To say that golfing venues abound in Plymouth is an understatement as it is home to a staggering ten golf courses, which offer a broad range of difficulty and amenities. These range from casual par 3 atmosphere of The Village Links to the challenging formality of the two Pine Hills eighteens. It also includes the View's favorite course, Atlantic Country Club. All told, the Town hosts over 200 holes of golf. This might not raise many eyebrows in Myrtle Beach, but its quite notable in frosty New England. Accessibility is excellent with seven of the courses open to the public, but two of the private courses, Plymouth CC and White Cliffs, seem to be actively recruiting members. Only the new ultra-private, and ironically-named, Old Sandwich course shields its 163 members, each of whom shelled out a reported $200K initiation fee, with a guarded entrance that prohibits un-invited visitors. What was it that Groucho Marks said about private clubs? But we digress.
We were over at Waverly Oaks last Saturday, playing the nine-hole Executive course with friends as part of an impromptu Nine & Dine. The well-maintained nine-hole is an interesting course that can provide just enough of a challenge to make it an interesting golf experience while still being kind to golfers preferring shorter courses. As an aside, the adjacent eighteen-hole course is not only one of the most attractive golf courses in Plymouth, but perhaps in New England.
The significance of last Saturday's outing was that had the movie studio development plan had gone forward as planned, The Executive would have been under excavation in preparation of multiple sound stages. For several years now, Plymouth Rock Studios has been trumpeting plans for a $500 million project that would transform Waverly Oaks into Hollywood East. Golfers and others shuddered to think of bulldozers destroying this beautiful golf property.
Initially, the project garnered Town-wide support, as would any development that promised jobs and tax revenue and an environmentally-friendly business. Add in the excitement of having Hollywood actors cruising Court Street and the package was hard to resist. Seemingly, the most important among the few that refused to buy-in to the project were the lenders that were expected to provide what amounted to all of the development money. Granted, banks and other lenders have been under the gun due to the the sub-prime mortgage saga, but an early indication came when the Commonwealth passed on the $50 million I-cubed bond issue which would have paid for the infrastructure that would make the development site accessible. In spite of the fact that the project seemed to fit the I-cubed program to a tee, the state couldn't bring itself to fund the project. Many reasons were offered for the turn down, but at the bottom of the pile seemed to be a lack of confidence in the studios business plan. Then came the Globe's Spotlight on the principals of PRS. Suffice it to say, with the exception of certain Plymouth Selectmen, the confidence level for the management team went south real fast. As of late there have been a few minor bleats as PRS goes through its death throes. If Las Vegas were giving odds on the studio ever getting out of the ground, there would be very few takers. With deference to the "never-say-never" school of thought, Plymouth's version of Hollywood East just isn't in the cards anymore, if it ever was.
As we finished our round on Saturday, we all agreed that we were glad that the course was still in place for all to enjoy. This view is also shared by many local golfers who love the facility. We stopped in the clubhouse for the "dine" part of the outing and marvelled once again at the building's magnificence. How this facility could be virtually empty on a Saturday evening make one wonder as to the management skills of the current owners. Now that a buy-out seems unlikely, perhaps they will bring in a management team that could take advantages of the attractive physical plant and allow the course to achieve its potential.
Recognizing the benefits of the tourism industry, Plymouth makes a concerted effort to attract visitors to its historic sites. Given that the golf courses are already in place, the Town could easily promote its golf courses as part of the effort, and at little additional promotional cost. Suggested New motto: "See the Rock and golf like a pilgrim".
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