Course 105: Wampanoag GC (Public-Nine Hole)
Swansea, Mass.
Date Played: July 19, 2023
Yardages: 2,439 - 2,775
Tier: Dive Bar
Rating: 1/5
I learned a nickname for this course while I played: "Swampanoag."
It's a fitting one given the marshy land the course it sits on. It was wet when I played it after a rainy June, but even high tide can bring water onto sections of the course.
The place is simple and bare-bones. A tiny clubhouse, a stone parking lot, and seemingly no mowers. The bunkers are hard-pan, dirt patches.
Every inch of grass aside from the greens is the same length. There are no fairways, and there is no rough, well, it's all rough. The tee boxes are covered in crabgrass.
Listen, this place is your classic dive bar. More t-shirt than polo. More jeans than khakis.
But after making the six-minute walk from the 2nd green to the 3rd tee (down a path, through the parking lot, and then down another path) it became clear that this course isn't really much more than a dive bar. There are no "bones" here that could be salvaged with a little TLC.
I was even told if the soggy land was buildable, it wouldn't be a golf course at all.
They are likely working on a shoestring budget, and I have great respect for golf courses in this tier, but it doesn't really seem like there's much that can be done to make it any better given the marshland it sits on.