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  1. How Many Players Do You Have In Your Group Today?

    By Joe Perdue

    PGA Professional, Owner/Hidden Meadows Golf Course

    Linda Costello and I were having a nice chat through Facebook Messenger this afternoon, and the subject of our ‘Top 5 Hidden Meadows Moments’ came up. We decided this may rank as #1.

    Several years ago, Linda was working the closing shift in the pro shop. We were having a fairly busy day, and with about four hours to go before dark I told her, “If we hit 120 players today, I’ll give you a $100 cash bonus,” waving a $100 bill in front of her. At that time, we had exactly 100 players on the sheet for the day.

    Linda, back in the days before we expanded the clubhouse at Hidden Meadows Golf Course.

    If you know Linda at all, she is just slightly competitive. And she was very motivated by money (what college student isn’t?) I was counting on this when I put that challenge out there for her (do the math…. 20 players at $12 each plus carts, food, etc. It’s win-win.).

    She started calling her friends. “Hey, it’s a fantastic afternoon here at the course. No bugs, it’s not busy, best day of the year! And bring your friends. We’ve got lots of carts and great rates this time of the day!” 

    The up-sell she was putting out there was a thing of beauty. She not only wanted to get to 120 players, she wanted to get to 140 players. She wanted to be able to gloat. Over the next couple of hours our player count climbed, getting to 117. She had taken this challenge seriously and was doing well. I was ready to surrender my $100 bill.

    But things started to settle down, and ever so slowly the agony of the ensuing twilight approached. It’s getting to a point where there wasn’t going to be time for a ‘quick 9’ anymore, and Linda’s chances of winning this challenge were dwindling. You could just see the hope draining from her face. 

    I was in the pro shop chatting with her, and all the while she’s looking at the clock, she’s looking at the sun dropping lower and lower in the sky, she’s getting antsy and isn’t focused on the conversation. Of course, this just gave me more reason to keep on chatting, telling her about how we used to have 375 players on a Saturday at Gold Mountain GC, back in my younger years as an assistant pro in Bremerton.

    She wasn’t interested and didn’t appreciate the comparison.

    Then we both hear people walking down towards the clubhouse. Her eyes lit up when she saw it was a family that always played together, consisting of mom, dad, and their son. All three of them ALWAYS came out together. You could count on it like the sun coming up in the morning. 

    Looking at Linda, you would have thought she just found out that Star Trek was real. She was singing the ‘Na na na song,’ she was dancing, waving her arms around, hooting and hollering. I’m not sure if she was more excited about the hundred bucks, or the fact that she was going to beat me in a contest.

    You do know what’s coming next, right?

    “Where’s Kathy,” asked Linda with a concerned face, as she was checking in the dad and son, standing on her tippy-toes, stretching her neck and looking around the corner for their ever-reliable third player. “Oh, she didn’t feel like playing tonight,” answered the dad non-chalantly as he and his son turned and headed towards the first tee, having no idea what was going on.

    The look on Linda’s face was priceless. What came out of her mouth was even better. At that time, I had no idea she could give any sailor a run for their money when it came to using colorful metaphors. I also found out that she had a louder voice than I do after I’ve missed a three-foot putt to lose a bet. People were calling the pro shop from the 5th green, wondering if things were okay.

    And that’s where we ended for the day. 119 players. I was laughing so hard I literally had tears coming down my cheeks and my stomach hurt worse than if I’d done a quick 100 sit-ups (or 10 sit-ups. The older I get, the more sit-ups I used to be able to do). 

    Linda’s face was as red as her sweatshirt. I’m not sure if she was more upset about missing the challenge by one player, or by how hard I was laughing. Oh my gosh. She. Was. Pissed! I doubt she said two words the rest of her shift. And with me never passing on an opportunity to needle someone, I kept on talking about how great it would be if we were that busy all the time. 

    The funniest part of this? I’m just absolutely cracking up right now while I’m writing this, thinking back to that gorgeous summer evening in Maine. Linda? She still gets real quiet, and you can tell she’s still as furious about it now as the day it happened. 

    Thank you for the great memory Linda. You made my day. Looking forward to seeing you next week!

