The Captains Golf Course: Port

Brian Silva, who GOLF WORLD magazine named Architect of the Year in 2000 largely for his work here, designed the original 18-hole layout at The Captains Golf Course that opened in 1985. Golf Digest named it Best New Public Golf Course in the Country that year. In 1999, Silva returned to design an additional 18 holes and merge the new and existing holes into the current two-course configuration: the 6,724-yard par-72 Port Course and its Starboard companion. The Town of Brewster owns and operates both courses, a genuinely unusual arrangement for a facility of this architectural caliber. Port is often considered slightly tougher than Starboard; both have given up the same course record of 63. Silva's minimalist design vocabulary shows through on both nines, native Cape Cod grasses, sand-based soil that drains fast, and green complexes that reward local knowledge over visual target-golf. Peak green fee runs $75-135 depending on season. Fits a Cape Cod trip as the exceptional municipally-owned 36-hole destination.