Golf Review: The Links at Outlook
We kicked off the month of August by teeing it up just over the border in Maine. It took us just about an hour to get there from Billerica, our usual starting point. For those of you expecting to hear about our trip to Dracut to play Meadow Creek this week, you’ll have to wait yet again; there’s been a change of plans. Jeff Maldonis with The Links at Outlook in S. Berwick, Maine invited us up to play a round in his backyard. Jeff, the director of advertising at The Links, gave us a call to let me pick a day and time so we could give his course a spin. We accepted.
Our 8:15 tee times were pushed back a few minutes due to the heavy rains we got on Friday and early Saturday morning. The course really got soaked. That I didn’t mind so much. I was still nursing the hangover from the night before; courtesy of a last minute trip to Mohegan. What the rains did do though was relinquish us to a cart path only round which pretty much makes the GPS in the carts obsolete.
The Links as its name suggests is a links style course. But it really is two distinctly different courses rolled into one nice package. Route 4 splits this course in two parts; almost down the middle. You’ll find eleven of the holes on the “main” property with the clubhouse, the function hall and the driving range. The other seven holes get accessed thru a tunnel under the road which leads out to the hills. Holes 1 thru 10 start you off with some piece of mind. Its wide open but it is long; a typical links style course. You can grip it and rip it out here. But when you cross under the road at 11, the other course kicks in as it starts to get suffocating. No more links; its short and its tight.
Typically, I say very little about my day on a personal level; I’m not trying to sell you my scorecard. But what I shot here has as much to do with the course as it does with my golfing ability. Aside from the lingering water from the rains the night before, the conditions here were almost flawless. The Links at Outlook is truly a diamond in the rough. It’s one of the area’s best kept secrets and I’m letting it out of the bag. I finished the day striking the ball 86 times. Surprisingly, I did all my damage on the back. Even with a double bogey on 18, I made it in with a 40. The quality of a course truly does translate into a pretty scorecard.
On the lighter side of things, let me tell you a few things about the facility as a whole. Greens fees on the weekends are a steal at $70. Thanks again Jeff, for waiving those fees for us. It made the day that much better. Also, the Links at Outlook is a beer friendly course. They provide what we need when we get the opportunity to get out of the house and golf. To top that off, they have 2 carts running the grounds after 12 o’clock, the girls are friendly as well as being easy on the eyes. At the turn, the grill will be fired up if you didn’t start too early. While you’re inside grabbing beers, pay for the burgers or dogs and take the ticket back out side. They’ll have your food waiting for you. One other thing I almost forgot. I’m usually fully prepared for golf by the time I pull in the parking lot but this morning, I didn’t have any balls left in the bag. Normally in a situation like this, the pro-shop could cripple your wallet. They took me for only $24 bucks for a dozen Nike Juice balls; a pleasant surprised.
I’m sure the folks at the Links would want me to tell you to get up there and spend some money. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. The Links at Outlook is round of golf you have to squeeze into your schedule. I’ll be back in the fall, some of the views can only get better.
The Links at Outlook is located at 310 Portland Street
South Berwick, ME 03908
For Tee Times: 207.384.2109
If you would like us to review your course, contact Dave at barstoolsports.com and he’ll let us know.
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