HYANNIS, Massachusetts – Cape Cod has 27 public and 15 private golf courses. Hyannis Golf Course is different from most of the others.
“Most people think of the Cape as being very flat,” said Bruce McIntyre, director of golf at Hyannis GC and Olde Barnstable GC.
Hyannis GC is not flat. Before the town of Barnstable bought the course in 2005, the 1972 Geoffrey Cornish and Bill Robinson design was called Iyannough Hills Golf Club.
“Hills for a reason,” McIntyre said. “It’s very hilly. A lot of elevated greens, a lot of elevated tees, not a lot of flat lies. It’s a pretty narrow golf course. It’s a golfer’s golf course. Our better golfers play exclusively here.”
Hyannis plays only 6,305 yards from the back tees, but it plays longer because of the hills.
Some greens sit atop hills and McIntyre rated the greens at Hyannis among the best of any public course on the Cape. They certainly rolled true when we played.
Hyannis has to be the easiest golf course to get to on the Cape. It’s located only about half a mile off Exit 68 (old Exit 6) from Route 6.
McIntyre said Hyannis was so busy during the pandemic last summer, it was “absolutely crazy.” Even people who had never golfed before gave it a try.
By the time the fiscal year ends on June 30, Hyannis GC and Olde Barnstable will have hosted a combined 80,000 rounds, an increase of 15,000 rounds and $1.1 million in revenue over the previous fiscal year, according to McIntyre.
Hyannis lost so many outings and weddings because of the pandemic, however, the club’s longtime food and beverage contractor went out of business, McIntyre said. The new food and beverage contractor, Massachusetts Military Support Foundation, renovated the clubhouse and hopes to fare better this season. Hyannis stays open all year, weather permitting.
valid Monday thru Thursday.
Hyannis and Olde Barnstable have 1,200 annual pass holders. For unlimited play at both courses, residents pay $1,170, non-residents $1,500. Golfers can also purchase daily greens fees.
Hyannis works with local hotels on golf packages and it accepts tee times on Jan. 1 for any time throughout the year. Every Friday-Sunday is nearly sold out through Columbus Day, McIntyre said. So McIntyre recommends that visitors book tee times before they travel to the Cape.
McIntyre said Hyannis plans a $4 million project with golf architect Richard Mandell of Pinehurst, North Carolina, to reposition forward tees and upgrade bunkers, irrigation and cart paths. The golf course has just recently paid off the town’s debt from purchasing the property so McIntyre estimates he’ll be able to spend $300,000 more on the golf course each year.
“I think in the next few years we’re poised to make this place shine,” McIntyre said.
In the spring of 2019, Hyannis and Olde Barnstable stopped using traditional golf course fertilizers and chemicals and embarked on an environmentally sensitive land management plan. The clubs use 80 percent fewer pesticides and rely far more on biological, microbial and organic products.
Located about two miles down Route 132 is Barbyann’s Restaurant at 120 Airport Road. Barbyann’s offers great local seafood, American fare and daily specials, while Cape Cod natives and visitors alike have been dining there since 1981. The award-winning Captain Merle’s Seafood Stew is simply fabulous. https://www.barbyanns.com/
In addition to golf, we took a one-hour Hyannis Harbor Cruise aboard Hy-Line Cruises and we’d recommend it. Visit www.hylinecruises.com.
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