Introduction to Cape Cod

In this blog post we’re going to explore some of the best private golf courses in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 

Cape Cod is a peninsula which sits on the eastern side of Massachusetts, sitting within the Atlantic Ocean. It is arguably one of the most popular holiday destinations in New England. A range of celebrities and other notable individuals regularly visit on holiday. 

The peninsula has approximately 560 miles of coastline which is littered with nature preserves, quaint towns, glorious beaches and spectacular views. 

It also has plenty of historical significance. Various landmarks such as the Pilgrim Monument and the Nauset Lighthouse are popular with tourists. There’s also the Cape Cod Museum of Art and the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum. 

Regardless of where you’re located on Cape Cod, you’ll be spoiled for quality food. Especially if your preference is seafood. You simply have to try the fried clams or the lobster broiled with butter. It’s making me hungry just writing about it!

But we’re here for the golf, and boy there are some good golf courses on Cape Cod. One of these is even considered as one of the finest golf courses worldwide. Without any further time wasting, let’s jump into Cape Cod’s best private golf courses.

See also: What are the best public golf courses on Cape Cod?

The best private golf courses in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Eastward Ho!

Eastward Ho!, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Adobe

To kick off our list of the best private golf courses on Cape Cod, we simply have to start with the spectacular Eastward Ho! 

Considered one of the finest golf courses in the world, Eastward Ho! is also one of the best links courses out there. Without a doubt it rivals many of the great links golf courses of the British Isles.

The club is located to the far east of Cape Cod, towards Pleasant Bay Village Resort and North Chatham. It occupies a magnificent plot of land which overlooks Little Pleasant Bay. 

Yet the choice of this plot of land is no coincidence. The idea for Eastward Ho! or Chatham Country Club as it was known back then, originated shortly after World War I. 

Cape Cod was growing in popularity as was the game of golf in the United States. Subsequently, a group of prominent Boston businessmen decided to find the perfect location to create a first-class links course.

The objective was simple; to provide the same kind of challenge as those more famous cross-Atlantic courses.

So who to call on to design the course, but someone who had plenty of experience designing such courses. This man was William Herbert Fowler. 

In hindsight, Fowler was an obvious choice. He was responsible for many golf courses ranked as England’s best. Royal North Devon, Saunton, Walton Heath, both courses at The Berkshire to name but a few. So Fowler aligned nicely with the objectives and vision behind the club. 

The course eventually opened in 1922 and ever since then has been regaling anyone who gets the opportunity to play here. 

It’s a traditional out and back links course reaching around the isthmus upon which it is positioned. The terrain is anything but flat. Constant undulations, twists and turns will have you rarely enjoying a flat lie. And then you need to consider the constant crosswinds.

Eastward Ho! is spectacular and is one of the U.S.’s most authentic links layouts.

Cape Cod National Golf Club

Just across the water from Eastward Ho!, close to Brewster, is the superb Cape Cod National Golf Club. 

This private course was the vision of one man, John R. Pfeffer, who acquired 154 acres of land in the mid-90s. Spurred on by friends and family, the next step was commissioning a top class golf course architect. 

Pfeffer managed to do that and more. He hired the services of not one great architect but three, using the New England firm of Cornish, Silva, and Mungeam. 

After a number of years of construction and getting the appropriate planning permission, the course eventually opened in 1998. It was immediately recognised as one of the finest golf courses on Cape Cod and in Massachusetts.

The routing is sensational and is one of the reasons the course is so highly rated. It plots its way through thick woodland, traversing rocks, constant hills and swales. Bunkers have been deftly positioned whilst green complexes vary from straight-forward to penal. 

One slight disappointment is the lack of sea views. But there is enough character and strategy on offer to keep the best golfers entertained and challenged in equal measure. 

See also: What are the best golf courses on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachussetts?

The Club at New Seabury (Ocean Course)

The Club at New Seabury, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Permission Given

Located on Cape Cod’s southern coastline just down the road from Popponsset, is The Club at New Seabury. As far as locations go, this is pretty special. Glorious unabridged views across Nantucket Sound.

The Club at New Seabury is a premier private golf community with spectacular amenities for its members. I mean, where do you start? Multiple pools, two beach clubs, five restaurants, sixteen tennis courts, beach bars, first class fitness center…and the list goes on. It is certainly a privileged lifestyle to be a member here.

And if you are, you can also play two outstanding golf courses. The first class Ocean Course and the shorter sibling, the Dunes course. But the Ocean Course is the one you’ll want to play.

Designed by William Mitchell, it opened for play in 1962. Mitchell’s routing really is a tale of two halves. The front nine is spectacular, with most of its holes running out alongside the ocean. Good luck if the wind is blowing. 

As you would expect, this is also where you’ll find many of the course’s signature holes. 

The closing nine couldn’t be more different. The layout makes its way through dense woodland where you’ll spot the occasional luxury home. Fortunately there is enough foliage and undergrowth to ensure this doesn’t take away from the playing experience. 

Hyannisport Club

Hyannisport GolF Club, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Adobe

There are some special golf courses in Cape Cod, considered some of the finest in the state. Well in Hyannisport Club, you have a prime example of one. Alongside Eastward Ho, Hyannisport is many people’s favorite course here.

It is also one of the oldest, having been established in 1897. 

Similar to The Club at New Seabury, Hyannisport is positioned on the south coast enjoying wonderful ocean views. It is tucked up between West Hyannisport and Hyannis Port, just a short drive from the bigger town of Hyannis. 

