Sunday River Golf Club Opens for the 2007 Season as New England’s Only Course on Golf Digest’s Best New Course Listing travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Entering its second year as the #1 public golf course in Maine according to Golfweek Magazine and having just been listed as the only New England course on Golf Digest’s Best New Public Over $75 top 10 list, the highly acclaimed Sunday River Golf Club opened all 18 holes on Saturday.

World-renowned course architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr, designed Sunday River Golf Club, located next to Sunday River Ski Resort. In addition to the accolades from Golfweek and Golf Digest, Golfstyles New England named the Sunday River Golf Club their Public Course of the Year for 2007.

Early season greens fees including cart are currently at $79 per person and both the driving range and practice green are open. Stay and play packages through Memorial Day weekend start at $89 per person per night including lodging and a round of golf with cart.

With nearby ski trails still dotted with snow, two prominent tournaments are on their way to the Sunday River Golf Club in May. The New England PGA’s Maine Chapter is holding their 2nd Pro-Am and the Women’s Maine State Golf Association will be visiting for their tournament.

The Sunday River Golf Club has 18 self-contained fairways that the Maine State Golf Association has said are “among the widest in Maine”. There are four sets of tees on each hole that are set at varying elevations and angles to the fairways.

Spread across a 350-acre site that sits on a northwest-facing hillside with sweeping views across the Sunday River Valley to the Mahoosuc Mountain Range, the course plays to 7,130 yards from the championship tees. The 10,000 square foot clubhouse is made of log and stone and features a deck with sweeping views, an indoor/outdoor stone fireplace, a stone-faced bar, woodcarvings and Old Hickory furniture. A full practice facility includes a driving range with multiple target greens and an expansive putting green, located adjacent to the clubhouse.

Robert Trent Jones, Jr. has designed courses around the world, including the famed Links at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach, CA. The highly acclaimed course at Sunday River’s sister resort, Sugarloaf/USA, is also a Trent Jones, Jr. design.