  2. Buxton, Harris & Kauppila Lead After 1st Round

    2020 Hidden Meadows Club Championship
    1st Round Results
    2nd Round Tee Times
     
    Women’s Division
     
    9:00 a.m.
    88 – Stephanie Buxton
    92 – Michelle Atherton
    99 – Kristy St. Peter
    101 – Linda Costello
     
    Open and Senior Division
     
    9:10 a.m.
    107 – Dillon Leland
    106 – Willem Crane
    104 – Mike Tuell
    98 – Micah Betters
     
    9:20 a.m.
    97 – Wes Kauppila
    96 – Blaine Chadwick
    89 – Josh Paul
    82 – Randy Bernard
     
    9:30 a.m.
    80 – Bill Fernandez (Open & Sr Division)
    79 – Cole Daniel
    77 – Tom Harris (Sr Division)
    70 – Chris Kauppila
  3. Hidden Meadows Open For Play On May 1st

    Okay everyone, we’ve got this sorted out the best we can. There are a lot of guidelines that the State of Maine has issued. Most of it pertains to the golf course operators providing a safe environment for people to play golf. There is a link at the bottom of this post that outlines everything. For our customers, we’re going to keep it as simple as possible.

    1. Call the clubhouse and make a tee time. Tee times can be made up to seven days in advance. 207-827-4779.

    2. Once you have made your tee time, go to our on-line store and pay for your golf. If you need a power cart or pull/push cart, you can purchase those on-line as well. Here’s the link:

    https://www.yourparshop.com/collections/green-fees-and-cart-fees?fbclid=IwAR2rmqLtd0lFMau5Hn6x2XnwjtnMbcSMybSEWqCpevZnB7F8pkH5lq8VcfY

    3. Please remain in your car until 10 minutes before your tee time.

    4. If you are renting a golf cart, it will be ready for you with your name on it. It will be sanitized and clean. Single riders only unless you live under the same roof. Carts may not be taken to the parking lot before or after your round.

    5. There will be a ‘starter’ managing the 1st/10th tees. The starter will give you the okay to start/continue your round.

    6. Be respectful of the players in your group, and of the other players on the golf course. Maintain social distancing at all times.

    7. Flagsticks must remain in the hole and must not be touched.

    8. There are no garbage cans on the course, so please pack out your trash. Please remember the golf cart is not a garbage can.

    9. Please pick up your own tees after you use them. Do not pick up tees that are not yours.

    10. Please return your cart to the designated area when you are done with your round.

    11. Please do not congregate in the parking lot when you are done playing.

    Remember, the clubhouse, practice range and practice putting green will not be open. The portable restroom between #4 and #7 has been removed. There will be no restroom facilities available. As horrible as this may sound, we have lots of trees, brush and bushes around the perimeter of the course. Keep a roll of toilet paper in your golf bag and just imagine you are on a camping trip. We are truly sorry for this inconvenience.

    As questions and situations come up, we will use our best common sense, and we will work within the spirit of the guidelines provided by the State of Maine. And again, this is a small price to pay for having the ability to get the golf course open. Our goal is for everyone to enjoy playing golf and to stay as safe as possible.

    Official guidelines from the State of Maine: https://www.maine.gov/decd/sites/maine.gov.decd/files/inline-files/COVID%20Checklist%20for%20ME%20Phase%201%20Golf%20Courses_0.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0JW9fAd79CQgYRzNKcEiTYwJhFZbSG55hRO6AK0DJ506NOXMhLrNa3qqg

  4. Online Range Bucket Purchases

    Rules for COVID-19 Driving Range Use:

    * Driving Range Bucket is allowed for one person’s use only, cannot be split. You may not bring any additional persons to the range besides the person whom paid for the bucket

    * Please remain in your vehicle until your scheduled appointment time; Do not congregate at the driving range or parking lot with others.

    * Use only your assigned mat, do not change the mat that you are assigned to

    * Can be cancelled at any time prior to your start time

    * You MUST complete your range bucket within 30-45 (size dependent) minutes of your tee time. Be respectful of other’s time. If you go past your time, and have balls remaining, we may ask you to leave. No refunds given for unused range balls.

