Cedar Bank Links: Jones vs. Ouimet

"Bobby Jones, Ouimet Match Set for Eastham."
It's Summer 2001. The headline literally shouts across the page of the morning newspaper. Visualize, for the moment, the headline's impact: a steady stream of vehicles rolling along Route 6, crowded with ecstatic golf addicts headed for Eastham with hopes of rubbing elbows with two golf legends. Visualize also, for the moment, Bobby Jones and Francis Ouimet teeing it up at Cedar Bank Links overlooking Nauset Marsh and the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, visualize the huge gallery surging along the fairways, drooling their excitement at the routine execution of golf shots by the heroes of the American golf scene. Compose the mental images, and a montage of realistic scenarios appears, created by the morning's banner headline.

It's Summer 1928. Via the word-of-mouth network, news trickles through the town of 450 that a couple of well-known sports figures are in town to play some golf "over at Shaw's place." Most villagers yawn and return to their fishing and farming. Had the news reached other areas of the Cape, a majority of the salty inhabitants probably would have responded with a resounding "So?"

The general perception of golf in the early 20th century and through the '30's and 40's was that of a sport indulged in by the wealthy, by business and government power brokers, and by the social sets who frolicked at exclusive country clubs. This is not to infer that golf on the Cape was a virtually unknown quantity during those times. There were a number of active courses and clubs in existence then. Back to Summer 2001. From the shores of Buzzards Bay to the dunes of Truro, Cape Cod is dotted with 47 courses, where thousands of local and vacationing golf addicts pursue what one professional described as "the worst damn fun anybody ever had." But of those thousands, less than a handful would be aware that, for the short span of eight years, one of the most exclusive private 18-hole courses existed in the midst of overwhelming natural beauty in the small town of Eastham.

Cedar Banks Links was the dream of a wealthy Bostonian, Quincy Adams Shaw, whose family accumulated a fortune by digging copper out of the mines of northern Michigan. Eastham selectman and historian Don Sparrow explained that Shaw wanted to build a golf course that he and close friends could enjoy during his spring and summer visits. Among his fairways companions were golfing legends Bobby Jones and Francis Ouimet, regular visitors to the 6500-yard, par-72 course that ran along Nauset Marsh and the cedar-dotted land.

Shaw purchased the land in 1925 and completed construction of the course in 1928. Today, the Cape Cod National Seashore possesses virtually all the land. Sparrow recalled how Shaw hired his father and other Eastham residents to help build the course "without earth-moving equipment, and with only a horse and scoop." Sparrow's father later was named Cedar Bank's superintendent and caretaker. The list of Shaw's steady stream of Cedar Bank guests ran the gamut from golfing legends and business leaders hooked on the game, to politicians and theater celebrities who ventured on the course for a few holes but preferred the party atmosphere.

Sparrow remembered one prominent Boston businessman who was among those who came to play golf. Partying could wait. And it was the golf clubs and the guest's tortuous effort to produce a shot that set him apart. "The gentleman always arrived in a Packard touring car with his cloth golf bag," Sparrow said. "And that cloth bag held clubs that today would be worth a fortune - a set of wood-handled clubs of Scottish origin." "He was an average golfer who had this unusual approach to hitting the ball. He would hold a pose for considerable time after addressing the ball, then, as he began his backswing, his entire body began to shake violently. The tremors would stop just as the club hit the ball. And his shot usually was good." Motorists whizzing along Route 6 through Eastham today would be hard pressed to accept the fact that portions of a golf course existed only a few feet off the highway, in the Town Hall and National Seashore Visitors Center area, all within sight of passing cars.

A layout of Cedar Bank Links reveals that a large portion of the course stretched across a high bluff with views of Nauset Marsh and the Atlantic Ocean. The first nine holes measured 3,270 yards from the long tees - 50 yards longer than the back holes. Water, beach grass, bayberry bushes and, inevitable, wind came into play constantly. The longest hole - No. 8 - was on the front side and measured 565 yards. This monster hole ran along Salt Pond toward Nauset Light Road on which Sparrow maintains his present home. And, therein lies another chapter of Cedar Bank Links history.

Bobby Jones and Francis Ouimet are not the only internationally known names associated with Shaw and his course. Sparrow explained that a portion of the eighth fairway was built on land owned by Elliott Richardson, U.S. Attorney General during the Nixon administration, who also held a number of other high-ranking government positions. In the late 1930's, the Richardson family decided to build a house on their property, and Shaw agreed to give up a portion of the course that bordered the Salt Pond and inlet areas. Shaw then built two new holes and reduced Cedar Bank to nine holes.

The shortened course in no way diminished the challenging activities at Cedar Bank where, it should be pointed out, Shaw's guests did not enjoy a free ride. 'The regular fee was $1, when the course was 18 holes, and 50 cents for nine holes, "explained Sparrow. And despite the deep pockets of the tycoons and celebrities, caddies were not paid munificent sums. How about $2 for 18 holes - carrying double? Tips of 25 cents were the exception.

The Labor Day Weekend of three days of golf, followed by the biggest party of the season, was the highlight of the year and the season's end. "Shaw always celebrated with an old-fashioned clambake, Sparrow said. "It was a rousing finale, attended only by invited guests. Some of the local people felt snubbed, and one of them, a summer resident who was a former speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, made an attempt to do something about it." Sparrow explained that the former lawmaker was so incensed about being left out every year that he decided to crash the party.

"He dressed only in a breech cloth, put on war paint, and paddled a canoe over to the clambake site where he read a prepared announcement, welcoming the White Man to these shores and assuring him of the peaceful intentions of the natives."

Although amused, the guests responded by throwing stones the would-be party crasher, Sparrow noted. Shaw's interest in Cedar Bank began to decline at the end of World War II, and shortly after the turn of the decade - ironically, when the golf boom in the U.S. was ignited by President Eisenhower and Arnold Palmer - the glory days of Cedar Bank Links passed into history.

Today, Eastham is one of only three towns of the Cape's 15 that has no golf course, along with Orleans and Provincetown, and no chance to experience the "worst damn fun anybody ever had." Based on information from a book by Don Sparrow, "Growing up on Cape Cod: Four Brothers Learning to Stand Tall"