Bryson DeChambeau shoots 69 at Maine's Sugarloaf and ranks it behind only Banff

Bryson DeChambeau's search for the most beautiful golf courses reached western Maine last week. In a 58-minute video posted to his YouTube channel on October 29, he plays Sugarloaf Golf Club in Carrabassett Valley during what he calls a one-week window of peak fall color, and he signs for a 69. By Monday the video had more than 2.2 million views.

Why Sugarloaf

Sugarloaf is a Robert Trent Jones Jr. mountain course that opened in 1985 beside the ski resort of the same name. In the video DeChambeau says it has been ranked No. 1 in Maine 29 times. The Portland Press Herald reported that same Golf Digest count back in 2015. Golf Digest's current Best in State list has it fifth, and its panel calls the course a ball-striking test with narrow, forested fairways and heavily shelved greens.

This is the third stop in the series, after Northwood Golf Club, a nine-hole course in the redwoods, and Banff Springs in the Canadian Rockies. DeChambeau says he flew in from Las Vegas and reached the resort at 3:21 a.m. Sugarloaf supported the shoot, and he thanks the resort on camera.

The round

He drives the green at the 426-yard first and two-putts for birdie. At the par-5 second, he hits driver over the creek that crosses the fairway, a carry he puts at 350, and says his drive went 372. Staff told him he may be the first to carry it from the back tee. A squall then rolls in with rain and wind he puts at 25 mph, and he makes par.

The eighth is often compared with the 12th at Augusta National. DeChambeau sees the resemblance in the narrow green over water, says "it's definitely a little different than Augusta," and birdies it anyway. He turns at even par.

The String of Pearls

Holes 10 through 15, called the String of Pearls, run along the Carrabassett River. The 11th, Precipice, is the signature: Golf Digest says the green sits 120 feet below the tee. DeChambeau gets there with a pitching wedge, wind at his back.

Longtime staffer John tells him Hurricane Bob washed out the 14th and 15th in 1991, and that Jones came back to redesign them, reopening in July 1992. Walking off the 15th, DeChambeau puts the stretch in his top three with Augusta and Cypress Point, "from a design perspective," and admits the call will be controversial.

From the seventh hole on, he puts the wind at 30 to 35 mph. He keeps calling the greens tricky, and after a few misreads he says he'd need two or three rounds to learn the place.

His ranking

DeChambeau says he has no other fall golf to compare it with, so he ranks the three stops on experience: Banff first, Sugarloaf second, Northwood third.

Play it

Sugarloaf is open May through October. It is taking 2027 tee times now and offering lodging savings of up to 20% that it is tying to his visit. If you have a simulator, there is a free GSPro version by course designer Thegolfboy with four tees, playing 6,818 yards from the Black. GSPro runs with Foresight, Full Swing KIT, Garmin R50, Mevo+, ProTee VX, Square Golf and Uneekor launch monitors. Its designer suggests playing with no wind. To see what DeChambeau dealt with, turn the wind on.