The new Pines Course at the International differs from most other golf courses in the region.
Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw designed greenside bunkers that are up to eight feet deep. The fairways are made of fescue grass so the ball rolls a long way.
And the Pines, which opened to members on June 6, is pretty much a walking only course. Caddies are required. Golfers can ride carts if they insist and use forecaddies, but the carts must remain on the cart paths. General manager Michael Galvin, the club’s former director of agronomy, said the fescue fairways wouldn’t tolerate cart traffic very well.
Galvin said the vast majority of members are walking the Pines.
“Bill and Ben, that’s how they envisioned it,” Galvin said. “We’ve been along with them the whole entire way. As a walking golf course, we want people to experience it that way.”
Galvin said the Pines is one of the very few walking golf courses in the region. Old Sandwich Golf Club, a private course that Coore and Crenshaw designed in Plymouth, was walking for a while after it opened in 2004, but it isn’t any more.
Caddies are not required on the Oaks Course, the other 18-hole layout at the International, a private golf club in Bolton. Galvin said members enjoy the variety of the two courses.
“They’ll be in the fireplace room,” he said, “talking about the different shots out here and how exciting it is and how different it plays from the Oaks golf course.”
The Oaks, which opened in 2001, has bentgrass fairways and plays 7,116 yards with a par of 72.
The new Pines is a complete redesign of the old Pines, which was once known as the world’s longest golf course at 8,325 yards. The new Pines plays 7,103 yards from the tips with a par of 71.
“Just incredible feedback, just really, really positive, everyone’s just in love with it,” Galvin said. “They’re in love with the fescue grass, watching that ball bounce, the roll that the members are getting. They’re getting in some cases 20 more yards on their drives with the roll that they’re getting off these fescue fairways.”
Escalante Golf purchased the region’s only private 36-hole club out of bankruptcy for $10 million in February of 2021 and has invested more than $40 million in upgrades.
The main dining room for weddings was knocked down last summer. The lodge and conference center are gone as well.
The International is working on a master plan to begin building cottages soon and Galvin said the goal is to have them open within a year.
Eventually, a new clubhouse will be built and the old one will be removed.
After architect Tripp Davis renovated the Oaks Course in 2021, an overhaul of the Pines began.
While Galvin is pleased with the condition of the Pines, he expects it to get even better.
“Bill summed it up well,” Galvin said, “when he said, ‘Year one, it will look great. Year two, it will play great.’ Just time, that’s all it needs. Just a little more time for it to fill in.”
The fairways are generous, but the greens are sloped and surrounded by bunkers.
The greenside bunker is eight feet deep on the par-3 16th hole which plays only about 135 yards.
“Sixteen is our deepest bunker, but it’s our shortest par 3,” Galvin said.
Ana Orlov, director of membership, said the club added 10 new members in July to boost the total to 323.
“We started guest play on the Pines on Aug. 1,” she said. “So ever since then, word is trickling out more and more. So it’s been great.”
The club expected to add nearly another 10 new members in August. Orlov said the goal is 400 local members.
After Escalante bought the International, only about 100 members remained.
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—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net.
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