What a hill! Will these two intrepid walkers make it up to Amesbury's 9th green?
Amesbury Country Club is a relatively short but challenging nine-holer designed by Wayne Stiles. It contains three instantly memorable holes: the 230-yard par three 2nd, for its challenge and (possibly excessive!) pond guarding the green, the short par four 6th, for its alternate greens bracketing a pond, and the par four 9th, for its crazily uphill terrain and 10-foot high flagstick. Amesbury's nine is played over rocky land, and the design works with the undulating landscape as opposed to fighting the severe slopes. Amesbury is the epitome of a small-town club, kept in decent but unremarkable condition, and containing a plethora of holes where par can be earned by the weekend golfer.
Amesbury's first tee is in a perfect location: it sits directly in the shadow of the clubhouse, but high, high above the first fairway getting your blood pumping on the first swing of the day. The hole plays 387 yards, but can play much shorter if you're confident enough to send driver sailing into the narrowing valley far below. A unique boulder jutting out of the beginning of the fairway marks a great line to aim over with a draw. The 2nd hole at Amesbury is as hard a par three as I've tackled: as if 230 yards weren't enough, a small pond guards the front right of the green (where the majority of weak shots end up), and the green itself is canted severely back to front. Take your three (or four!) and run to the third tee!
Looking back, challenging sidehill topography defends the 530-yard 5th.
The 5th hole at Amesbury is special in the way it flows around the corner of its dogleg. The hole bends to the right around a hill, with everything falling toward the left side of the fairway. This reverse-camber dogleg virtually forces a hard left-to-right shot to have any hope of holding the short grass. I thought I hit a good faded drive only to find my ball deep in a hollow through the left side. Next time, got to have even more turn on the ball. The approach is to a green benched into the same hillside falling off to the left; with the ball well above the feet for the approach, it's easy to pull the approach and have it bound well away from the green.
You choose the green at the short par four 6th hole.
The 6th at Amesbury is a fun drivable par four at 299 yards from the elevated middle tee... unless you choose after your drive to loft your second shot over the pond to a new green 50 yards behind the original target! I think the original green is in a superb location to tempt strong golfers to have a go at it, and possibly make a big number in the process. Placed directly behind a pond on the line from the tee, going straight at the hole takes great distance precision. The smart play is to hit left of the green, but a narrow stream trails off that way making even that option a bit dangerous. Any way you play the 6th, decisions must be made and then executed well. After the long par four 7th to a green tucked nicely on a hillock, the 181-yard par three 8th features the best green complex on the course. The neat green is across attractive broken ground, and features a hump within the putting surface along with excellent interior undulations that can quickly sweep golf balls off the green and into adjoining bunkers. Amesbury Country Club finishes on a 395-yard par four that seems to almost angle skyward to the heavens. The drive dies directly into the slope, which feels nearly vertical as you climb it. The second shot is as uncomfortable as I've felt swinging a 7-iron, as just keeping your balance when your front foot is 2 feet above your back foot is challenge enough! The vision of your white ball appearing on the 9th green as you trudge up to the clubhouse's elevation is a sight for sore (or perspiring?) eyes.
Amesbury is a solid golf course, and a very good deal for golfers located north of the Boston area. I would strongly suggest remembering to bring the golf spikes out of the trunk for the round, however... as never has pure traction been the most important factor in finishing the last hole of a round in my experience!
Course Rating: 4 stars out of 10
Bang for your $18 bucks: 7 stars out of 10
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