The Unexpected Return Of The Metacomet Saga

It's been nearly 3 years since Metacomet Golf Club shut its doors for the last time. And it's been nearly 2 years since I had anything to say about it. I really didn't think I'd have anything more to say about Metacomet. And yet, here we are. Golf is returning to the Metacomet site. 

It won't be the golf course Donald Ross designed. The so-called Met Links will only be nine holes, and the back nine is completely gone. Which is a little bit of a shame, since the fourteenth was the course's best hole. In addition, Met Links has to be placed into a space where seven holes were originally. However, five of the original greens on the front were able to be saved and will be incorporated into the future design. That's a little something, at least.

The new course is slated to open in 2024. And while I admit to being a bit curious, Providence is a little far away for me to go and casually check out a nine-hole golf course. So don't expect a review. It's just nice knowing Metacomet isn't completely 100% gone. 

Review: Metacomet Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time for the back nine at the now-former Metacomet Golf Club, go here to see the front nine.

The tenth hole is a very tough par 3, playing 225 yards. It's slightly downhill, but you can't run shots up onto the green, as the hole drops down and then goes back up at the green. Apparently the hole was designed this way, so while it's tough now, it must have been brutal back in the 20s. The green's got quite a lot of tilt from back to front, so you don't want to be above the hole. At least the green is fairly large.

The tenth hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a flat, mid-length par 4 that runs between the parking lot to the rain and a road on the other. It also pulls a trick from Cape Arundel, as the entrance road crosses the fairway about 50 yards from the green. It's out of range from the tee, but still, it's a bit strange. This is what happens with golf courses on small properties, you get some routing quirks. This is a pretty easy hole though, the fairway is wide and the green is on the quieter side. Just avoid the deep bunkers protecting the front left and front right sections of the green and you'll be fine.

The eleventh hole.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole is an absolutely ridiculous par 3. It's 245 yards from the back tees, so it's really long. Honestly, it's so long that playing it as a par 4 and laying up in the fairway is a completely legitimate strategy and something both me and my brothers basically did. Avoid the bunkers and this is an easy 4 and potential 3. And when you've come up against a par 3 this long, that's all you can really ask for. 

The twelfth hole.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is the start of a six-hole stretch of par 4s that closes out Metacomet. It's a bit weird and involves quite a few parallel holes. We start off with a 420 yard hole pressed up against O.B. to the left. Obviously, you'll want to avoid going too far left. The green is flanked by sand but is completely open in the front, and it's fairly flat as well. 

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is only 15 yards shorter than the ninth, which is a par 5, but this one's a par 4. The tee shot is simple enough, although if you can get far enough you'll get a lot more distance as the fairway drops significantly. The left side of the fairway is preferable, as a hill to the right in between the landing area and the green can obscure vision. It's a tough green here as well, as it's kind of domed and runs away at the back. It's a good hole, and a tough one. I'd say more, but I spent way too much time on a different hole entirely thanks to my wayward drives so I don't know if I can corroborate Tom Doak's assertion in the Confidential Guide that this is the best hole in Rhode Island. It is probably the best hole of the two courses in Rhode Island that I've played.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green. This is not an ideal angle.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is 390 yards with a blind tee shot. The two fairway bunkers right are pretty close to the tee, so they're not really in play unless you're a really short hitter playing from the wrong tee. Then the second shot is a wedge or short iron over a cluster of bunkers to a green with significant back to front slope. 

The fifteenth hole.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is a short par 4, measuring just under 350 yards. You can use driver, but doing so means you'll end up in a valley with a semiblind half wedge shot. It may be better to lay up in the flat portion and leave yourself a full wedge and a full view of the green. The green is very well bunkered and tilted from right to left, and falls away at the back right.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole, at the very least, does not play directly parallel to the past four holes. It's 400 yards and the tee shot is very open. No bunkers and just a few trees. Obviously though with the big dogleg, the tee shot is best hit down the left side. The second shot is up the hill to a semiblind green. 

The seventeenth hole.

Approaching the seventeenth green.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is another short par 4, about as long as the sixteenth. It's another wide-open tee shot, and the fairway is pretty much the widest on the course. No bunkers at all. You can hit driver, but then you've got a half-wedge to a fairly shallow green fronted by sand. The second shot is easier if you've got a full wedge into the green so you can get height and/or spin on it.

The eighteenth hole.

The eighteenth green.

