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Northeast Harbor Golf Club - Media Reviews |
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| Review by Mike Schroeder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perhaps no test in golf is more challenging than a well designed short par-4. The kind of “character builder” that upon standing on the tee will immediately make the swing a little quicker and the grip a little tighter. Many contemporary layouts feature one or two of these testers. On the eastern shore of Mount Desert Island’s Some Sound is a vintage layout from the “golden age” that incorporates no less than seven — each one unique and entirely fair.
Originally designed in 1895 the Northeast Harbor Golf Club of today gets its pedigree from three of America’s great golf architects. In 1916 Donald Ross designed a nine holer on the east side of Sargent Drive. By the early 1920s Herbert Strong – a designer of three U.S. Open venues – was commissioned to add a second nine which opened in 1925. Over the years, holes 16, 17 and 18, due to a number of factors, fell into disrepair and the course actually played as 15 holes. In the early 1990s a reclamation project was initiated and the services of golf architect Geoffery Cornish were retained to renovate the missing links. The eighteenth hole was the first off the drawing board and renovated. Last year the seventeenth, a medium length par-4, also underwent a complete redesign and will be open for play this July. The sixteen however stands out. From tee to green all 291-yards of this par-4 is pure Maine golf. The layout seamlessly integrates the beauty and natural contours of a Maine island with a hole design emphasizing strategic play. Architect Geoffery Cornish regards the finished product as one of the best short par-4’s he’s ever designed. From the tee a wildly undulating fairway allows for a variety of options. A well placed mid to long iron will leave a green-level approach with a short iron. A more aggressive play will result in a shorter pitch but from well below the putting surface. The small tiered green falls away sharply along the right side and is guarded front right by a deep bunker. An expanse of exposed pink granite ledge behind the green also contributes to the drama. After holing out, regardless of your score, the sixteenth at the Northeast Harbor G.C. is the kind of golf hole you’ll want to play over and over again. |
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