Wentworth by the Sea Country Club

Overview: Wentworth by the Sea Country Club is a genuine Scottish-links-style course on the New Hampshire coast, where ocean wind, undulating fairways and well-bunkered greens create a varied but playable round. The setting beside the water gives the course an open, maritime character that is unusual in the state. Its present identity is layered: the original course dates to 1897, Donald Ross rebuilt the links in the early twentieth century, and Geoffrey Cornish later expanded the routing to 18 holes. The result is historic golf shaped by several generations of design.

History: The first course was built in 1897 on 30 acres of waterfront land leased for the Wentworth Hotel and was associated with George Wright and professional Alex Findlay. As golf became more important to the resort, owner Harry Beckwith commissioned Donald Ross to rebuild the links around 1911. The course was expanded to 18 holes by Geoffrey Cornish in 1964. These stages should be kept separate: 1897 marks the original golf course, while Ross and Cornish are responsible for major chapters in the form played today. The club continues to describe the layout as New Hampshire’s only genuine links-style course.

Did You Know? The course began as an amenity requested by the Wentworth Hotel’s summer clientele, tying the layout directly to the early resort economy of the coast. That origin makes Wentworth an unusually clear example of how American golf grew alongside seaside hotels. The course’s six par threes, eight par fours and four par fives then fit into a routing that carries the original waterfront idea through its later 18-hole form.