UPDATE: The country club opening has been delayed until May 25.

Original post: The landscapers are planting, the excavators are excavating, the carpenters are hammering and Chad Penman is itching to send the first golfers out to play at the new Boothbay Harbor Country Club.

“I am so ready for (May 22),” said the new head pro as he pointed to all the construction workers swarming over the elderly log cabin that has served as the clubhouse for years. “It's gonna be cool,” Penman said.

The club is scheduled to open on Wednesday, May 22, after a rocky start that saw the former owner, James Reeves, ousted after the Bank of Maine foreclosed on his mortgage. The bank then sold the property to Southport businessman Paul Coulombe for $1.4 million.

Although Reeves and the bank are still involved in a legal battle, Coulombe has said it has nothing to do with his ownership.

The former distillery owner has spent millions of dollars getting ready for the season. Penman said the club has welcomed approximately 200 members.

Outside the clubhouse, the greens have been spiked, healed and are nearly perfect. The tees sport new sod and are smooth and level. The greenside bunkers have been redone and await a chance to welcome an errant shot into a blanket of new sand.

Not far from the 18th fairway, excavators and blasters are scraping off a hill to welcome a practice facility. It will feature a trio of target greens and a range.

The practice area will also have club fitting gear, including video capability to help refine member's swings. A house once owned by longtime Boothbay resident George Whitten has been purchased and is ready to be moved.

The outside of the clubhouse has been repaired, reroofed and repainted. A new deck, one with room for 19 tables, is being built. It will include a space for the chef to grow his own herbs and a few tomatoes, said clubhouse manager Ally Melchreit.

Melchreit promises all will be ready for opening day when she will unveil the club's signature build-it-yourself burger.
Meanwhile, as workers finish the new kitchen, others are wiring, sawing and finishing off the refurbished dining room.

The pro shop sports a new coat of white paint as bright new shirts are flanked by rows of new bags and clubs standing at attention.

Penman has asked a dozen local boys and girls to come and learn to caddy for those members who want to play the game as it was invented – on foot.

The new pro also will offer club fitting and custom club design to help cure some members longtime swing faults.

“This is one of my specialties,” Penman said. “A lot of funky golf swings are really people just trying to work around ill fitting equipment.”

Penman and assistant pro Raynor Lynn will also offer an a specialized introduction to the game course to accommodate those who may want to take up the game, but might be intimidated by the process.

“We will teach them the basics, what to wear, how to drive a golf cart and other facets of the game,” he said.

Another boom echoed over the fairways as blasters working on the practice range carved another chunk out of the bedrock. Penman said one reason he couldn't wait for opening day was to welcome peace and quiet back to the course.

Has he sneaked out and played a few holes on the lush and inviting fairways?

“Not yet,” he said. “I will wait and let the paying customers go first.”