ORONO, Maine — The greens were lightning quick.
That meant when Veazie’s Kevin McConnell lined up his 25-foot downhill putt, he knew he had to give it just a little tap so the ball wouldn’t run too far beyond the hole.
The Penobscot Valley Country Club’s 18-hole layout in Orono was sun-drenched for most of the day on Saturday.
Despite the 35-degree temperature and 15 mph winds, which dropped the wind chills into the mid-20s, along with an occasional snow squall, McConnell and four friends were taking full advantage of an unusually dry and mild December.
The fact McConnell was even standing over a putt on Dec. 19 at PVCC represented a first for him.
“This is awesome. I had never been able to play golf in December in Maine before. It’s great to be able to play. We’re usually done by the middle of November,” said McConnell, who did a nice job lagging his putt close to the hole to give himself a relatively easy return putt.
Bangor’s Ed Michaud and Joe Rollins, Veazie’s Jeff Manter and Brewer’s Mark Hall joined McConnell in the group.
Rollins said this was the first time he can recall playing in December.
“Look how close to Christmas this is. And with the [favorable] extended forecast, it looks like we’ll be playing up to New Year’s,” Rollins observed.
Hall is the assistant golf pro at PVCC and the other four are all members of the PVCC.
In addition to the 18-hole PVCC layout, the nine-hole Bucksport Golf Club also is open along with several other downstate courses.
In fact, Harris Golf manages or owns nine courses in Maine and six are still open, including PVCC. The others are the Falmouth Country Club, the Old Marsh Country Club in Wells, the Mere Creek Golf Course in Brunswick, the Bath Golf Club and the Freeport Country Club.
Manter got off a plane after a vacation in Florida on Saturday morning, changed into the appropriate cold-weather gear and joined his friends at PVCC.
“I played last Saturday in Florida and it was 88 degrees,” Manter said. “Here it’s 35 [degrees]. But I love to play. I’m a diehard golfer. I love to do it in the rain or snow. It doesn’t matter [what the weather is]. As long as I can go out and swing a club, everything is good.
“I’ve been playing here six or seven years and this is the first time I’ve been able to play in December and have it actually be meaningful. You can get out and play without freezing,” Manter added.
Hall said he can’t remember ever having such an extended stretch of playable golf conditions in November and December.
“I remember playing on Dec. 21, 1979. It was 60 degrees out,” Hall recalled. “But the pins weren’t in play.
“I like to play as much as I can because, being a golf pro, you don’t get to play that much during the summer,” Hall said. “This has been unbelievable. I wish our winters were like this all of the time.”
“I couldn’t have envisioned this at all. Last year we were done at the end of October,” Rollins pointed out. “We’ve been playing just about every weekend.”
He said they have been having “little tournaments and things on Sundays to keep us competitive.”
The players were decked out in the appropriate gear: Gloves, hats, warm jackets.
“We’re layered up, top to bottom,” McConnell said.
“Gloves and those chemical hand warmers work very well,” Michaud said.
“I wear the Nike gear the football players wear,” Hall said. “And hand warmers mean you’re always hitting a warm golf ball.”
“Under Armour [apparel], wool socks,” Manter said.
“Long underwear,” Rollins added.
The players said the cold conditions do alter their games because the ball doesn’t travel as far.
“You lose quite a bit of distance off the tee,” Michaud said. “The greens are a little harder. It’s like playing [early] spring golf.”
“You end up playing off the back foot a little more because the winds are so much stronger this time of year,” Manter said.
Rollins said he switches to a lower compression golf ball in the winter because they aren’t affected by the temperature as much as higher compression balls. The lower compression balls carry further because they compress more easily in the cold.
McConnell said wearing bulkier clothes affects the swing so he has to compensate. Winter clothes reduces flexibility and swing speed.
The players said the course is in excellent condition.
“The greens are fast. The course is in prime shape right now,” Hall said.
“It’s phenomenal,” Michaud said. “They have good drainage here. The grass is still green in December.”
Jason Harris, the golf pro at the PVCC, said to be able to play this time of year “is definitely a big bonus, especially when you consider that we’ve had very few days where it has been below freezing during the day. I think we’ve been closed only four days this year.”
He said the previous weekend, he had 110 golfers on Saturday and 90 more on Sunday. They don’t get as many during the weekdays.
The course is open to the public. It costs $15 for 18 holes and $10 for nine holes without a cart. With a cart, the prices are $25 and $15, respectively. The carts weren’t available this weekend due to the wet conditions on parts of the course.
Harris said they will again have a Jan. 1 tournament that is open to the public and they will be open “as long as the course is playable” and the temperatures don’t plummet below freezing for an extended period of time.
Wayne Hand said they have had one year during his 36 owning the Bucksport Golf Club course where “we were able to play at least one weekend a month for the whole year.”
And he is hoping this year could eclipse that mark.
He has been getting 20-30 golfers on the weekends.
Hand said his only regret is that he decided to shut down the maintenance of the course (i.e. mowing) to prepare it for winter during the first week of November as he did a year ago. The course is still in good shape but he said it isn’t in as good a shape as it could be.
“But how do you know what the weather is going to do?” Hand said. “It worked out [well] a year ago.”
They have removed the carts because they don’t want to damage the course. The course is open to the public and the cost is $15 for 18 holes.
So the golfers will keep plugging along pursuing their passion, hoping Mother Nature continues to cooperate.
Rollins admitted not everybody is excited about the extended golf season.
“My wife isn’t that happy that I’m still playing,” Rollins said with a laugh.