So, how big a loss is Metacomet? Well, it's definitely a good course. It's got some quality holes: the second and the fourteenth come to mind right away. The greens are excellent and very tough. But it's also got some fairly dull holes. In that way, it's kind of like Cape Arundel. Sure, the course is 600 yards longer, but it also sits on a property that's very small and has lots and lots of parallel holes. It's got some hills and a few more trees, so it's not quite as easy to navigate, but the underlying issue is basically the same. The closing stretch in particular is just not that interesting to me. Six par 4s is one thing, but they're all parallel to each other and they just don't play that differently from each other, save the fourteenth. The front is definitely the better nine.

In the end, I think it's a bit better than the Donald Ross munies that I've previously reviewed thanks to some interesting greens, but it isn't not a standout or a must-see, especially when you factor in the extra price to play. You could play at Triggs or Shennecossett twice for one round here. But don't worry, we'll be seeing a much better Donald Ross course in a couple months. A course that's a true muni and going stronger than ever.

Review: Metacomet Golf Club (Part 1)

In the 40 or so golf course reviews that I've done, I'm reasonably confident I've never been able to use the word "scandal" to describe the history of any golf course. But the now-closed Metacomet Golf Club, located just a couple miles from downtown Providence, Rhode Island, has been rocked by scandal in the past year. 

I should explain, although if you're an astute reader of Golf Digest you may already know the story. Metacomet is, at its core, a solid old Donald Ross course. It's been doing its thing for about a hundred years, providing a solid experience for its members. Yeah, this was a private course for pretty much all its history. Ultimately though, Metacomet isn't even the best Donald Ross course in Providence, and when you consider just how many excellent Donald Ross courses there are in New England, it is perhaps unsurprising that the club fell into financial trouble. There's a lot of options out there for the discerning, wealthy New Englander. 

That brings us to 2019, when the course was bought up by an investment group that happened to include Brad Faxon. Mr. Faxon is, of course, a well-regarded PGA Tour pro from the 80s and 90s who was one of the best putters of that generation. He also grew up in Providence, and Metacomet was his home course. A hometown legend buying up his childhood home course to save it from near death? That sounds like a feel-good story to me. This investment group made some changes to bring in extra cash, including allowing the public to make a limited number of tee times. So far, so good, right? 

Fast forward a year or so. The first summer of semiprivate golf had a few glitches, but overall the members were satisfied with the direction the course was going until mid-February, when it was announced the club was up for sale. A week later the course was sold. This came out of nowhere, and the members of Metacomet felt betrayed. There were mass resignations, and quite a few sued the management company that had bought the course a year earlier. Brad Faxon said publicly that, while he and the company tried to save Metacomet, the hole they were in was too deep, and they had no choice but to sell. Conflict with local residents of the community about keeping the property green, coupled with the pandemic, prevented Metacomet from closing immediately, but at the end of September, the course officially closed its doors.

Now that we've gotten that sad story out of the way, let's look at what was quite a good, if a bit cramped, Donald Ross course. The first hole is 400 yards and plays significantly downhill, a lot more so than you'd expect for a course that's right near the ocean. Metacomet isn't flat by any means. A nice gentle draw down the middle will run out a lot and leave you with just a wedge into the green. A row of bunkers guards the front and left portion of the green, which is pretty big but quite undulating. Not on the level of Cape Arundel, but they're much faster. If anything, Metacomet's greens were even more treacherous to putt on.

The first hole.

It's not exactly peak scenery, but that is the ocean out beyond the first green.

The first green, featuring some strange person.

The second hole is the longest hole at Metacomet, but it's only 490 yards from the back. This isn't a very long course, which shouldn't be too surprising considering the small size of the property. Bigger than Cape Arundel, to be sure, but not exactly generous. This hole in particularly is squeezed up against a tidal marsh, doglegging 90 degrees to the right. If you're especially bold, you can carry the marsh with the drive and leave yourself with just a wedge into the green. If not, this is best played as a three shot hole. The marsh is close enough to the green to be a threat if you're coming at it from a long way out, but if you've laid up, the bunker left of the green is more of an issue.

You can lay up off to left on the second hole ...

Or you can carry the marsh and go the direct route.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is a fairly short par 4 that plays along the edge of the marsh for the first 250 yards of the hole. This isn't a very wide or inviting fairway, especially with trees overhanging the right side. Unless you can hit a fade, a good drive will end up right underneath a pair of small trees to the left of the fairway. The second shot, if you've used a 3 wood or long iron, will be a wedge or short iron up the hill to a big, semiblind green with a false front that'll send you 20 yards down the fairway if you're not careful.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green, with the seventh hole beyond.

