Nine holes of the Tyngsboro, Mass. club’s Donald Ross-designed golf course are on Tyngs Island, as are four tennis courts, a 25-yard swimming pool and a full-size driving range. General Manager/COO Bob Pescatore says the club lost revenue when it couldn’t hold functions such as weddings the past couple of months. “If you have no bridge, you have no club,” he says.
The bridge that spans the Merrimack River and allows entry to the island portion of Vesper Country Club in Tyngsboro, Mass. is being replaced, the Lowell Sun reported. The bridge, believed to have been erected in 1937, has been removed. Now, a construction crew is on the scene getting a new bridge ready.
The replacement bridge should be finished in late February or early March, in plenty of time for the 2022 golf season, much to the relief of members, the Sun reported.
“That’s the question. Are we going to be out there? Are we going to have a course? We don’t see any hiccups,” said Bob Pescatore, Vesper’s General Manager and Chief Operation Officer.
The private club shut down November 1, 2021, the Sun reported. Its two main buildings, the clubhouse and function hall, were closed. A gas line was attached to the bridge, complicating matters.
The bridge underwent repairs in 2009. Recently, engineers were brought in to assess the bridge’s condition, the Sun reported. Club officials were advised to limit the number of large vehicles that passed over, prompting Vesper to stop letting delivery trucks over the bridge two years ago.
Instead, supplies were loaded onto two pickup trucks, the Sun reported.
“It was safe. It was just wear and tear,” Pescatore said of the bridge.
The decision to replace the bridge was approved by the club’s members, the Sun reported.
Vesper was established as the Vesper Boat Club in 1875. In 1899, the club merged with the Lowell Country Club to create Vesper Country Club, the Sun reported. According to the United States Golf Association, Vesper is the oldest private club in New England and the fifth oldest in the country.
Nine of Vesper’s holes (1, 2, 3, 4, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18) are on Tyngs Island, a scenic piece of land surrounded by the Merrimack, the Sun reported. The remaining nine holes sit on the mainland.
The Tyngs Island portion of the course also features four tennis courts, a 25-yard swimming pool and a full-size driving range, the Sun reported.
The main bridge has been modified and repaired several times, including in 1968, Pescatore told the Sun. The next bridge will be a little longer than the previous one.
One other bridge on the property spans the Merrimack, the Sun reported. A smaller bridge, large enough for one golf cart, allows golfers to travel from the No. 4 tee box to the No. 4 green, and then the No. 14 tee box to the No. 14 green.
Pescatore said that bridge will also have to be replaced at some point, the Sun reported. He said club officials have been using the smaller bridge to get over onto the Tyngs Island portion of the course so the two main buildings can be checked on twice a day.
The course normally undergoes a full aeration at the end of March and opens for play about April 15, weather permitting, the Sun reported. Pescatore said the project is on schedule. The club lost revenue when it couldn’t hold functions such as weddings the past couple of months.
“If you have no bridge, you have no club,” Pescatore said. “It’s been quite the ordeal.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.