LEEDS – With so many golf courses saturating the landscape, some have started to push for members by offering aesthetic pleasures, such as rock walls, covered bridges and specially cut fairways, greens and rough.

At Springbrook Golf Club, though, there are none of those amenities.

“There are no covered bridges, no clown mouths or anything spectacular like that.” said owner Joe Golden. “What we have here is a serious golf course.”

Serious, Golden added, but still fun to play.

Built in 1966 by previous owner Al Biondi, who still patrols the clubhouse and course from time to time, sharing history, wisdom and of course golf lore with patrons, the course was cut out of a cow pasture. In fact, it was laid over a cow pasture without much modification.

“The way you see it, the way the hills are and the way the land is, that is exactly how it was when I bought the place,” Biondi said.

Prior to becoming a golf course, the land was part of the Woolworth estate and was used to raise Black Angus cattle. One look at the terrain and it is evident that not much of the landscape has evolved.

“When you look at the scorecard, it’s pretty easy to think, Wow, this isn’t very long,'” said course superintendent Rick Newbauer. “But when you get out there and realize that you can’t hit from a flat lie anywhere, you understand why it’s so tough.”

The course

From the beginning of a round, the course shows golfers what to expect for the rest of the day. The first hole, listed for the forward and middle tees as the toughest on the course, is a 380-yard par-4 that starts out going down hill, but finishes with a dramatic uphill approach shot over a brook that, at 292 yards from the tee, is dangerous to longer hitters off the tee.

“It’s funny, about flat lies,” Golden said. “You see on television, when a professional has a lie with the ball two inches above his feet they’ll call that a lie with the ball above his feet.’ Obviously none of them have ever played here. I’ve hit shots while choking down on the club to the metal shaft because the slope is so severe.”

The first hole is a prime example, but so are the third, fourth, fifth and sixth holes.

“There are so may holes that are short, but what makes it difficult, even if you have a wedge in your hand, is the slope,” said Newbauer. “You have to know where to put the drives.”

After negotiating side slopes for six holes, golfers get a reprieve — sort of. The seventh is straight, with no side slopes. There are just two enormous hills that create a blind tee shot and a blind second shot on this par-5.

On the back nine, similar to the front in many ways but perhaps a bit more open and less hilly, golfers can swing away at the tenth hole as long as they don’t go to the right, and will encounter the largest green on the course on No. 12.

“Most of the greens out here are small, and can be tricky if you try to go to the pins,” said Golden. “The best thing to do here is aim for the center of the green. If you do that, you will have a chance to make your putt because the greens are not all that big.”

At 12, the green is an hourglass shaped affair with two distinct ends, a front and a back.

The 16th, one of the better holes in the area for those who have never seen the course, a good drive will land you in front of another large hill ? another blind second shot on a par-5, similar to the seventh. That shot, however, unlike No. 7, must also clear a large marsh traversed only by a wooden cart bridge on the right side. A solid drive there that crests that first hill could easily roll down the slope, which is easily at a 35-degree angle, and into the hazard.

The reputation

More than a “big ol’ cow pasture,” Springbrook has earned a reputation among the state’s golfers for producing some fine tournament-ready talent.

“Our members come back all the time and tell us how well this course has prepared them to be shot makers at other courses,” Newbauer said. “Honestly, when you have to be so precise with your drives, and especially with your approach shots, it lends itself well to get you ready to play other courses.”

At one time, Springbrook sent more golfers to MSGA and WMSGA events across Maine that all but one other golf course in the state, and that includes five-time women’s amateur champion Pennie Cummings.

Another feather in the club’s cap is that so many members, and guests as well, participate in special events at the club. A youth clinic runs for six weeks following the end of the school year, and in two weeks the club will host a scramble to benefit the Special Olympics. Also that weekend, the club will host a special event to raise money for Abby Spector on “Abby Spector Day,” which has been moved from last weekend to Saturday, August 21.

As for normal play, the course is open daily and dares golfers of all abilities to test their skills on the undulating hills and fairways that look more like a green ocean tossed about by a large storm with swells bigger than the average boat than a typical golf course.

Then again, that just may be the charm that attracts so many people in the first place.