Sunday River Golf Club

First time playing at Sunday River. Course is wonderful and the views are beautiful. One of the nicest courses I’ve played on. Great experience!!!

1st time playing the RIVAH…and can’t wait to go back!

Coming from Pinehurst I was thoroughly impressed with this course, the staff, and the course design. I have played a lot of courses and this was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had on a golf course. Can’t beat the views on every single hole! Overall highly recommend! Only thing to know ahead of time is you may not have cell phone service much which in my opinion was a great thing.

There's a good reason this is rated the best course in Maine - it has spectacular views, challenging holes and great staff.

Had high expectations for this place and disregarded previous reviews. We show up and get charged $150, not a huge deal playing a “top” course in the state on a Sat AM. Also they charge you $7 for 20 golf balls if you want to get a warm up in.

Holes 1-5 had just been aerated, no one at the course could give actually tell me when they were punched, but that they should be good in a week or so.

Holes 6-18, ok nice no punches and we can finally start rolling the ball. NOPE, these things are some of she shaggiest greens I’ve played on all year, running equivalent to a semi tightly mowed fringe area.

Fairway grass was border line first cut rough at other premier courses in NE. It’s too bad cause the layout is nice, but the property the course sits on is way too big. Which does cause major headaches when trying to get mowers out to certain spots of the course.

Then you finish your round and try to grab a bite to eat and a couple drinks you’re in another $70. I think it’s $12/$13 for a Maine Lunch & $23 for a turkey club (before the bacon!). Servers were great and attentive though.

Do what you want with that info, as someone who plays 100+ rounds a year. This place definitely ain’t “it”’

My wife and i are up from Florida this summer to play some mountain golf in VT, NH and Maine. We have skied Sunday river years ago with our children but wanted to return and check out the course. i read mixed reviews in the past and visited the property last year but didn’t get a chance to play it. we play a lot of golf about 3+ times a week year round.
First impression you see an impressive log cabin clubhouse which overlooks the putting green and first hole with mountains in the background…

The staff seemed reasonably friendly and attentive. Eveyone was helpful when asked the usual where, how and why questions about the course .

The positives:
- The mountain view’s are dramatic and different on each hole.
- the layout is great with crazy elevation changes off many tee boxes. i had some insane hang times and loooong ball flights on some of the holes.. this alone was worth it for me. Club selection is key on par threes as the elevation and wind will confound you.
- wide fairways, heavy bluegrass and fescue rough . In a few places you could easily lose balls in the rough. Outside the rough is dense forest, you hit it there and your ball is history.
- fairway conditions were good in most places. i had good lies when i was in the fairway. In the rough it was playable but you will be tested to hit a wood from it.

negatives:
- greens were being punched so those holes were impossible to get a fair or smooth roll. the ones that hadn’t been punched yet were ok. I prefer fast and firm. these were in good condition but could be shorter and rolled for a better experience. I know they have to punch them from time to time but you should be made aware of it while making tee times. also since putting is about 30-40% of the game there should be an appropriate discount off the price during these periods.

- pace of play. my round was 5 hours 15 min. there were some walkers ahead of me. this is NOT a walkable course. Luckily it didn’t bother me much as there was a lot to look at.

- no cell signal in most places (that is good and bad but when waiting i couldn’t check my phone)

- carts don’t have electronics with layout and distances displays. Bring your range finder WITH slope calculations!

-clubhouse prices are way to high. i just had drinks and a snack but after that i didn’t even look at the dinner menu and went into town for dinner.

Overall it was a fun and challenging day. this is a course where if you catch it in its prime condition it will be one of the most memorable rounds of the year. it is in good shape when i played it, would love to come back and play it in is prime.

i give it a generous 8 out of 10 overall. the views made up for most of the negatives

So I just played here and was surprised it wasn’t that busy. Must be the course condition. The biggest gripe I had was the crew working on the course. They didn’t seem to care if I was teeing off and would drive in the fairway while I was in the tee box. It kind of put me in an awkward position as I didn’t feel comfortable teeing off most of the time. Another incident was that someone got off their mower and literally kicked my ball out of the way. I understand they are doing their job but all the other places I’ve played they would wait for you to hit them go back to doing what they were doing. I almost called it quits as it put me in a bit of a bad mood. I’ll definitely wait for the course to dry out before I go back so I don’t need to play and work around the field crew.

Easily one of the most beautiful courses i have played in maine, the staff are exceptional and helpful.

Need improvements in carts because the top of the cart was filled with water and when playing i pared on a hill for the green and it started dripping (did not noticed) and my range finder was on a tube of the cart and got damages and is not functioning

BUT the course took responsibility and told me they would get me a new range finder

Decided to hit the course early which was great. Early fog made it more challenging but I had some idea of the layout having played before. Course conditions were very good although morning dew and surprisingly wet conditions made the course longer.
Greens were excellent and were moderately fast. I love the layout with many changes in elevation as it is a mountain course.
Staff was friendly and helpful. Definitely going back.

Sunday River was a delight: beautiful, in great shape; and very well designed. Our good luck was to play with a member. He told us what would work and where danger lurked. The key is to not use your driver unless you can see where the ball can land.

The greens were excellent and initially a bit slow (a 9), then as the day warmed up they got faster (10 or so).
The food and beer in the restaurant was quite good.

Play on a Sunday, we did not have to wait to hit a shot and never saw anyone behind us.

Great round. Watch the weather. This is a beautiful mountain layout with fickle weather patterns. First round was rained out by #11. 2nd try was a beautiful day fitting for great day on the course. Worthy of a trip to Maine to play golf.

First time playing the course. I arrived at the course this morning 20 minutes early to warm up and the staff moved my tee time up without giving me a choice so I couldn’t get any practice swings. The course views are gorgeous and the course conditions were great given the recent rain however there was no ranger on the course to manage pace of play. The foursome in front of us shot multiple times each hole and the front nine was 3 hours. The group was not waiting on anyone in front of them to warrant their pace. The terrible pace of play ruined the round for me and I quit after 9 because I couldn’t do a 6 hour round. I wish they would have managed the pace because the views on this course are great and I would have enjoyed playing 18 today.