Whaling City Golf Club at New Bedford

Whaling City Golf Club sits in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a historic seaport city on Buzzards Bay that once served as the world's leading whaling port in the nineteenth century. The course was originally designed by Donald Ross, the prolific Scottish architect whose New England portfolio includes numerous layouts across Massachusetts and neighboring states. Ross's work in the region typically emphasized strategic bunkering, subtly contoured greens, and routing that worked naturally with existing terrain. Johnson Golf, a Massachusetts-based design firm, later undertook renovation work at the facility, updating elements of the course while maintaining connections to its Ross heritage. The layout occupies relatively modest acreage in a densely settled area of southeastern Massachusetts, characteristic of municipal and semi-private courses serving urban populations in the region. New Bedford's coastal proximity means the course experiences maritime weather patterns, including prevailing winds that can influence play, particularly on exposed holes. The terrain in this part of Massachusetts tends toward gentle rolling ground rather than dramatic elevation change, and courses here often feature a mix of open and tree-lined corridors. Whaling City serves as an accessible public facility in a region with deep golf tradition, providing a Ross-influenced design to a broad membership and daily-fee clientele. The course reflects both the historical significance of Ross's design philosophy and the practical realities of maintaining and modernizing a layout for contemporary play in a working-class coastal city.