Aged to perfection

Thanks to a parcel of land that was tailor-made for a golf course, The Oaks Golf Links has garnered national acclaim since opening its fairways

By Peter Blais

Owner Peter Harrity takes great pride in the creative bunkers at his course, which was built on a sand-and-gravel base that makes it nearly impossible to get a bad lie if your ball lands in the fairway.

The Ice Age was kind to The Oaks Golf Links. When the glacier receded from the Somersworth, N.H., area 10,000 years ago, it left behind a sand-and-gravel esker that is unusual in predominantly clay- and rock-bound Northern New England.

For The Oaks’ superintendent Steve Malloy, this good fortune provided a perfect growing medium for bent grass, generally considered the premier, cool-season golf turf. More importantly, for golfers and the cash registers at The Oaks, it led to the development of a northern New England layout that differs from many of its ledgy neighbors. The open, tree-lined landscape and long rolls off the tee resulting from the firm, well-drained subsurface remind one more of courses found on Cape Cod, the Sandhills of the Carolinas or even the heath lands south of London, England.

This two-year-old Brad Booth design has proven popular with course reviewers as it was the only public layout among Golf Digest’s 2007-08 Top 10 New Hampshire courses.

Massachusetts golfers, who co-owner Peter Harrity estimates comprise 20 to 30 percent of The Oaks’ clientele, have also taken a liking to the course.

“People coming from the North Shore are generally day-trippers,” Harrity explains. “We can provide all aspects of the all-day golf experience, including practice, warm-up, great golf, food, drink and a lovely spot. We provide an interesting option for those folks.”

The Oaks had been on the drawing board since Booth - an Ogunquit, Maine-based architect whose 35-plus designs include The Bay Club in Mattapoisett and The Ledges in York, Maine - first put pen to draft board for an 18-hole layout on this Maine border community almost a decade ago. The town of Somersworth sifted through a handful of development options before Harrity’s group, which also operates Candia Woods east of Manchester, struck a partnership several years ago to develop and operate the city-owned property.

Construction began in June 2003. The front nine opened in September 2004, the back nine in June 2005 and the clubhouse in September 2005. With the sand-and-gravel underpinning supporting a firm, dry playing surface, golfers frequently remark at how high the ball bounces and how far it rolls. This score-aiding combination is particularly helpful during soggy Somersworth springs when other nearby courses are still water-soaked and players must routinely extract balls plugged below the largely clay soils in the early weeks of the golf season.

Greens, tees and fairways are planted in bent grass with a blend of bluegrass, fescue and rye in the roughs.

“About the only way to get a bad lie in the fairway is to roll into a divot,” Harrity says. “There is little air under balls lying in the fairway, allowing better players to really control their shots. The blues and fescues in the rough will take four to five years to fill in and will eventually provide even more definition.”

Harrity is particularly proud of the putting surfaces, including the 9,000-square-foot practice putting green. He credits three factors for their superb conditioning. The first is Malloy, a University of Massachusetts turf school graduate who grew in renovation projects at New Hampshire layouts such as Laconia Country Club and Canterbury Woods before landing at The Oaks.

Second is the A4-G2 bent grass blend suggested by Booth. It’s a combination that seems particularly well suited to the seacoast area, encouraging the turf to be cut tight and the ball to roll true.

Third is the United States Golf Association (USGA) specifications followed in constructing the greens coupled with the sand-and-gravel esker that allows turf roots to dive deep and encourage healthier turf stands.

Harrity’s second love, after the greens, is the bunkers. An unabashed golf-architecture junkie who frequently writes about course design in the e-zine distributed to members and guests of his two courses, Harrity, whose wife Dana has long been one of the North Shore’s top women golfers, spoke frequently with Booth on the design of The Oaks’ sandy hazards.

“Brad’s philosophy on bunkering and mine are similar,” he says. “I wanted sod-faced bunkers and Brad agreed. We try to accommodate a wide range of golfers. Sand-flashed bunkers can be tough to both walk in and hit out of. Maintenance can also be a nightmare. But, even more importantly, sand-flashed bunkers frequently do not allow the shadowing we want.

“I really like our bunkers. We have developed a great foundation for them as they mature. We have not put in any fescue along the edges, yet, partly because we play a large number of rounds and need to move people around the golf course. But the option is there. We could plant some fescue in certain spots and really create some interesting things in terms of look, feel and challenge.”

Harrity concedes the developers have several items to complete. Most noticeable are the cart paths, which are currently limited to dirt and gravel around tees and greens. A major cart-path construction plan is in the works, Harrity reported. The co-owner also noted that work should be completed this winter to widen the landing area on No. 4 and lengthen it so longer hitters need not lay up on No. 7.

Not to slight the front nine, but the best holes are found on the back. It starts with No. 10, which Harrity considers the signature hole. From the black tees, the par-4 plays 368 yards. The long hitter may be tempted to chance the 245 yards needed to carry the pond, which is the only water hazard on the course. But the smart play is to lay up right of the water around the 150-yard mark. From the middle tees, which sit right off the pond and play just 333 yards, the long hitter has the option of driving over the water and possibly carrying the green - a very high risk-reward - or laying an iron/fairway wood out to the right among four scattered bunkers and leaving a short to intermediate iron into an elevated, sloping green.

The best view and Booth’s favorite hole, according to Harrity, is No. 17. It is a lengthy, 435-yard, par-4 from the tips with bunkers dominating the fairway. But it runs downhill all the way to the green, making it play much shorter than its almost quarter-mile distance.

At 590 yards from the back tees, No. 18 is the longest of the par-5s and forces the player to deal with a 30-yard-wide wetland hazard at 275 yards from the tips. It is a beauty of a final hole with par an excellent score.

Two of the four par-3s can stretch to 200 yards or more from the back. But the best of the lot is the 16th, a 170-yard affair from the tips with three bunkers guarding the left side of an undulating green that places a premium on driving accuracy.

While it can stretch to 6,711 yards from the black tees, the other three teeing grounds are a more friendly 6,100 from the blues, 5,456 from the greens and 4,899 from the golds. Green fees with a cart are $64 on weekdays and $73 on weekends.

The practice center has about an acre of bent grass for the teeing grounds, target greens, a 9,000-square-foot putting area that can easily accommodate a dozen people at a time, a 4,000-square-foot chipping green and bunker, and plans for an additional six short holes ranging from 55 to 110 yards adjacent to the range. A local 40-something golfer named Dale, out for a casual 18 on a recent Saturday afternoon, reported he had taken up the game just three years ago and credited The Oaks’ practice facilities and teaching staff with helping him get down to a 12-handicap in that short time.

The Oaks’ amenities make outings and groups logical targets. The landscaped entryway, bag drop, clubhouse, location and size of the practice facility, an activity center accommodating 250 people and affording great views off the rear deck, plus a walkable course that can be played comfortably by anyone choosing the right tees, all contribute to the facility’s popularity with group, fundraising and outing directors.

Harrity reported that during its first full season of 2006, The Oaks exceeded its projections in terms of overall rounds. Through this May, the numbers were ahead of last year.

Despite its Ice Age ties, it appears golfers are warming up to The Oaks.