Ould Newbury GC, Newbury, Mass

APerhaps it’s best to start right off with a story. After all, if there is one thing this picturesque 60-acre parcel in Newbury has an ample supply of along with elevated, postage stamp greens, it’s stories.

Nearly a century old (the course opened on Labor Day, 1916), the yarns start right off from the 420-yard par-4 first at Ould Newbury GC. Slice your drive from the steeply elevated tee here and you risk taking out a windshield on Rt. 1, which runs the distance of the hole on the right. According to club lore that’s exactly what happened some 70 years ago and long before the advent of Giant Glass. The wayward shot prompted the angry motorist to barrel into the club to complain, parking in the lot behind the club’s ninth hole. Legend has it that he returned to his car moments later only to find his rear window also shattered courtesy of an errant approach shot.

Thanks for playing.

Had that motorist stuck around for a quick nine at this semi private jewel, chances are his temperature would have only climbed. Sporting a slope of 129 and a course rating (71.8) which actually exceeds par (70) there’s a reason that the phrase, “If you can play Ould Newbury, you can play anywhere” has reached bumper sticker proportions among North Shore golfers.

Limited scoring chances

If there is a chance to score at Ould Newbury, which is leased from nearby Governor’s Academy, it starts – and usually ends – on the uphill par-5 462 yard second. From there things are often not that pretty for the first time golfer, unless you are talking about the scenery. Several holes offer sweeping views of Great Bay in Newbury, and all feature lush fairways and immaculate greens.

Long time head pro Jim Hilton who runs the pro shop with his wife, Judy, points to the challenging 380-yard, dogleg left third hole as one of his favorites. The hole features a testy and narrow green with a false front that can quickly negate even the best of approach shots.
“That green is just treacherous,” says Hilton. “You can make two good shots and be on that thing and walk off with a five or a six without blinking an eye.”

The 447-yard fourth is the No. 1 stroke hole, and for good reason, thanks to an elevated and sloping green that puts a premium on equal parts steely nerves and course knowledge. Miss even slightly with your wedges and be prepared to hold on to same club for another couple of strokes. It is a theme that is carried out the rest of the way at this course that features a multitude of rocky outcroppings that were undoubtedly covered up and turned into greens by course architect Jim Lowe. Lowe was a good chum of the legendary Donald Ross and the course exudes that Ross feel, especially around the greens.

Signature greens

“You have people who come here and look at the yardages on the scorecard and wonder what the big deals is,” offered long time member Karl Schuman of Middleton. “Then they get out there and realize that seven of the nine greens are elevated and they quickly realize they are in deep do-do.”

It is indeed a steep learning curve for the uninitiated, but an enjoyable one all the same.

“I love the course, but there were times when I first started coming here that it was real frustrating because I grew up playing a flat course and came here thinking I was a pretty good golfer,” ONGC member Tim Danahy of Newburyport conceded. “There are some great shot makers here simply because the design of the golf course dictates that.”

Perhaps no one appreciates the design of the course more than course superintendent Nate Walker who, like the Hiltons, grew up on the course. His grandfather, Hank Walker, built the sprawling porch on the clubhouse and painted most of the wildlife renderings that hang inside it. His father, Jeff, has been a member for over 30 years.

“It’s neat because it’s open and has that old feel, but it’s small enough to get around and walk around,” said Walker who can be seen most days combing the fairways with his faithful black lab, Gunner, by his side.

“Growing up here I could always see the potential and wanted to make it like a Whitinsville or a Lexington as one of the top nine hole courses in the state. Being able to come in and do that and make it into a truly great little golf course is a dream come true.”

Record rounds

The great Charlie Volpone held the course record for quite some time with a 4-under-par 66 before both Hilton and Mark Spencer both posted 65’s. That mark would stand until one stormy June day in 2000 when Hilton submitted a very memorable 64 and yet another great story.

“It really was like that scene from Caddy Shack,” recalled Hilton who was having the round of his life while the skies blackened and fingers of lightning illuminated each stroke. “It’s pitch black out and I’m playing the 18th and need a par for the 64. I chipped it by the hole by about 10 feet and just as I made the putt on the way back lightning strikes a willow tree on No.1 and shatters it. It was only a couple hundred yards away and the crash was deafening.”

Fittingly, a large sliver of that willow is affixed to a plaque in the pro shop commemorating the feat.

“It’s just a golf club”

The public can play Monday through Friday at Ould Newbury. After that the course is turned over to one of the tighter and dedicated memberships you are going to find. A real strength of the club is its wealth of interclub tournaments and leagues.

“Some of the tournaments are blind draws and whoever I get paired with its fine with me. There’s not one guy here who I wouldn’t play with,” noted Danahy, who plays in two different weekday leagues as well as the club’s popular Saturday morning foursome tournaments. “It’s just a golf club. I didn’t want to be in a country club situation and have to be in a situation where I have to get four guys together and set up a tee time. At Ould Newbury you just show up, they make teams, and you go play.”

As recently as the late 90s, Ould Newbury had a membership that was creeping up on 400 and there was a three-year wait for membership. In today’s stagnant economy, however, ONGC like so many other private and semi-private clubs, has no wait and plenty of attractive membership options, including a new $700 Fairway Freedom Pass that basically works like a greens fee debit card with no expiration date.

“It gives the holder full playing privileges,” Hilton explained. “What we want to do is introduce people who might have a question of how much golf they are going to play to what Ould Newbury is about and get them hooked.”

Suffice it to say, the Ould Newbury membership takes an inordinate amount of ownership in the course. When they decided to triple the size of the deck overlooking the putting green a year ago, it was a group of members who got the job done. Each spring Walker sees upwards of 100 members grab rakes and clippers for the annual opening cleanup day, which is followed by a round of golf.

“So many people are so intertwined with the way this club works,” he says. “They have been here for such a long time that it’s like a second home for them.”

And they all know what works and what doesn’t in that second home. Fancy plans to renovate the clubhouse have come and gone. A new upscale restaurant concept touched down briefly a few years back, but like so many wayward approach shots at Ould Newbury it lasted just a few moments in the spotlight before rolling back out of sight.

“It’s funny because you get a lot of people who come in here with great ideas to change things, but they just don’t realize that it does not work with our membership,” noted Judy Hilton who has worked at the club off an on since 1965. “Everybody tries to change us, but it just doesn’t work. It’s a real family type of thing. Everyone looks out for each other and that’s the way we like it.”

To view an audio slide show of Ould Newbury log on to the North Shore Golf Blog at northshoremassgolf.com/wordpress