Sunday River

My wife and i are up from Florida this summer to play some mountain golf in VT, NH and Maine. We have skied Sunday river years ago with our children but wanted to return and check out the course. i read mixed reviews in the past and visited the property last year but didn’t get a chance to play it. we play a lot of golf about 3+ times a week year round.

First impression you see an impressive log cabin clubhouse which overlooks the putting green and first hole with mountains in the background…

The staff seemed reasonably friendly and attentive. Eveyone was helpful when asked the usual where, how and why questions about the course .

The positives:

- The mountain view’s are dramatic and different on each hole.

- the layout is great with crazy elevation changes off many tee boxes. i had some insane hang times and loooong ball flights on some of the holes.. this alone was worth it for me. Club selection is key on par threes as the elevation and wind will confound you.

- wide fairways, heavy bluegrass and fescue rough . In a few places you could easily lose balls in the rough. Outside the rough is dense forest, you hit it there and your ball is history.

- fairway conditions were good in most places. i had good lies when i was in the fairway. In the rough it was playable but you will be tested to hit a wood from it.

negatives:

- greens were being punched so those holes were impossible to get a fair or smooth roll. the ones that hadn’t been punched yet were ok. I prefer fast and firm. these were in good condition but could be shorter and rolled for a better experience. I know they have to punch them from time to time but you should be made aware of it while making tee times. also since putting is about 30-40% of the game there should be an appropriate discount off the price during these periods.

- pace of play. my round was 5 hours 15 min. there were some walkers ahead of me. this is NOT a walkable course. Luckily it didn’t bother me much as there was a lot to look at.

- no cell signal in most places (that is good and bad but when waiting i couldn’t check my phone)

- carts don’t have electronics with layout and distances displays. Bring your range finder WITH slope calculations!

-clubhouse prices are way to high. i just had drinks and a snack but after that i didn’t even look at the dinner menu and went into town for dinner.

Overall it was a fun and challenging day. this is a course where if you catch it in its prime condition it will be one of the most memorable rounds of the year. it is in good shape when i played it, would love to come back and play it in is prime.

i give it a generous 8 out of 10 overall. the views made up for most of the negatives

So I just played here and was surprised it wasn’t that busy. Must be the course condition. The biggest gripe I had was the crew working on the course. They didn’t seem to care if I was teeing off and would drive in the fairway while I was in the tee box. It kind of put me in an awkward position as I didn’t feel comfortable teeing off most of the time. Another incident was that someone got off their mower and literally kicked my ball out of the way. I understand they are doing their job but all the other places I’ve played they would wait for you to hit them go back to doing what they were doing. I almost called it quits as it put me in a bit of a bad mood. I’ll definitely wait for the course to dry out before I go back so I don’t need to play and work around the field crew.

Easily one of the most beautiful courses i have played in maine, the staff are exceptional and helpful.

Need improvements in carts because the top of the cart was filled with water and when playing i pared on a hill for the green and it started dripping (did not noticed) and my range finder was on a tube of the cart and got damages and is not functioning

BUT the course took responsibility and told me they would get me a new range finder

Decided to hit the course early which was great. Early fog made it more challenging but I had some idea of the layout having played before. Course conditions were very good although morning dew and surprisingly wet conditions made the course longer.

Greens were excellent and were moderately fast. I love the layout with many changes in elevation as it is a mountain course.

Staff was friendly and helpful. Definitely going back.

Course was in excellent shape. Fast greens and beautiful fairways. Loved it, will definitely be back!

Sunday River was a delight: beautiful, in great shape; and very well designed. Our good luck was to play with a member. He told us what would work and where danger lurked. The key is to not use your driver unless you can see where the ball can land.

The greens were excellent and initially a bit slow (a 9), then as the day warmed up they got faster (10 or so).

The food and beer in the restaurant was quite good.

Play on a Sunday, we did not have to wait to hit a shot and never saw anyone behind us.

Great round. Watch the weather. This is a beautiful mountain layout with fickle weather patterns. First round was rained out by #11. 2nd try was a beautiful day fitting for great day on the course. Worthy of a trip to Maine to play golf.

First time playing the course. I arrived at the course this morning 20 minutes early to warm up and the staff moved my tee time up without giving me a choice so I couldn’t get any practice swings. The course views are gorgeous and the course conditions were great given the recent rain however there was no ranger on the course to manage pace of play. The foursome in front of us shot multiple times each hole and the front nine was 3 hours. The group was not waiting on anyone in front of them to warrant their pace. The terrible pace of play ruined the round for me and I quit after 9 because I couldn’t do a 6 hour round. I wish they would have managed the pace because the views on this course are great and I would have enjoyed playing 18 today.

I play this course several times a year, and it is physically a beautiful place. I played in May, 2021, and although the fairways and tee boxes were very good, the greens are still in poor condition from last year. I was very discouraged to make good shots around a tough course only to arrive at greens that were not puttable.

This is my first course review and I am compelled to write it due to my disappointment in the conditions of the course while still paying the full price. All the pictures, flyovers, and course descriptions are currently a bit of a bait and switch. I understand harsh winters and dry hot summers can wreak havoc on a golf course but this late in the year there should be some recovery with proper care. Fairways are burned and greens were inconsistent with balls bouncing on the way to the hole. Tee boxes are in terrible shape and the condition of the practice range is awful.

The staff was very nice but just mildly apologetic about the course. We had a couple very slow groups ahead of us who were playing in a scramble and treated the course with little respect and couldnt care less that there was a group behind them.

More nitpicky, but for how this course is advertised. I thought they cut corners on a few things. The tee markers are just colored blocks of wood, and the signs for the next tee box look like they came from Lowes.

I would return if course conditions returned to as advertised but for the price and time to get there, it might be a one and done.

We have been considering playing for a number of years, passing the course a number of times. Disappointed! The course layout is challenging but fair. Whites are short. Long ball hitters must play blues or better. The condition of the course was really poor. Un-puttable and ironically for a dry year, the course was very wet. A lot of winter damage to the greens. Traps and other features were not well maintained. It's obvious that there is so much more potential, a Trent Jones design, conditions were very disappointing. Thoroughly enjoyed the views and perfect weather and plan to revisit hoping conditions improve.

The views and course design are A+. The condition of the course used to match that A+ back a few years ago, but it's gone downhill significantly. They've let poa anna grass creep into many of the greens, and it's nearly taken over the practice putting green completely.

The tee boxes used to be like carpet. They're in very poor shape now. The practice range teeing area used to be fantastic, like carpet, and rotated frequently. Now it looks much worse than the poor tee boxes on the course, with little grass.

Overall it's worth playing, but for what they're charging it's nowhere near the value it used to be back when Harris Golf ran the course.

We found out about the course through their Instagram and thought it’d be worth to check it out. Turns out course is no where near the shape they are advertising. We had to pay full rate to putt on some of the worse greens we have played on this year. If they had discounted it wouldn’t have been bad but to pay full rate was disappointing.