Located at South Point on Maryland Route 611 about a 20-minute drive from
Ocean City,
the semi-private member-owned Ocean City Golf & Yacht Club comprises the
Seaside Course and
Newport Bay.
Seaside, which is a misnomer since it isn't anywhere near the ocean, is shorter and more open.
It's especially designed for "a free swinger," according to the club brochure. Newport Bay, the club's
signature layout, is a tad tighter and considerably longer, perfect for the "precision golfer."
Ocean Golf & Yacht is the oldest golf club in Ocean City. The original 9-hole course, located just
across the bay from Ocean City on what is now known as "Captain's Hill" opened in 1924 and closed in
1936 when it was converted to a residential community.
Left without a place of their own, some members got their golfing fill by joining Rehobeth Country
Club, a 30-minute jaunt up the new coastal highway. Still, the desire for a club in the OC-Berlin
area was a flame that never flickered. Several sites were investigated including an old, unused
farm at South Point. Sending its produce to market in scows that tied up at docks right
on the property, the 600-acre farm was divided into roughly equal parts of woodlands, open farmland, and marshland.
The purchase was made in 1957 and construction on the original 18 began in April 1958.
William Gordon & Son of Doylestown, Pa., was selected to design and build the course.
The new club started with 100 members, but that number virtually doubled overnight when the new
course officially opened May 29, 1959. Since then the membership doubled again. A third nine was added
in 1971, and a fourth opened in 1984, creating two 18-hole courses. In 1996, Lester George redesigned
Bayside, and the revised layout, renamed Newport Bay, opened in 1998.
In his remake, George added length and bunkers, and replanted the greens with bent, but he
preserved Newport Bay's magnificent natural features. Weaving through the forest oaks, willows and
birch and playing out along the wide marshes on the north side of the property, Newport Bay presents
a delightful menu of holes - doglegs and straight holes, short and long - and all cast in
a setting that will have you peering around and above to catch glimpses of wildlife and the splendid
scene's rich photographic opportunities.
It is also rich in golfing triumph and tragedies. Designed for the option of being walked, the
course features a traditional layout devoid of contrivances, such as large mounds and steep
crevices and greens with slopes more suited for miniature golf. The layout is as straight-forward
as they come.
Besides a couple of terrific short par 4's, Newport Bay has some fine par 3's and par 5's,
including the 485-yard 12th (525 from the back). A reachable hole for the longer hitters,
the hole demands precision. The tee shot must carry a portion of the tidal marsh to a
fairway that is bisected at about the 340-yard mark by another finger of marsh. The
green is perched in between several sizable bunkers and is backdropped by woods.
The 520-yard (535) 14th is perhaps the most majestic hole on the course. On this
slight dogleg right, it moves inland out toward the marshes. An open marsh pond and adjacent
thick tidal vegetation lies to the right of the fairway out about 450 yards, and stands ready to swallow
shots hit too far right. The green is directly along the marsh. The course's other two forced
carries occur at the two finishing holes, the stunning par 3 17th of 150 yards (175 from the back)
and the 340-yard (365) 18th. Both holes lie directly on the water. The 17th green is one
of the more sloped on the course and is surrounded by sand. From it, you can look south across the
water and possibly see a single boat at anchor or a house among the trees on the point on the other side.
From the tips, No. 18 requires a short carry over a finger of marsh to a fairly wide fairway,
from where you are left with a mid to short iron into a fairly flat green with a couple of bunkers.
A large waste bunker runs down the right side, and if wayward right shots don't find the sand, they are liable
to wind up on the narrow rocky beach or in the bay. With accuracy, the hole is not difficult, but it
packs some terrific views.
Like Eagles Landing, the fairways of Bermuda have a looser texture than you will find on the bent
fairways at Rum Pointe or Lighthouse Sound. The greens are bent and relatively small. They aren't severely
sloped or contoured.
Because it offers superior golf at a mid-level fee, Ocean City Golf & Yacht gets a considerable
amount of play. On your next visit to the Maryland shore, pack your sticks and head on out there.
You will be rewarded. 
Ocean City Golf
