The old course by the sea

Bass Rocks Golf Club has been providing its members with ocean-side views and a unique challenge for more than a century

by Jeremy Gottlieb

Variety is the spice of life, someone once said, though it’s unlikely he had Gloucester’s Bass Rocks Golf Club in mind. Another wise man once described the most important aspect of real estate as being location, location, location, yet Bass Rocks and its layout, which surrounds the Atlantic Ocean, was probably the furthest thing from his thoughts.

Bass Rocks Golf Club

The truth is, Bass Rocks is anything but a cliché, but it fits these well-worn phrases to a tee. For the club, which has graced the Cape Ann area for more than a century, couldn’t be more varied in its many styles, all while existing on a track adjacent to some of the best views any golfer in these parts could hope to see.

“For my money, it’s all about the view,” says Peter Hood, a Gloucester resident serving his 14th year as the head professional at the private club. “The conditions along with the view of the ocean are top notch. It’s fabulous out there.”

Upon one’s initial examination of Bass Rocks, it would be tempting to call it a quaint little course, which given its relatively short length of 6,010 yards (par 69) and the absence of par 5s save for the seventh, make for the possibility of easy scoring. Such an interpretation couldn’t be further from the truth. What Bass Rocks lacks in length, it makes up for in obstacles and the potential for extremely challenging conditions. While water only really comes into play once on the entire course (just beyond the tee box at No. 16), trees, hills, mounds and bunkers crop up routinely. Furthermore, given its close proximity to the ocean, stout breezes are frequently swirling, giving players something to think about as they attempt to navigate their surroundings.

“What’s most interesting to me as far as the layout is concerned is how unique it is,” says superintendent Chris Donato, now in his fourth year in the position after a stretch as assistant super at Dover Spring Country Club in Ridgefield, Conn. “There are so many natural features incorporated that you just don’t find elsewhere. Some of the mounds and bunkers are so strategically placed that if you don’t know your way around, they will just jump up and grab you. And looking at the card and seeing that it plays just 6,010, a lot of people might think, ‘Oh well, this is easy.’ But it plays a lot longer on days when the wind is kicking up. I haven’t seen too many low scores in my time here. You have to take what you can get, take what the course gives you.”

Bass Rocks came to be in 1896, laid out over a six-hole track referred to as The Meadows, where the 15th through the 18th holes stand today. In 1904, the course expanded to nine holes and in 1913, was expanded to a full 18 holes with design courtesy of Herbert Leeds, the architect of the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton and the original Essex County Club in Manchester.

Mention the terms “quirky” or “unique” to anyone in the employ of the club and the responses will vary. For Hood, it’s the location and for Donato it’s the natural features of the course. For club business manager and 16-year member Bob Shea, it’s the membership itself, which currently stands at close to 700, including junior members, tennis members and the people on the waiting list.

“We have been able to attract an excellent mix of members who are focused on playing golf socially and who all get along,” says Shea, while also noting that roughly 50 percent of the membership hails from the immediate Cape Ann area, with the other 50 percent residing in a 15-20 mile radius outside of that. “Who we have here, that’s the uniqueness of it. What we offer suits all of our members.”

Shea estimates that the average age of the membership is 61 years. Bearing that in mind, the club offers multiple junior memberships with one being for players aged 13-23. Two years ago, in an effort to further jumpstart its youth program, a secondary membership for players aged 23-35 was implemented.

“Our membership is very diverse,” Hood says. “We have everyone here from contractors to lawyers to dentists. It’s not about the course necessarily; it’s about the whole club, the people. Members don’t have to ride; they can walk and talk to each other. We’re a golf club, that’s all. We have no thoughts of going in any other direction. We don’t even have a swimming pool. Our pool is the ocean.”

After wanting to focus down the middle and make the greens, tees and fairways top notch upon his arrival at Bass Rocks, Donato is now focused on drainage and conservation. Given the close proximity to the water, along with multiple low-laying fairways, getting the course dried out in a more timely fashion is tops on his agenda for the next couple of seasons. He also feels it’s important to tend the course in an environmentally friendly way.

“Right now, we’re trying to get certified with Audubon International,” he explains. “It’s important to look at things from a more friendly perspective in an environmental regard while still being able to maintain highly manicured conditions.”

While keeping the conditions on the course beautiful is at the forefront of Donato’s responsibilities, there is nothing he can – or should – do about the conditions surrounding the course. As Hood points out, the best place for scenery at Bass Rocks is right on the fairways, tees and greens.

The first fairway offers up a preview of things to come with a scene of the Atlantic that Hood mentioned many members have told him is nothing short of “mesmerizing.” After moving on from the shared fairway and links-style of the fifth and sixth, another long ocean view appears on the seventh fairway. The ninth green gives players a platform for the first panoramic view on the course, while the 11th gives Bass Rocks its logo.

After a blind tee shot, players will be able to see the twin lights on the island right off the coastline as they walk down the fairway. This view, still clearly visible all the way to the false-fronted green, makes No. 11 the signature hole of Bass Rocks. Hood is partial to No. 14, saying, “It’s a good, long, traditional par 4.” And, of course, there are the Meadows, beginning at No. 15, the former first hole on the course in its early days. The four holes are a collection of shared fairways, strategically placed mounds and “ha-ha” walls. This stretch of holes truly move Bass Rocks into a realm that might best be described as unique.

“We aren’t like a course that you go out and play a few times and it’s the same every time,” says Donato. “Some days you hit a wedge into 16, other days you pound it and you can’t get it home. It plays completely differently every time out...I wake up at 4 a.m. and watch the sun rise over the first green as I get out there. You can’t complain too much about that.”