Course: Bayberry Hills Golf Course

Location: West Yarmouth, MA

Date Played: July 7, 2007

Played By: Ross

Overall Rating: 59

Friendliness of Staff: 8
There are two women that are normally working the front counter in the pro shop that are relatively user friendly. The starter, John, is a great guy. Outgoing, funny and pleasant to talk to. The scorecard says there will be rangers on the course expediting play but we did not encounter anyone on the course. The wait staff in their so-called "restaurant" are also pleasant and found us a deck of cards for some games of pitch after our round.

Facilities/Pro Shop: 5
The first thing you notice driving up to the course is their driving range, which is sizeable, but located a distance away from the clubhouse. They have 2 putting greens that are enormous. One of them has to be the biggest I've ever seen locally. Their facilities are something that need help, other than maybe their pro shop. The pro shop has a decent selection of merchandise to purchase for what seems to be the norm of around $50 for a nice shirt, but without a nice logo. Their bathroom in the pro shop wasn't great but wasn't horrible either. What they call their 19th hole/restaurant is basically a cafeteria....more on that later. This course has a ton of potential to be a valued banquet spot but it needs help, expansion and renovations.

Quality/Value of Food/Snacks: 7
Well considering they have a grille in their 19th hole and the only thing listed on their menu board inside is a hot dog or a hamburg, leaves something to be desired. They offer basic snack food, drinks, chips and cookies. There really isn't much to order here. I will make a strong note, however, that their steamed Kayem hot dogs are amazing...some of the best I've ever had. So good we all had to order another one. The bad news was that when we were finished our round at about 5:00, the steaming machine was shut down and the dogs had to be grilled...oh well.

Fairway Conditions: 8
For the most part, their fairways and tee boxes were in decent shape but needed some work here and there. Don't let the first fairway throw you, they get much better from there. They were pretty green and plush and seemed to drain reasonably well and it's obvious they get enough water.

Greens Conditions: 4
By consensus in our group, this has to be the worst aspect of the entire course, even though most people who either play here or like the course I'm sure would argue with me. They have to be the slowest greens I've ever played on. If you're familiar with Blue Rock and have played there before, these greens make them look like lightning fast! The problem here is they look GREAT. They're gorgeous colored and don't have alot of blemishes on them but they're extremely furry and are cut longer, making for extremely uneven rolls and bumps along the way. Each of us must have had at least 10 putts apiece take hard left or right turns a couple inches before the cup. One second it looks like your ball is going in the center of the cup and the next thing you know it misses by 4 inches. The strong message we send to Bayberry Hills is CUT YOUR GREENS SHORTER, and you'll get a better roll. Very frustrating putting on their greens, your ball does not act the way it should or is supposed to....keep that in mind playing here until they decide to cut their greens shorter.

Scenery: 7
As I mentioned briefly earlier, this course has a lot of potential. It's set back in the woods with a great location. There's nothing spectacular for views or anything like that, but it's a fairly attractive area to play golf in. With some new design ideas and slight changes it could be excellent. Specifically, the par-5 on the white course that has a split fairway at about the 75-100 yard area. The left side of the split is all brown and isn't appealing at all to look at, but if they turned it into fairway it would add just a bit more presence to the hole.

Difficulty of Course: 6
f you don't play this course often enough you'll be frustrated. There are several holes on the red course where you can hit a perfect, dead-center, 300 yard drive off the tee and be in the woods or the rough, but you wouldn't know it from the tee and the course doesn't tell you. This course can prove to be challenging if you don't, OBVIOUSLY, putt well or don't strategically hit your irons to targets on the green. There are quite a few greens that are very well-protected by large bunkers directly in front of the pin. There are holes, however, that are easier with good drives and approach shots. There was a stretch of holes on the white course where I was 2-under after 8 holes of play and I by NO means am a scratch golfer. It isn't a long course either, only measuring 6,100 yards from the regular white tees, it jumps to about 6,500 when you play the blues and nearly 7,000 from the tips.

Value Received: 5
This, too, has to be one of the worst aspects of the course. For them to charge $81 to play here, which is a decent amount more than others in the area, and not have nice facilities and a great 19th hole is absurd. This course is definitely over-priced for what you get in return. What you get is a nice wooded area with a decent course and good staff but not much else beyond that. If they want to continue to be one of the preferred courses in the area they should pay attention to what they offer beyond the course itself and the entire experience surrounding it.

Speed of Play/Design of Course: 6
It's interesting, one of the first things you read is they try their best to get you finished within 4 to 4 1/2 hours; well that did not happen. It was more like 5 to 5 1/2 hours for our foursome. This course gets quite a bit of play and expect delays. The design of the course is solid with some nice holes and set back in the woods. The category has tremendous potential but they absolutely need course rangers out on the course expediting play, as they clearly advertise they do on the scorecard. Again, we did not encounter any ranger on the course the whole day.

19th Hole: 3
I guess to sum it up, Non-Existent. What they call their restaurant is more of a cafeteria, with their old-school board menu and snack food. They don't even have any beer on tap! They a limited selection of bottled and canned beer and that's about it, with a small selection of liquor. They have one tiny TV in the corner that isn't too easy to see. Itr needs help bigtime! The staff is great but that alone doesn't cut it.

There is not a beer cart on the course.

Comments:
I have played this course quite a bit and decided to go back and rate it recently and was pretty disappointed with what we encountered. With all the changes to golf in general and the increased competition, especially on the Cape, Bayberry definitely needs some work. They could use a marketing pro to help them improve in some areas. I'd much rather go play one of the Dennis courses for alot less expensive and get much more in return. Heck the 19th hole at the Highlands is great! If you do play here, bring your patience with you for the greens and make sure you utilize the drive-up bag drop area because it's a hike carrying your clubs from the parking lot up to the clubhouse on a hot day! They ought to consult an architect/design pro that could recommend some minor changes that would help the look and feel of the course. While certainly Marketing and Design has costs associated with them, are those risks you can afford to take in this market today?