Pease Golf Course set its all-time record for most rounds played in a single day on July 8 with 605, course PGA general manager Tim Riese told Pease Development Authority officials recently.
Then just two weeks later, the golf course “beat that record with 620,” Riese told the PDA’s Board of Directors.
Riese stressed the 27-hole “golf course has never been in better condition,” despite how busy it’s been, and praised the work of golf course head superintendent Ej Chea.
He stressed the conditions at the Pease Golf Course are “as good or better than the private golf courses in the area.”
Riese predicted it’s unlikely Pease will break that record again in 2026 with the days now getting shorter.
Consistently hitting 500 rounds
“We’re still packed, but we’re not able to do those same numbers,” he said during a Sept. 1 interview. “Honestly it just amazes me.”
The Pease course — which is located in the Pease International Tradeport just off Route 33 and a short distance from Interstate 95 and the Spaulding Turnpike — routinely hosts “500 rounds in a day,” Riese said.
“Before Covid, a good day for us was 300 to 400,” he said.
Riese also weighed in on Pease Golf Course’s new irrigation system, the autonomous or robot lawn mower being used at the course and how golf’s surging popularity — especially among women — is helping to drive the high round numbers.
High use of course ‘just bananas’
Pease Golf Course is “on track to hit 70,000 rounds this year,” he said.
“If we got amazing weather for the next three months, we could probably get close to 80,000, which is just bananas,” he said.
Riese acknowledged “there’s so many factors that go into us being this busy.”
He believes “it’s a combination of things,” including the course’s 27 holes, which he called “a game changer” and Pease Golf Course’s location.
“We’re very fortunate to be located where we are,” Riese said.
He noted the PDA invested $1.3 million this spring in an upgraded irrigation system, which allows staff to conserve water while keeping fairways, greens and Tees in great shape, despite a relatively dry summer.
“The course has never been in better shape,” Riese said, crediting Chea and his staff for all their work.
“Ej and I both started here in 1997,” Riese said. “People don’t come to a golf course if it’s not in good condition.”
Women golfers on the rise
An increase in women golfers has helped push round numbers higher, he said.
“I think that’s been one of the demographics that’s exploded. So many more women are playing the sport,” Riese said.
The number of women playing and learning how to play golf has increased as the popularity of the women’s professional tour has grown, Riese said.
New women golfers believe the sport offers them “an opportunity” to join others in their profession out on the golf course, too, he said.
Pease offers adults-only classes on different nights during the summer, he said.
“We do women only on Tuesday nights. They sell out in the spring for the entire summer,” Riese said.
More public playing time
PDA Executive Director Paul Brean pointed to the decision by golf course staff this year to try to “make more public rounds available by curtailing some of the large scale tournaments.”
“We’re trying to make more playable rounds for the general public while balancing” the amount of tournaments held, Brean said during an Aug. 31 interview.
Both he and Riese explained how larger tournaments and/or events can consume much of the course and make it hard for other players to get tee times.
Asked about the rest of the season, Brean stated “it really comes down to what the weather will be … if we don’t have a lot of precipitation those rounds will get up there.”
Autonomous lawnmower for the driving range
Pease Golf Course started using its first autonomous or robot lawn mower about a month ago, Riese said.
“It mainly does the driving range tee box, one of the practice areas and club lawns,” he said.
The robot lawn mower is “kind of like your home Roomba,” Riese said, referencing an autonomous vacuum cleaner.
The lawn mower runs by itself on a seven- to eight-hour battery and will avoid golf balls and even wildlife, he said.
“If it senses something, it turns itself around and drives away,” Riese said.
Their robotic lawn mower uses GPS mapping to operate, according to Riese, who said they’ve been using it to “kind of get our feet wet” with the technology.
Robot range picker next
The next step is considering the purchase of an autonomous range ball picker, Riese said.
The machines he’s seen automatically collect golf balls hit on a driving range and put them into baskets.
“Then it sends you out an alert when the baskets are full” of golf balls, he said.
Pease Golf Course has followed the PDA’s directive to keep golf affordable for all age groups, Riese said.
“We’re somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% cheaper” than other area courses, he said.
Riese acknowledged it can be difficult to get a tee time at the course, but suggested people visit peasegolf.com to book a time online, or call 603-433-1331.
In addition to the 27 holes and driving range, Pease Golf Course offers a clubhouse, practice greens and restaurant.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald. Reporting by Jeff McMenemy