The fourth hole is 435 yards, and it's the first time that Metacomet really flexes its muscle. It may be less than 6,500 yards, but it packs quite a punch. The tee shot is downhill and the fairway bends off to the right. The ideal tee shot cuts off the dogleg, but as my brother found out, there's a tiny stream right of the fairway that can catch slightly pushed drives. Staying right provides a better angle into the green for the second shot, which is a mid iron back uphill into a semiblind green protected by a deep bunker short and left. That bunker is not somewhere you want to be.

The fourth hole.

It's another semiblind approach into the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a mid-length par 3 that plays uphill to a crowned green. No run-up shots on this hole. The green is pretty undulating as well. I don't have too much to say about it otherwise, other than I made a triple bogey on it, so I really don't think I did it right. It's not an outwardly difficult golf course, Metacomet, but if you're not careful, you can really rack up the big numbers.

The fifth hole.

The sixth hole is 425, and the first 200 yards or so play straight uphill to a blind landing area. A couple bunkers which I think are technically on the ninth hole come into play on the left side, but for the most part the fairway is pretty wide open. The second shot is trickier. The green is wide open in front, with the lone bunker protecting the left side, but the green itself is small and not particularly friendly. Plus there's a big dropoff into dense vegetation past the green, so you don't want to go long either. 

The sixth hole, with an actual view of the hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is the shortest hole at Metacomet, playing a downhill 160 yards. This is one of those "hit the green or you're doomed" sort of holes. And even hitting the green is no guarantee, since it's one of the most severe on the course. Long is bad, right is bad, left is bad, and even short isn't great. You can get a glimpse of the marsh through the trees, but not much. This hole could have done with more than a little tree clearing.

The seventh hole.

The eighth hole is kind of a weird hole. The fairway is ridiculously wide, though a bunker does occupy quite a lot of real estate. The hole doglegs about 90 degrees left, so unless you're a really short hitter, it's a fairway wood or long iron off of the tee. If you've avoided the bunker, you'll be left with a short or mid iron over a ravine to a green ringed with three bunkers. It's quite a long carry as well, which is not something you see too often on Donald Ross courses. The green is pretty flat, so if you do get on in regulation, you have a decent chance at birdie.

The eighth hole.

There's a ravine to cross before the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is the final par 5 at Metacomet. That's right, there are no par 5s on the back. So if you want that eagle, you'd better get it here. The hole is just 465 yards, so getting home in two is definitely possible, but the golfer isn't exactly given a generous fairway here. I'm not entirely sure who decided to plant trees on both sides of the hole in such a glaringly artificial way, but this feels less like a golf hole and more like a bowling alley or a quaint boulevard. Not a lot of strategy here, just hit a straight drive and a straight second, and you'll be fine. Fail to do this, and you'll struggle. There are bunkers along the fairway and left of the green, but they pale in comparison with the rows of trees. At least it's not that long a hole.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.

Review: Triggs Memorial Golf Course (Part 2)

It's time for the back nine at Triggs Memorial, go here if you haven't seen the front nine.

The tenth hole is the first of three par 5s on the back nine, and at 513 yards is the longest hole on the course. However, this hole was playing straight downwind, so it was very easily reachable in two. The two bunkers flanking the driving zone weren't a big concern, but the big bunker situated within the confines of the fairway about 50 yards short of the green definitely was. It's easy enough to avoid, of course, but it's extremely threatening. It's got a high, flashed-up face, so it's definitely a place you don't want to be. This hole is still a definite eagle possibility though.

The tenth hole.

That fairway bunker is very conspicuous.

Peeking over the bunker at the tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a short par 4, and in this case, you really can see everything you need to know about the hole from the tee shot. It plays downhill over a small stream, and then back up to the green, fronted by three bunkers. If you can hit a driver 300 yards, I would advise laying up. No need to put your drive into one of those first two bunkers. If you can get over the slope that cuts diagonally across the fairway and onto the right portion of the fairway just before the bunker, your view of the green will be better.

The eleventh hole. There were quite a few people out on the course.

I missed the eleventh fairway by a fair margin.

The twelfth hole is a 200 yard par 3 that plays back over the narrow stream the eleventh hole went across. The stream is about 20 yards short of the front of the green, so a shot that is only slightly short will be okay. And this is not a big stream we're talking about, it's a few feet across at most. But it is there, and it is a hazard. Otherwise, this is a pretty straightforward hole.

The twelfth hole.

