TRENTON – As a good round progresses at Bar Harbor Golf Course – even as you crush drivers down the middle, hit crisp -irons into the speedy greens, and enjoy the distant vistas of Mount Desert Island’s mountains – a nagging feeling can creep into the golfer’s psyche.

Sure, things are going great. Sure, you’re hitting the ball better than ever.

But somewhere, a nameless beast lurks. And you know that before you get to enjoy a post-round drink and share the stories of your glory, you’ve got to find a way to … shh … sneak past it.

The beast? The 18th hole. Just call it the place good rounds go to die.

“Monumentals,” course owner Charlie Crowley calls his two beastly long par 5’s on the back nine.

The first is No. 13, a 603-yarder that provides a stern mid-round test.

But at Bar Harbor Golf Course, the final exam is No. 18.

“From the back tees, [No. 18] can be 620 yards, if you want to stretch it way out,” pro Mike DeRaps explains. “That can be the real deal.”

Adding to the “real deal” is this: There’s no sure shot on the entire hole. Wind, conditions, and a golfer’s nerve will all come into play.

“Depending on the wind, you might be hitting driver off the tee,” Crowley says. “Or you might be hitting 5-iron. You can end up in a bad spot off the tee.

“It’s just ruined a lot of good rounds, that hole,” Crowley says with a shake of his head.

Do you want to hear something really scary?

Believe it or not, Crowley has made the hole much more forgiving than it used to be when his family bought the course back in 1982.

“[The landing area] used to be 20 yards across, including the rough,” he says. “We probably filled in another 30 yards of rough area on the left, and 10 yards on the right.”

Bar Harbor Golf Course – a slightly misnamed layout, since the 18-hole course rests on the mainland side of the causeway that leads to Mount Desert Island and the town of Bar Harbor itself – opened for business in 1968, Crowley says.

After shuffling through several early owners, the Massachusetts-based Crowley clan bought the course at auction in 1982.

“We saw an ad in the [Boston] Globe that this place was going up for bid,” Crowley says. “Sealed bids. So my father asked me if I’d be interested in running the place if we won the bid.

“I said, ‘Sure,’ thinking that he had no chance in the world of winning the bid.”

He did. And since then, Charlie Crowley has made his summer pilgrimages from the Boston area, where he’s owns a financial advising company, to Trenton.

He returns to Boston a few days a month to meet with clients.

Crowley says the early days were a test for the fledgling golf course owners.

“The first couple years were pretty lean,” he says of the time before the golf boom of the mid-’80s took hold.

“Golf wasn’t like it is now … And the course was in horrible condition when we took it over.”

Crowley addressed that problem by going to turf school at his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He put his new knowledge to use while sprucing up a layout he already liked: The course was designed by Phil Wogan. Wogan also designed nearby Bucksport Golf Club.

Now Crowley serves as an owner-superintendent at the course from April to November.

DeRaps says one of the things he likes about the course is that unlike many “ocean” courses, Bar Harbor Golf Course’s layout provides plenty of scenic views.

“On every hole, at some place on the hole, you can see the water,” DeRaps says. “There aren’t many golf courses that can say that.”

And while the water isn’t technically ocean – it’s the tidal Jordan River you see as you traverse the gently rolling hills at Bar Harbor – it’s close enough. In the summer, DeRaps says, the course actually plays a lot like the links-style courses most people only see on TV.

Crowley cautions, however, that Bar Harbor Golf Course may not be for everybody.

“We’re certainly not for beginners,” Crowley says. “We’ve had people new to golf come out here and we’ve said, ‘Lookit, this is gonna be a nightmare for you to try to play here.”

While Bar Harbor’s lengthy par 5s and some testy par 4s might prove tough on novices, the course is actually pretty forgiving for most players.

“It’s a great test of golf for all levels,” DeRaps says. “If you’re just a beginner, you’ve got enough room on a lot of holes to spray your drive a little. You’re not gonna get pars, but you’ll find your golf ball.”

That’s because Bar Harbor is largely devoid of forest; stands of trees separating many of the fairways can provide some tricky recoveries on errant shots.

“It’s more or less defined as being wide open, where you’ll end up using just about every club in your bag with the wind conditions we usually have,” Crowley says.

DeRaps points out that one club may come in handy more than the others.

“I’ll tell you what: You’ve got to hit the driver here a lot, and you’ve still got 4-, 5- and 6-irons left on the approach shots,” he says. “You’ve got to be able to control your driver and hit it in the right spots to set up your approach shots.”

And while the finishing holes are tough – players must get past No. 16, the toughest on the course, before earning a shot at the finishing beast – the beginning holes can foil a good round, too.

“If you can get through the first five holes … you’re having a great round,” DeRaps says. “[Those holes] can ambush you in a hurry.”

John Holyoke will be profiling a Maine golf course each Tuesday. Contact him at 990-8214 or by e-mail at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

BAR HARBOR GOLF COURSE

Holes: 18

Yards: 6,680 (blue tees), 6,450 (white), 5,235 (red); par: 71

Slope: 122 (men), 119 (women); rating: 71.1 (blue tees), 70.2 (white), 70.4 (red)

Green fees: 9 holes:; $15; 18 holes: $35

Memberships: $575 single, $150 junior, $995 family, $350 college, $925 husband and wife, seniors get 10 percent off.

Tee times: Not necessary.

Directions: Take Route 1A to Ellsworth, continue straight on Route 3 to Trenton, turn left onto Route 204, Bar Harbor Golf Course is on the right.

Footwear: No metal spikes.

Phone: 667-7505