    * Please take any trash with you and dispose at your home.

    * Place used buckets in the used bin to allow for them to be cleaned and sanitized between uses

    * The Pro Shop is closed to customers. There is no bathroom access. Please do not use the wooded area, there’s not much foliage and it is cold, don’t embarrass yourself.

    IF YOU ARE FEELING UNWELL, HAVE A FEVER, COUGH, OR OTHER AILMENT PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL US TO CANCEL YOUR TEE TIME AND RECEIVE A REFUND. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ASK ANYONE TO LEAVE THE DRIVING RANGE FOR ANY REASON WITHOUT REFUNDS. 



  5. Gift Certificate Sale

    It’s cold outside, I don’t want to go out there either. But every day we get closer to spring, and a good sale will warm anyone up. Plus you can order on line and not have to worry about going any further than the mailbox. Buy a gift certificate of $50 or more and get a FREE round of 9 holes walking golf. Buy before 4 pm ET and it will ship same day. Just click the link below to buy!

  6. Carts are okay on the course!

    We are letting carts out on the course today!


    It’s amazing what a little bit of sun and a stiff breeze can do to dry things up. We’ve got some wet spots, but overall it’s not too bad.


    $10 green fees. Regular cart rates apply.

  7. Hidden Meadows Fall Picture Contest

    The colors around the course are gorgeous this time of the year. So we’re going to have a contest.

    While you are out playing at Hidden Meadows, take some pictures. Send them to us. Then we’ll post all of the pictures on Facebook. Whichever picture gets the most ‘likes’ wins a dozen Titleist golf balls.

    We’ll run this contest through October 19th. Good luck everyone!

    #9 green at Hidden Meadows Golf Course
  8. Happy Fall Y’all!

    As the 2019 golf season winds down here in Maine, it’s a good time to bring everyone up-to-date about what’s happening at Hidden Meadows Golf Course.

    This coming Saturday we are having our annual season-ending Haunted Golf Ball 5-Person Yellow Ball Scramble. In this format, four players on the team play a scramble, one player on the team plays the yellow ball. You combine the scramble score with the yellow ball score on each hole for the team score. The yellow ball rotates to a different team member each hole.

    The cost is $10 per player for members, $20 per player for non-members. Carts are $12 per seat. We have room for two more teams. For more details about this tournament, click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/385245698829059/

    As I’m sure everyone is painfully aware of, this has been one of the wettest year’s on record in the greater Bangor area. In August alone we had 12 inches of rain. Average is less than one inch. As a result, the course and cart paths have taken a beating this season.

    We already had plans to clean out all of our drainage ditches this fall. While we are doing that, we are going to add some additional drainage to the course, particularly on the fairways of #1, #5, #6 and #9. We have also added a cart path on the right side of the 5th fairway, and are in the process of adding a cart path on the left side of the 6th fairway as well as to the left of #6 green.

    All of this will help to re-direct water and re-direct cart traffic, which will in turn give us a chance to fill in the low spots and add drainage to these areas of the course. Weather permitting, we should be able to get a lot of this done this fall, which in turn will put us in a better position for the spring of 2020.

    This has, unfortunately, pushed back our scheduled opening of the new tee and green on #4. While the new green is ready to go, the new tee is only about half way done. Conditions have been so wet that we haven’t been able to safely move dirt from where we mine it next to #5 fairway without tearing up the course. Once things get dry enough to be able to start moving fill again, we’ll get that project finished. We are hoping (and keeping our fingers crossed) to have it ready to go and open early next summer.

    We have acquired 10 new carts this fall, so we now have several of our 2010 Club Car Precedent gas carts for sale. They are $2,600 plus tax. As an added value, we will offer free storage for this coming winter, and will include trail fees and storage for the 2020 season. We have already sold four out of the 10 we have available, so if you are interested don’t wait too long. Contact Rob or Joe for more details.

    As many of you already know, this past spring we entered into a 10-year lease agreement with Kitsap County Washington for Village Greens Golf Course, an 18-hole executive course located in Port Orchard, WA, about an hour west of Seattle on the Puget Sound. While our initial plans were to only be involved as a semi-silent partner, it turned out to be quite a bit more than that. Subsequently, Joe has been splitting time between the two courses this season.

