Forget signature holes, the new course at Sunday River offers golfers panoramic views that will be remembered long after your round is through.
NEWRY – The splendor of the Mahoosuc mountain range is all anyone will be talking about after leaving Sunday River Golf Club.
Asked about the value of the golf course without the panoramic scenery from every hole, club professional John Hickson chuckled.
“That would be like taking the ocean away from Kiawah Island (where he recently played in a tournament),” said Hickson. “I mean, it’s a part of the course. It’s tough to go beyond that.”
The fairways at Sunday River are, in general, wider than most mountain courses, and offer wide landing areas off the tee.
The approaches, despite several attempts to deceive golfers with green depth and false fronts, are largely welcoming.
The greens, however, can be treacherous. Running up to two points higher on the stimp meter than most courses in the area, they will reward solid shots with favorable rolls and are easy to stick, but any putt that rolls past a hole is likely to keep rolling for a while. They roll true, but speed is a factor.
Add in a wind swirling between and among the peaks surrounding the Jordan Bowl course, and it all of a sudden develops a strong bite.
“It can blow one way from the tee, and be blowing another by the time you get to the ball to hit your second shot,” said Hickson.
Stunning beauty, relative ease of play from four different tees and yawning fairways, combined with tough-but-fair greens make this new course one of the best plays in Maine, bar none.
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