The Morning Sentinel

LOCAL GOLF

It's time to play golf

By Gary Hawkins ghawkins@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

This is the time of year Mainers plan vacations to Myrtle Beach or Cape Cod in search of their spring golf fix. This week, though, they can play right here in central Maine.

Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro opened seven of its 36 holes over the weekend and plans on having 21 open by Wednesday. If you discount a span when the course opened briefly during a January thaw a few years ago, the March 6 opening is the earliest on record.

"We had about 90 players on Sunday when I stopped counting," clubhouse manager Rob Browne said.

Browne knows how fickle Maine weather can be. When the course opened March 23 a few years ago, a big snowstorm followed that closed the course for nearly two weeks. Natanis generally is the first course to open in central Maine, somewhere around the first or second week in April. Last year, many area courses didn't open until late April.

At least two courses in the southern part of the state, Nonesuch in Scarborough and Toddy Brook in North Yarmouth, had 18 holes open over the weekend. The Meadows in Litchfield plans to open Thursday.

Natanis has an open house scheduled for March 20-21 which almost always occurs before the course opens. Monday, Browne was scrambling to stock the clubhouse with merchandise as golfers drifted in and out. The course is dry enough for just about all the holes to open, he said.

"It's just a matter of getting the crew out there," he said.

Natanis didn't charge greens fees over the weekend but will charge $21 for nine holes and $28 for 18 this week.

According to course superintendent Allen Browne, the greens are in the best shape they've been in the last 15 years. Last year, many greens in central Maine took a beating because they were covered in ice much of the winter. That wasn't the case this winter, although Browne took precautions by covering problem greens with peat moss or solar blankets.

The course is quite dry for this time of year -- there is no frost in the ground -- and Browne is concerned about getting the sprinkler system ready in time. Carts could also be in use by the end of the week, weather permitting.

A poor economy and lots of rain last season combined to hurt business at most Maine courses, although Natanis maintained a steady rate through membership and the nearly 100 functions that it hosted. Browne said the course averages between 30-40 thousand rounds a year, making it the state's busiest course.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com