The Best In Dennis

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce has no official figures on the number of people who move to Cape Cod because of the incredible deals residents get at town-owned golf courses. One can only guess at the actual number, but former chamber director Mike Frucci, as far back as 10 years ago, claimed that there was a substantial number of new, year-round residents relocating to the Cape because of it's golf courses.

Ask Dennis Penner, Director of Golf for the town of Dennis, how much play has increased over the past decade and how many new residents have come to town. There is clear correlation between the numbers. Presently there are over 2,000 members of the town's two golf facilities, and there are the preliminary machinations afoot to build a third municipal course.

One of the many reasons that Dennis is such a popular town in which to reside is the golf options you can enjoy. Not only is it a bargain for residents to join the two town courses for under $500 a season, but it is also a fact that both venues - Dennis Highlands Golf Course and Dennis Pines Golf Course - are quality courses that demand good golf if you hope to shoot a decent score.

It is no secret that Dennis has produced some of the best amateur golfers in the state. The town's roster includes the likes of Kevin Carey, a three-time State Mid-Amateur Champion, three-time Cape Cod Amateur Champion, three-time Seagulls Fourball Champion with his partner, another Dennis member, Joe Walker (who was the runner-up in the 1998 state Public Links Championship). Other top-flight players hailing form Dennis are George Medeiros, the reigning Cape Cod Amateur Senior Champion, Jim Horvath, the 1979 Cape Cod Amateur Champion who teamed up with Carter Fasick to win the 2000 Seagulls Fourball Championship. The three dominant junior golfers in the state for the past four years, Brennt Wanner, Ken Lewis and Mike Carbone, also hail from Dennis. And one of the reasons for the continued success of Dennis golfers in competition is the courses these golfers play.

It was in 1996 that the Town of Dennis joined its next-door neighbor, Yarmouth, in the municipal golf business. Golf course architect Henry C. Mitchell was hired to design a golf course that would serve tow purposes - to provide the residents of Dennis a golfing venue and also to lure into town those lucrative golfing dollars that were being spent at other towns on the Cape.

Mitchell designed a simple, quality course, Dennis Pines, which stretches to over 7,000 yards from the tips. It winds its way through 170 acres of pine-forest on the northside of the town. To score well at Dennis Pines, accuracy is a must. If you factor in for distance, you end up with one of the toughest layouts on Cape Cod. Stray from the fairways, and you can start searching for a calculator to tabulate your final score.

"The Pines," as it is called by the locals, forces a golfer to be proficient with just about every club in the bag. Holes range in length from (playing the middle tees) the 172-yard 13th hole, the farthest point from the clubhouse, to the 518-yard 12th hole, as tough a par-5 as there is on Cape Cod. The strength of Dennis Pines, however, lies in its par4 holes that range in length from the 344-yard 16th, which requires a lay-up tee shot, to the demanding 442-yard eighth hole.

The simplicity of Mitchell's design lies in the fact that, for the most part, what you see is what you get. An exception is the 12th, a dogleg left that is somewhat of a blind tee shot. Otherwise, the rest of the course is there for the taking. Bunkers and water hazards are clearly visible, and it all comes down to hitting your shot to the spot from which you can best hit the next one.

A number of run-up greens benefit the golfer who does not feel comfortable lofting a lob shot to an elevated green. There are, however, strategically placed green-side bunkers that demand accuracy for that type of shot into the green.

Dennis Pines is a shot maker's course that demands precision and length. Mitchell eases you into the course with a pair opening holes that are not all that long, but they do require accurate tee shots to set up your approach to the green. He does the same thing on the back nine with two initial par-4's that require pinpoint-accurate tee shots to place you in position to score. After the opening tandem on each side, the course turns on the heat with dogleg par-5's and a par-3 that will test your mettle.

Though front and back nines of Dennis Pines are similar in concept, their designs are decidedly different, and boredom will never be a factor. The front nine works its way through the woods, while the back nine appears a bit more wide-open - despite its four water holes.

The 10th and 11th holes circle the biggest body of water on the course. Players approaching the 11th are likely to send a ball splashing into the pond, for the hole slopes slightly toward the water.

The 15th hole is a par 5 with water on each side of the straight fairway. Long hitters keep their drivers in their bags, as they can easily put an off-line tee shot into one of the hazards. The next hole, the short 365-yard 16th, requires a lay-up tee shot, again to avoid the water that protrudes into the left side fairway.

Both nines end with solid par-4's that require accurate and long tee shots to hit into well-protected greens.

With success of Dennis Pines and the rising demand for more golf facilities in town, Dennis Highlands was added in 1984.

This course is very different from its elder sibling. Michael Hurdzan and Jack Kidwell, designers of the Highlands, came up with a course that is more wide open than Dennis Pines and about 500 yards shorter from the tips;

Hurdzan, who was also the architect of Mashpee's Willowbend Club and, more recently, Widow's Walk in Scituate, made up for the lack of distance and more generous landing areas by endowing tricky greens. Most greens are elevated - with subtle breaks and multiple tiers. Perhaps the most treacherous green on the course is the three-tiered seventh.

There is a wide range of different types of holes from the short 100-yard ninth hole to the 557-yard 15th. Perhaps the main strength of Dennis Highlands is the way the course moves along so fluidly without any pretentions. There are no gimmicks, just straight golf. There are lots of rewards for well-struck shots as well as severe penalties for errant ones. It is a course where, if you can get it going, you can post a low number ; Paul Parajaeckis shot a course-record 61 in a recent NEPGA Pro-Am event.

As with Dennis Pines, the opening hole eases you into your round and then confronts you with an uphill, dogleg par-5 to an elevated green. It is a quick wake-up call and, if you are not prepared for it, a big number is possible.

With its elevated tee high above the 175-yard par-3 hole, the third hole is perhaps the course's most scenic. It has the classic feel of an old-time New England design.

The fourth and fifth holes, though not long, are demanding. They should be easy par-4's, but a lapse in thinking can be costly.

Next come the three powerful holes, starting with the toughest on the golf course, the 427-yard, par-4 sixth to an elevated, two tier green. A par here is a very good score indeed. The seventh, with that treacherous three-tiered green, is a lengthy par-3 hole (186 yards). Get on the wrong shelf and three putts are definitely in the offing.

The back nine is 400 yards longer than the front and relies more on distance than the front nine to offer a solid challenge. There are no weak holes on this nine, which features the course's two longest holes in a four-hole stretch. The 15th is a 557 yard par-5 with an elevated green. Only real bombers get there in two, as the hole usually plays into the prevailing wind. The 546-yard 18th hole can be reached in two - if the drive catches one of the areas that funnels the ball down the fairway into good position to reach the green in two.

The Highlands is host to one of New England's best four-ball competitions in the fall, the two-day Dennis Highlands Fourball Championship, which features many of the top players in the state and region.

According to Penner, Dennis' two municipal courses each send through 60,000-65,000 golfers per year. Despite the amount of play both courses receive, their maintenance staffs deserve high praise for the usually fine course conditions that greet golfers.

When you play golf in Dennis, there are no pretentions - just two fine golf courses, each with its own distinctive style. If you want good golf, Dennis has it in spades.