Ocean State Golf

Wentworth Hills Golf Club

Wentworth Hills

Wentworth Hills is one of many Massachusetts Golf Courses that proves that golf and nature can co-exist.

It’s been over a decade since Lee Trevino made his plea to golf course architects to stop building courses designed to challenge solely the PGA Tour players and start creating tracks that both the average and accomplished golfer could play and enjoy.

Evidently Howard Maurer subscribes to that same theory because the Massachusetts Golf Courses he designed and now sits on the grounds of the former Wentworth Institute of Technology’s field campus in nearby Plainville, Massachusetts is just what the doctor, or in this case the ‘Merry Mex’, ordered.

When Kelli and Bob Baker of Mansfield, Massachusetts first considered purchasing the 155-acre site, “We looked at it as a possible development,” said Bob, who is a home builder. “But after looking at the zoning by-laws it just screamed golf course. It was all wooded with meadows.”

It was a breathtaking slice of nature and the community leaders in Plainville wanted it to stay that way.

“They were afraid it would become 150 houses instead,” he noted. “When we told them we wanted to build a golf course they were thrilled with the idea.” “We couldn’t believe that nobody else saw it that way,” said Kelli Baker.

Anyone visiting Massachusetts Golf Courses of Wentworth Hills, these days will be treated to what amounts to a nature walk with a golf club in their hands. Players will trek through a cathedral of tall pines, hit tee shots over beautifully preserved wetlands and be serenaded by a wide variety of birds who call this place home.

“Even if you don’t play golf you would enjoy this golf course,” said Kelli. And you would, but it’s so much better if you do play and if you do then this is a must play.

It is unlikely that the pro tour will ever come to Massachusetts Golf Course, Wentworth Hills. Even from its gold championship tees it is only 6,114 yards, but that is so deceiving because the course was designed for the thinking player and not for brute strength.

Try overpowering this course without a strategy and you’ll be hitting out of the woods most of the day.

There are four sets of tees on the par four and five holes; The reds are 4,630, whites 5,252 and blues sit at 5,718. Many of the tee shots require the ball to carry a wetland area, but the distances are not too much of a worry for the above average player who would prefer to hit from the gold or blue markers.

Those who are not so accomplished will feel very comfortable hitting from the whites or the reds, which are set in front of the marsh areas. The par 3 holes have six sets of markers. It is one of many Massachusetts Golf Courses designed for everybody and everybody is welcome.

Wentworth Hills golf course is a semi-private course, open to the public while still catering to its membership. It offers outings but Kelli Baker is quick to point out that it will never be closed to its members.

“We have a system that allows us to have an outing or a league on one nine while our members and the public can play the other.” A computer software system helps coordinate everything.

It also allows the Bakers to know who is playing their golf course and how many times. “If you come here and play five times we know it,” said Kelli.

The yardages are exact from the respective markers to the middle of the greens. “We’ve had the entire course GPSed (Global Positioning Satellite), explained Bob.

The greens are unique; velvet bent grass and the fairways are colonial bent and fescue.

The Bakers may own the grounds but it is controlled by superintendent Peter Ohlson, who comes from a storied family of greenskeepers that spans four generations. “Peter treats this land like it’s his own,” smiled Bob. “We have complete faith in him and you can see by the condition of the course that he knows what he’s doing. We’re in magnificent shape.”

Tom Rooney is the PGA professional and holds the course record, with a 66. He was an assistant at Walpole Country Club before moving to Wentworth when it opened in June of 2001.

Then just the first nine holes were playable. The back nine opened a couple years later. “The parking lot has been full ever since,” said Kelli.

The course has already been nominated as one of the best new golf courses in America and next December the winner or winners will be published in “Golf Digest”.

There are several plans for singles, families and corporations, all of which can be found by logging onto the club’s website, www.wentworthhillsgolf.com. There is also a driving range and practice area, which includes a sand bunker. The clubhouse and function facility along with all of the maintenance buildings was already on site when the Bakers purchased the property. “We just converted the buildings that Wentworth Institute had here,” said Bob Baker.

Wentworth Hills is well worth checking out, whether you are looking to join a club or just to spend an enjoyable day on a challenging course, all the while communing with nature.