Mount Washington Resort reopens the restored 18-hole Ross golf course

Mount Washington Resort's 18-hole golf  course reopened on Friday, August 1st after a restoration  project that lasted two seasons. According to Michael Carroll,  Mount Washington Resort's director of golf & club operations, "Opening day  was a huge success! We are absolutely thrilled with positive reviews of  the new layout!"    The Mount Washington  Course was designed by golf course architect Donald Ross,  from Scotland, and opened in 1915.  Brian Silva of Brian Silva Design led the restoration  project, rebuilding the golf course based on Donald Ross' original design  plans which had been preserved over the years at the resort.  Ross  was known for designing golf courses according the natural contours and  terrain of the land, and for placing challenging bunkers perpendicular to the  shot.   According to Silva, who provided a walking tour of the  new layout to members of the Mount Washington Alpine & Country Club and  the Resort's executive management team, "This is  mountain golf at its best!" With  the original Ross plans for the Mount Washington Course in hand, Silva  discovered the 18-hole course was not simply the "flat thing" that he recalled  during earlier visits to the resort in the early 1970s and late 1980s.   By comparing the original Ross plans to those of the course in 2007,  Silva unveiled the original intent of Ross, which had been lost or  buried over the years.   Fairway bunkers crafted with Ross  flair were unearthed, including the  discovery of Ross' signature "principal's nose" bunker on the 4th hole.   In keeping with Ross' "meadowland" design, which features expansive views, Silva significantly enhanced the course's wide open vistas by  strategically removing trees. Silva also, made use of the natural rolls  and swells of the ancient riverbed upon which the Course was built when  placing tees, fairways, bunkers, and greens, as did Ross in his original  plans. Matt Massei, the resort's  general manager came to Mount Washington Resort after a 15 year career at  Pinehurst, in North Carolina, where he oversaw PGA National Club Professional  Championships in 1997 and 1998, and the US Open in 2005.  Massei noted  how impressed he has been with the way the entire project has been executed and the significance of the new layout. "Within the next five or so  years we certainly hope to host one of the 13 USGA championship events  here at Mount Washington Resort," he said. "The  August Golf & Stay Package" has been designed to welcome the opening of  the restored golf course with a special commemorative gift, and is valid for  the month of August only.