said. “I know third dimensional golf and mountains. Though golf was invented along the sea and it’s a relatively flat land experience, this is another genre, and its in the wilderness.

“Some people are capable of doing that, and I’m one of the few. It’s not just how the ball will react and making sure the greens are cut well. It’s how do you deal with this wilderness, which is tough. You need a man to match your mountain.”

All one has to do is look at the future 10th fairway. It’s a hilly, ragged wilderness with a significant portion of earth removed. Running parallel to it, is the already developed 18th fairway and green.

“That’s what it was like to begin with,” he said. “It was wild, a wilderness like that. You know it’s real wilderness golf when the bears are members and moose too, but the bears are scratch players.”

The course sits nicely amid its surroundings. There are mountains at every turn and hills throughout the course, but the fairways are lush and level, dipping and rising to various plateaus, almost suspended between the peaks and valleys. The course is accentuated with boulders and rock walls.

The first hole even has a small replica of the mountain range running along its right fairway.

“We fit it into the land,” he said. “I say I don’t build on top of the land. I design into the land’.”

Jones designed the Sugarloaf course, which is consistently ranked among New England’s best. Because of his work there, he was familiar with the landscape and the challenges. He also knew he wanted something different.

“Sugarloaf has the Carrabassett River running down through the back nine,” he said. “I call the holes 10 through 15 the string of diamonds.’ This course doesn’t have the rushing waterways that Sugarloaf did, but it does have the dramatic change in elevation and the great scenery.”

Just driving the golf cart around the steep weaving paths can be a fun challenge. The scenery isn’t the only thing Jones is particular about. He wants golf to be an experience as well.

“People say That’s a beautiful course’ or That’s a nice course,'” he said. “Then I think I haven’t done my job. I want to make sure they think about the line they want to play, and if they’re a reasonably decent player, if they hit a decent shot, then it’s going to be rewarding. So there’s golf in this, not just exhilarating beauty.”

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