The thirteenth hole is a short par 5, about the same length as the third hole, which is a par 4, but they play in opposite directions. This hole also plays in the opposite direction of the tenth hole, so while the thirteenth is 50 yards shorter, it was much more difficult to reach the green in two. The drive has to clear the big fairway bunker if you want to go for the green, not a big deal in calm conditions, but it becomes more problematic into a stiff breeze. Starting around 100 yards from the green is a series of 4 bunkers, staggered on each side. This ensures that whether you're going for the green or not, you'll still have some bunkering to think about. This is definitely one of the best holes on the course.

The tee shot on 13 should clear the fairway bunker.

The thirteenth played into the wind, so two big shots were needed to get home in two.

A slightly closer look at the thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is the shortest hole at Triggs Memorial at just under 160 yards. It's a classic drop-shot par 3, there are several bunkers short, left, and right that you don't want to be in, and long isn't exactly a good option either. This is one of those holes where it's either hit the green or work for your bogey.

The short fourteenth hole.

The fifteenth hole is the final par 5 on the back nine, and is just over 500 yards. The tee shot is not exactly inviting, first you have to go over a marsh, the biggest bunker on the course is lurking on the left side of the fairway, and of course, there's OB very close on the right side. If you can negotiate all that trouble, preferably with a fade, you can have a go at the green. The OB (in the form of a high school football field), continues up the entire right side of the hole, and there are three bunkers around the green, which is quite small. While it may be a short par 5, you need to play it cautiously, otherwise you're going to have to put work in to make par.

There's a lot to process when you tee off on 15.

I like the rolling contour of the fairway here.

The fifteenth green.

The sixteenth hole is a short par 4, and it's been a while since we saw one of those. Four holes in a row without a par 4 is quite unusual. The most important part of this hole is the tree in the corner of the dogleg. Your tee shot has to get past it, otherwise you'll be blocked off from the green. The green has a bunker short-left and right. I'd like to tell you how the hole plays when you play the hole "correctly", but I hit a spectacular hook off the tee and ended up next to the twelfth tee. That basically turned this into a straight hole. If I were to play this course again, I'd forget about laying up, pull out the driver and go straight at the green. I admit, that's not the most elegant strategy, but I'm not a very elegant golfer.

The sixteenth hole.

I have to imagine this isn't the route most people take on 16.

The seventeenth hole is a mid-length par 4 at 410 yards. It was playing straight into the wind, so it was playing the full yardage and then some. There are no fairway bunkers, but missing the fairway left is not recommended, as there's a fairly steep drop-off. Go over there and you'll have a blind shot from a sidehill lie. However, the green does open up more if you're on the left side of the fairway. The options are subtle, but they are there.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is very similar to the seventeenth hole. Same yardage and same direction, so they both played into the wind. This hole has two fairway bunkers, but they're so close to the tee that even into the wind they were basically irrelevant. The green is also defended by two bunkers, but they're not very threatening. I would say this was a good finishing hole, it's not easy, but it's not so difficult that you can't finish with a birdie, but it's just too similar to the previous hole.

The eighteenth hole. It's not very interesting, but I do like the way it looks.

The eighteenth green.

While all three of the golf courses we played during our vacation were pretty good, one had to be the least good, and unfortunately, it was this one. Yes, I started out with my least favorite course. It certainly wasn't bad, I'd put it in the top quarter of the courses I've played, but there was one very specific issue that prevented me from really enjoying this course. The greens were horrifically, abysmally slow. I'm not a fan of super-fast greens, but seriously, it was like we were putting through molasses. You couldn't make anything because you just couldn't get putts to the hole. A pretty common theme of Donald Ross course is that they usually feature greens that slope from back to front, often severely. You really don't want to be above the hole. But here, it absolutely didn't matter where your ball ended up. All matter of subtlety and skill was out the window, what you did was putt as hard as you could and hope it was enough.

Something else that I have to mention is the length of the round. We started at 10 AM on a Tuesday. I know Triggs is in the middle of a city, but I was really not expecting any issue with pace of play. This was a mistake. The course was very busy, and the round took almost 5 hours. Neither of the other two rounds we played took more than 4 hours. It was good that we were allowed to walk, but that is a very slow pace of play for a short golf course with short walks between greens and tees.

In a comparison between Triggs Memorial and Dunedin, it should be no contest. Triggs has the advantage of rolling terrain, it had a rustic sort of aesthetic that I liked, and it has more than a handful of fairway bunkers to provide strategic interest. But the green speeds ruined Triggs. Apparently, they're not always that slow, so I suppose you'll have to take this review with a small grain of salt, but I can't review a course I haven't played. And the course I did play was not as good as Dunedin. I wouldn't necessarily say to give this course a pass, but there are better courses in the area, as you will see in the next couple months.