Yarmouth’s Bass River Golf Course is preparing to step back in time for its 125th anniversary, restoring a historical 1930s hole sequence and offering celebratory $1.25 hot dogs to mark the milestone. Golf Director Kevin Lennon announced the routing changes during Monday’s Golf Enterprise Committee meeting, explaining that the back nine will soon follow a map from nearly a century ago. Under the plan, the current hole 13 will become the new hole 10, and the round will conclude on the current hole 12. Lennon told the committee that the routing actually flows a lot better on all fronts and described the new 18th as a superior finishing hole.

The anniversary festivities, which include a major celebration on July 2, were met with both excitement and a firm demand from the committee for improved hospitality. Member Dick Donovan challenged restaurant representatives over what he described as a persistent lack of early morning service. The pro shop opens at 6:30. The first tee time is 7:00... and people might want to get a cup of coffee, a muffin, or a breakfast sandwich, Donovan said. The passholders expect nothing to be there. Everybody stops and gets their Dunkin' on the way because they expect nothing. Chair Ellen Chapman echoed these concerns, particularly regarding late-day availability. It is unacceptable that at 4:00 on a Sunday you can't get no food, Chapman noted. There's no hot dogs, there's no hamburgers... I want you to succeed because this is all part of our golfing experience.

Mark Spark, representing the restaurant concessionaire, promised a new level of leadership and expanded menus, including fresh grab-and-go salads, platter options for small tournaments, and even boozy ice cream for the summer season. Shame on us if we are not meeting the bar, Spark told the board. That doesn't rest on deaf ears. We will continue to get better. Member Doreen Levitan emphasized the importance of reliability for organized groups, stating that the women would like to stay there... it’s a lot easier on all of us if we can stay there after the league or tournament, but we need to know it's open. To streamline service, the department is rolling out new member ID cards with barcodes to ensure proper discounts are applied automatically at the register.

Infrastructure updates are also moving forward, though not without logistical hurdles. Lennon reported that the initial plans for the Bass River bridge replacement were rejected because the proposed structure was too short and only six feet wide. Corrected plans are now set for a mid-April installation, which will require closing the course for approximately two days. Other site improvements include painting the clubhouse and replacing the front deck with Trex materials. When Member Frank Zappulla asked if the material was plastic wood or real wood, Lennon confirmed the shift toward durable composites. Secretary Jerry Niedermeier, attending the meeting remotely from Vermont, inquired about the status of disabled parking at Bass River. In response, Lennon noted a plan to replace expensive asphalt cart paths with more natural, cost-effective materials that align with the course’s historic character.

The committee also addressed the golf course’s role in the town’s $207 million municipal sewer project. As part of the effluent recharge rollout, the town plans to install underground leaching chambers beneath the Bayberry Hills driving range. This work could begin as early as November. Lennon explained that the town-wide wastewater necessity would result in a direct benefit for golfers, as the project includes a total reconstruction and update of the driving range facility once the underground work is complete. This follows a successful season where the effluent pipeline provided up to 210,000 gallons of irrigation water per day, a system that is now being fully automated with new control vaults.

The department is seeing a notable shift in its membership demographics, with significant growth reported in the under-35 and young adult categories. The committee welcomed a new Assistant Pro who plans to leverage this growth through initiatives like Nine and Dine family scrambles and Short Game and Cocktails clinics for women. I'm a full A member of the PGA... I'm hoping to do Nine and Dines, nine-hole scramble formats to get new people out there, the Assistant Pro said. I would love to see a lot more women out there. Technology will play a larger role this year as well, with new GPS units on golf carts featuring geo-fencing to keep carts away from restricted areas and a programmed kill switch to prevent unauthorized use after hours.

Finally, the committee revisited the ongoing tension regarding indirect costs—funds extracted from the Golf Enterprise fund by the town’s general fund. While internal maintenance and facility improvements like the $400,000 Bass River parking and patio project move forward, members like Donovan continue to question the scale of these extractions. The committee is preparing for an annual members’ informational meeting on the Bass River patio in early June to explain how rising fees are being used to address a 20-year backlog of facility maintenance. Member Barbara Lavoine participated in the unanimous support for the upcoming season’s promotional strategy, which includes featured segments on NBC Sports Boston and the Golf Channel to highlight the 125th anniversary milestone.