Wareham golf courses in rough shape after long winter

Apr 2, 2015

Normally, by the beginning of April, golfers in Wareham would be swinging away.

That’s not the case in 2015.

The fairways of the Little Harbor Country Club are empty. The same goes for the tees and greens at the Bay Pointe Club, where snow can be seen piled high in places. As for the normally busy mats at the Golf Shots driving range — those are still closed due to the inordinate amount of snowfall to hit Wareham this winter.

Thomas Tobey, the head pro at Bay Pointe, said he’s hoping the course will open by some time next week.

“We still have a lot of snow cover out on the course,” he said, noting that maintenance crews have been shoveling off greens this week. “We still have some ice out there. It’s been a long process.”

Tobey said he’s only heard of two clubs who have opened in the area — the Falmouth Country Club and Newport National. He said that last year, the course opened up on March 14.

“I thought last winter was bad,” he said. “I’ve been here 13 years, and this is the worst winter I’ve seen.”

Kenny Dirienzo, one of the managers at Little Harbor, said they too are shooting for next week.

“This year is going to be very late,” he said. “We like to be open around March 1.”

Dirienzo said that though most of the snow has melted, the course is still very wet in places, and it needs to dry out before it can be played on.

“It can get pretty muddy, especially when you have several feet of snow,” he said. “Unfortunately, in this business, you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature. She’ll tell us when it’s OK.”

Still, Dirienzo said he’s confident the start of the season will come soon.

“It’s actually not too bad — it’s very close, almost 90 percent,” he said. “We’re being optimistic. It could be a lot worse.”

At Golf Shots, owner Shawn Lapworth said they’re hoping to be open within the next few days.

“Usually it’s April 1, but we got pushed back just a bit,” said Lapworth, who’s also the head pro at Little Harbor. “It’s really soft out there, but the weather is starting to get a little better.”

“We’re looking forward to it,” he added, noting that he expects Little Harbor to have at least a few holes open by next week. “We almost made it. We had a good stretch in December and January, and then February was the worst month ever.”