    If you are wondering how in the heck we got involved with a course out in the state of Washington, here’s the short version:

    Joe grew up in Bremerton, WA, which is a 15-minute drive from Port Orchard. He took his first golf lesson at Village Greens in 1966, when he was 6-years-old. He got his first job as an assistant golf professional at Village Greens in 1982, and worked there for 2 ½ years.

    Joe’s freshman year of high school at West High School in Bremerton, WA.

    Village Greens is owned and operated by Kitsap County. Over the past several years, the county lost more than $500,000 on the course. Even though most courses in western Washington stay open year-round, the county had been closing the course at the end of October the past several years, then re-opening the first or second week of April, to help reduce expenses. This past spring, they decided to permanently close the course.

    When Joe caught wind of this in late March through social media, he made some calls to try to hastily form a golf course management group. While the management group didn’t quite form as hoped, Joe was able to secure a lease on the course and get it opened back up by Memorial Day weekend.

    Initially Joe planned to spend one week per month at Village Greens, and thee weeks per month at Hidden Meadows. That changed a little bit because of the weather here in Maine this year, and he ended up being at Hidden Meadows for the entire months of September and October. Joe will be heading out to Washington for the month of November and will be splitting time between the two courses throughout the winter.

    It’s difficult enough running one golf course, much less two, especially since they couldn’t be much further apart geographically. So for the 2020 season, Andrew McDade will be returning to run the day-to-day business at Hidden Meadows. Andrew worked for us during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, so he is familiar with the golf course and many of you.

    Chad Armell will remain our Green Superintendent and Jim Gaouette will remain Chad’s assistant. Garry, Cole, Harrison and Bernard will continue to work on our grounds maintenance crew. Sue, Kristy, Linda, Jacob, Sam, Bryce and Willem will continue to work in the clubhouse. Joe and Rob will be splitting time between the two courses.

    If you are wondering how this will affect Hidden Meadows, outside of seeing Joe and Rob a little bit less, there will be little to no differences in the day to day operation of the facilities. And you will continue to see improvements on the golf course, and we will continue to invest in the property and community just like you have every year.

    Additionally, your membership at Hidden Meadows includes a full membership at Village Greens. Range balls and power cart rentals are included with the Village Greens portion of your membership. While we understand that most of you won’t spend a whole lot of time out in Washington, these benefits are available if you happen to be in the area.

    The last thing we need to address is a question, and a rumor, that we’ve been hearing very frequently: Are we planning on selling Hidden Meadows Golf Course? Absolutely not. We’ve just finished our 10th season here and have no intention to sell the course. While everyone has their price for anything and everything, it’s not something we foresee doing in the near or distant future.

    If you are interested in learning a little bit more about Village Greens Golf Course, below is a link to the Facebook page, followed by a link to a news story that was on a local TV station there last month:

    https://www.facebook.com/golfvillagegreens/

    Sunday, November 3rd will be the last day we’re open for the season, so we’ve still got some great fall golf weather to look forward to. Make sure to get out for a few more rounds of before the winter sets in.  And make sure to check out some of the great year-end specials we have going in the pro shop.

  9. Richard May/Warren Rand Memorial Tournament is September 21st

    The 8th Annual Richard May/Warren Rand Memorial Golf Tournament is Saturday, September 21st at Hidden Meadows Golf Course.

    The format is a 4-person scramble and it starts at 9 a.m.. The cost is $60 per person ($240 per team), which includes a cart, green fees, food, and prizes.

    The tournament benefits the Richard W. May Memorial Scholarship at Old Town High School & the warren D. Rand Jr. Athletic Scholarship.

    To enter your team or to sponsor a hole, call Randy Rand at 944-0551 or the pro shop at Hidden Meadows Golf Course, 827-4779.

  10. 7th Annual Big Cup Scramble

    It is almost that time of the year. Sign up today for our 7th Annual Big Cup Scramble on September 28th today. Space is limited, and this event always fills. Cost: $40 per team for non-members, $20 for members per team. Carts are extra. Stop in today, or click the link to register online!

    It looks like it might be easier. It might be, but probably isn’t.

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