Sagamore-Hampton Golf Club

Sagamore-Hampton Golf Club opened in 1962 in North Hampton as the second public course built by the Luff family, who had opened Sagamore Springs in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, in 1929. The club became known for something unusual in American golf: an ecological approach to turf care. Peter Luff, wary of the heavy chemical use that was becoming standard in the 1950s and 1960s, kept chemicals to a minimum and focused on nourishing the soil to grow quality grass, and the course has been managed along those lines ever since. His son Richard, the club's president and co-owner, carried the approach further with organic fertilizer, natural alternatives to pesticides, a small wind turbine to offset energy use, a riparian buffer restoration project and pollinator plots for bees. The 18-hole, par-71 course remains a family-run public course on North Road.