Pinehills Golf Membership in Plymouth is not any stranger to me. I’m a variety member and I play there no less than a handful of instances a yr. However by some means, one of many two programs within the 36-hole arrange had eluded me. I’d at all times let the starters decide, and the powerful, lovely and completely fulfilling Jones Course was at all times the place I landed. And I imply: how can something be higher than that?
Holy lush fairways and surroundings, golf pals: The Nicklaus Course is all I’d heard and extra. Lush and target-friendly fairways, impeccably maintained greens that demand your focus, thick pine forest edges that provide you with a way of privateness at an excellent busy place, and a hole-by-hole set-up that permits you to use all of your golf equipment however provides you so many possibilities for potential glory, it was love at first spherical for the Nicklaus and me.
Is it higher than Jones? I’d name it a full-on tie, however a tie between two distinctly distinctive tracks. Name us a throuple, I’d say.
We teed off on an ideal climate Saturday. This summer time’s warmth had abated for a bit and a mushy breeze blew throughout the spectacular panorama.
Arrival at Pinehills (www.pinehillsgolf.com/) – whichever course you select – units the tone straight away. With its personal membership vibe (you generally is a full member at Pine Hills, a variety member or a public day participant) everyone seems to be handled with superior service. The upbeat employees loaded our swanky GPS-enabled golf cart (with a telephone charging port; necessary these days for these of use who use Apps like Golfshot) and pointed us within the course of the enjoyable.
First cease: their excellent apply facility. It’s as removed from an afterthought constructed up on further land as a facility will be; I’d argue it takes up prime actual property. No must buy a bucket of balls; employees retains you loaded up on all you want on the vary. Two apply placing greens and a chipping space spherical it out. I counsel arriving an hour early; you gained’t need to skip utilizing this space.
A filtrated water and ice machine sit on the prepared so you may keep forward on hydration, and the courseside clubhouse is at all times busy in one of the best ways.
However that’s simply your appetizer. Our identify was referred to as out on a speaker (no must hold checking your watch), and we headed to Nicklaus (par 72, 7,243 from the ideas).
The primary gap units the tone that may stick with us: Lush, mature pines create a thick border across the whole gap; supplying you with the sensation of solitude. Truthfully, even on this busy summer time Saturday, we barely see one other individual and essentially the most fixed sounds are these of nature. An osprey glides above us with ease; the ocean is shut although we can’t see it.
We tee off and I blast it up the center of the lengthy and comparatively extensive fairway. Nicklaus isn’t straightforward, nevertheless it’s …. What would I name it? … encouraging. These fairways provide the confidence to let it rip and for me on at the present time, it pays off nicely.
That first par 4 is the proper warm-up gap. It’s adopted by a course that adjustments your view and your plan for every gap. The second, a par 5, tosses in a mellow dogleg, a warm-up for some tremendous intense doglegs you’ll tackle later in your spherical. The third, a par 3, lets me know proper off that Nicklaus doesn’t simply increase your ego on its par 3s; it makes you assume and work.
As you play, you’ll discover some semi-elevated greens, bunkers that make you’re employed however provide you with a preventing likelihood, and only some water spots. To me, a happy-in-the-90’s golfer, it’s just like the course is cheering me on, however not in an underestimating approach. There are not any gimmes on the Nicklaus, and I like that. The opposite three who make up my group are inclined to shoot within the low 80s they usually had been delighted as nicely.
On the flip there’s slightly store the place we snagged actually yummy bloody marys and I had a scorching canine that rivaled Fenway (that’s no small praise from me). And all the way in which alongside, that magnificence and peace.
At one level I puzzled if you happen to would possibly really feel too alone on the market when, from throughout one other fairway, we heard “Oh F*&^!!!!” and a spherical of guffaws.
“Oh, that’s simply Jeff,” my fellow gamers informed me. “You do hear that, significantly from him, typically!” Pinehills, and the Nicklaus, are posh wanting however have the guts of the everyman golfer, it appears. I like that.
Publish play we rolled again in and after the employees polished and saved our golf equipment till we had been able to go, we grabbed a drink and a chunk on their beautiful clubhouse/restaurant verandah. The apply vary was nonetheless hopping, a marriage social gathering was posing for images and round a hearth pit, golfers shared drinks and laughs. I didn’t hear any “F*&^s” however I guess Jeff was amongst them.
Pinehills isn’t low-cost right now of yr, however I’d argue it’s value each penny. And are available fall, costs will drop. Get down there and meet Nicklaus. And if you happen to hear a shout, that’s in all probability simply Jeff.
At posh Pine Hills, all of us are at our house course,
