The Brookside Club, designed by Michael Hurdzan, measures 6,300 yards from the back tees, but the yardage is deceiving. Brookside’s par is 70, with four par-3s and two par-5s that measure 540 and 586 yards from the back tees.
On the front side, the longer nine by nearly 300 yards, there are five par-4s measuring 372 yards or more from the blue tees, including the 440-yard 8th, which surely ranks among the Cape’s toughest two-shot holes.
The course opens with a downhill par-4 with out of bounds to the right and a pond coming into play on the approach. This hole usually plays 379 yards, but it has a back tee that stretches the hole to 460 yards.
The second hole is the first of four really good par-3s and plays downhill. Don’t miss right or long. The 6th is a cute downhill par-3 of just 115 yards from the tips. The eighth hole is a 440-yard par-4 and is the number one handicap hole. A less-than-solid drive brings factors like the pond in a hollow fronting the small green into play.
The tenth hole is a mammoth par-5 of 586 yards from the blues and 576 from the whites. Thankfully, the tee shot is downhill, but length and accuracy are rewarded. This could arguably be Cape Cod’s toughest par-5.
The two toughest challenges remaining are back-to-back: the tee shot to the plateau green at No. 13, a 194-yard par-3, and the par-4 14th, which has OB to the left, a tight driving area, and water in front of the heavily sloping green.
The course guide suggests that No. 14 may be the prettiest hole on the course, but No. 12, a 343-yard dogleg left, also caught our eye. The tee shot must avoid water on the left, and the second shot crosses the same hazard, which takes the form of a babbling brook to the left of the three-tiered green.