Ever since the club was first established in 1897, the course has evolved slowly but surely. What randomly started as an initial six-hole course, was enlarged to nine holes by Alex Findlay in 1902. 

Findlay is known by many as the Father of American Golf, for his work pioneering the game of golf in the country. Throughout his career he was responsible for well over one hundred new golf courses. And even the nine holes at Hyannisport would be up there as some of his finest work.

But clearly it doesn’t stop there. In the 1930s, Donald Ross was belatedly engaged to finally make this into an 18-hole layout. There are few courses which can claim to have had the attention of two of the greats in golf architecture. 

The course’s most enjoyable holes are arguably those positioned in the marshlands. Whilst the remaining holes climb inland, albeit whilst still enjoying magnificent sea views.

From the back tees, it only measures some 6,348 yards. But don’t let that fool you. The marshland holes are tight and when the wind blows, you’ll need to be hitting it straight. And as for the greens, they’re small, well protected and feature numerous run offs. But boy is it fun!

See also: What are the best golf courses in Nantucket Island, Massachussetts?

Woods Hole Golf Club

Only one other club on Cape Cod can claim to have an older heritage than Woods Hole Golf Club. The Cummaquid Golf Club was founded in 1895 with Woods Hole shortly thereafter. 

What Woods Hole can claim though, is that it’s the golf course furthest south on the Cape. The nearby town of Woods Hole really is as far south as you can get and it is from here you can pick up the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. 

In the early days, the club was initially host to a nine-hole layout. This was eventually enlarged to eighteen holes in 1919. 

The work to transform this into a championship 18-hole layout was done by Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek. Stiles and Van Kleek were two of the finest architects during the Golden Age of golf course architecture. And Woods Hole is just another of many great courses they were responsible for. 

The plot of land is stunning, featuring significant elevation changes and undulations. This then runs downhill to where the course banks onto the Quissett Harbor. 

Large sections of the course are open with fescue grass lining the pristine fairways. Whilst other parts meander through thick verdant woodland. 

Sacconnesset Golf Club

Sacconnesset Golf Club, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Photo courtesy of Mark Lawhorne

This is a special golf course and an even more impressive club. 

Sacconnesset seems to embody everything that is fine and enjoyable about golf. A picturesque setting, an emphasis on camaraderie. And to top things off, a superb golf course designed by one of the great architects of his age, Rees Jones.

The club is just a short drive north of Falmouth, literally hugged up next to The Cape Club. This is the same Cape Club highlighted as being the best public course on the Cape.

You can read about it here: What are the best public golf courses on Cape Cod?

Some people may remember the club previously being called The Golf Club of Cape Cod. But regardless of what you know Sacconnesset as, you’ll certainly remember the top class Rees Jones routing. 

Stretching out across the rolling hills, Jones has created a modern masterpiece which opened in 2007. 

Undulating fairways are tree-lined and treacherous. Claw-shaped bunkers are strategically positioned to gobble up loose shots. While perfectly manicured greens roll true and fair. This is a true test of golf so pick your tee box carefully.

If visiting, make sure you spend some time in the wonderful clubhouse. Enjoying a cold drink on the patio is the perfect vantage point overlooking the course.  

Wianno Golf Club

Wianno Golf Club, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Adobe

In Osterville, on the route to Hyannis, is the Wianno Club. Positioned on a bluff overlooking Nantucket Sound, this is a scenic location. 

This is an enthralling layout which first came to life in 1916. The original nine-holes were laid out by Len Biles, an English pro at the club. 

Whilst in 1920 the esteemed Donald Ross oversaw the project of transforming Wianno Golf Club into the eighteen hole layout we have today. More recently the club has employed the services of Gil Hanse to ensure it stays relevant and refined.

But how do you even begin to encapsulate the experience at Wianno? Short, quirky, fun, tough, unconventional. This may not be the best golf course on Cape Cod, but it is certainly one of the most entertaining. 

With mind-blowing undulations on many fairways, you’ll rarely have a lie which isn’t hitting up or downhill. There is such variety throughout, with so many memorable holes. 

But things really come to life when playing the par 3s which are great fun. Be it hitting over water to a small green. Or approaching greens surrounded by a litany of bunkers, like the seven bunkers on the 11th…this is awesome stuff.

From the back tees, the course only measures just over 6,000 yards. But please don’t let this put you off. Every yard is hard fought and well pondered. 

This is great fun golf and a welcome respite from many of the more serious challenges out there.

See also: What are the best public golf courses in Boston, Massachussetts?

Oyster Harbors Club

Oyster Harbors Club, Cape Cod, Massachusetts - Permission Given Facebook - resized

Oyster Harbors Club is located on its own private island, only accessible from another island, on a small road from Osterville. It may not surprise you this is a private club, and one which has been here since the early 1920s.

The club engaged that man again, the great Donald Ross whose mark is on so many golf courses on Cape Cod. His mission was to design a first class golf course to feature as the main attraction in the newly developed resort.

The course opened in 1926 and is very much the layout we still play today. Ross created a superb routing which makes great use of the naturally rolling topography. 

He also inserted a large number of sizable bunkers. You’ll find many of the greens are extremely well protected by these sand hazards. Hitting approach shots short could end up being a long day. 

The course is even more playable following the work done by Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design firm. Engaged in the early 2000s, they reshaped bunkers and removed much of the tree growth which was encroaching significantly. 

What is the best private golf course on Cape Cod, Massachusetts?

The best private golf course on Cape Cod is the iconic Eastward Ho! Located to the far east of the peninsula, it was designed by William Herbert Fowler and opened for play in 1922. It is widely considered to be one of the best links golf courses in the country.

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