CARABASSETT VALLEY – Like a prize fighter with a particular penchant for nose-mashing left hooks, this course can beat you up.

It can pummel you with its unyielding, rugged terrain. It can confuse you with its deceptive mountain breezes. It can confound you with its speedy, undulating greens.

And it can leave you pencilling in a score that’s much higher than you’ve tallied in months.

Believe it. Sugarloaf Golf Club can do all those things. And it will.

But believe this, too: After a couple days to lick your wounds (and a trip to the pro shop to replenish your golf ball supply after spraying sleeve after sleeve into mountain forest during your round), you’ll be smiling.

And after a few more days, you’ll be making plans to return.

Why? Because golf here, in a venue that Mainers have traditionally associated with winter pursuits, is a bit different.

It’s a bit more rugged. A bit more beautiful. A bit more challenging. And a bit more special.

Golf Digest has agreed, naming Sugarloaf the top course in Maine for 16 straight years.

Pro Scott Hoisington says there are a few reasons for the course’s reputation.

“The first is that every hole is cut out of the woods by itself,” Hoisington says. So if you’re playing, you never see a lot of golfers on the course. Even if the course may be full that day, the only people you see are the people in front of you, or the people behind you. Occasionally.”

And then there’s this: When you build a golf course on a mountain and a pristine river just happens to wind its way through the layout, you’ll probably end up with some memorable holes.

Sugarloaf certainly did.

Ask most golfers about the course and before long, they’ll be telling you about The Hole. It’s No. 11.

You’ve probably seen it on posters. And calendars. And (more than likely) in the photo that accompanies this story.

But though the picturesque par-3 gets most of the press, what with its 127-foot vertical drop and the Carrabassett River protecting the green, and mountains looming in the distance, there’s far more to Sugarloaf Golf Club than just its photogenic signature hole.

As a matter of fact, just pick a hole on the back nine, and you’re not likely to be disappointed.

“The back nine, as a rule, has prettier holes than the front, because they go along the river,” Hoisington says.

“We’ve kind of named [the first seven holes on the back] ‘The String of Pearls,'” he says.

“I think any one of those holes can be somebody’s favorite.”

One possible pick: No. 10, which serves as a fitting opener to “The String of Pearls.”

Stretching just 334 yards from the tips, the tenth also features an elevated tee shot. But while the trouble on 11 lurks in front of the green, the 10th hides its biggest danger. And you’ll hear it long before you actually see it.

It’s the Carrabassett River, which froths its way through a series of rips just behind the green. And if you safely avoid the six bunkers that frame the 11th … water still awaits.

The steep riverbank begins just three feet behind the putting surface. Long approaches will … end … up … wet. No maybes about it.

Hoisington says the risk-reward conundrum is one that crops up often at Sugarloaf. And smart golfers choose to play it safe.

“You’ve got to not take high risks,” Hoisington says. “It’s a position golf course, or a shot-making course.”

One of Hoisington’s chief concerns this spring has been the course’s condition, as winter damage took an enormous toll on greens and fairways alike. While not in peak shape, the course is recovering nicely.

But frugal golfers may actually benefit from the significant damage, as greens fees have been lowered from the typical $105 peak season rate (including a cart) to $60 to make up for the less-than-perfect conditions.

Long-range plans call for a second 18-hole layout at Sugarloaf, but construction is on the back burner as an $800,000 capital improvement campaign goes forward.

“When they built it, they put money into the design features of the course, which was smart, because it’s a special place,” Hoisington says. “But structurally, they probably could have used more funding at that time.

“We’re now putting that money into the structural component of the golf course.”

Among the maintenance chores Hoisington’s crew is undertaking:

. Making the course more “player-friendly by paving the cart paths and parking lot and expanding the driving range to accommodate more players.

. Assuring a top-notch playing surface for golfers … even when they end up in places they would rather have avoided.

All 72 bunkers will be emptied and liners and drainage will be inserted.

Also, Hoisington points out that the course will penalize errant shots less in the future as a woods-clearing project progresses.

“Part of our whole capital project is to kind of expand the golf course in the woods so that if you hit it in the woods you’re gonna be able to find it, knock it out and play it,” Hoisington says.

“You’ll get penalized a stroke, but you won’t lose your ball. We started that project last fall, and we’ll continue with that for a couple of years before we get it all cleaned up.”

. Improving the quality of the turf from tee to green with a planned computer-operated, state-of-the-art irrigation system and new sprinkler heads.

Hoisington says the end result will help Sugarloaf keep its reputation as a Maine golf gem.

“It’s stuff you don’t see initially.

Vital Statistics

SUGARLOAF GOLF CLUB

Holes: 18

Yards: 6,910 (black tees), 6,451 (blue), 5,946 (white), 5,289 (forward); par: 72

Slope: 151 (black), 146 (blue), 141 (white), 131 (forward); rating: 74.4 (black, 72.3 (blue), 70.0 (white), 72.5 (forward)

Green fees: 18 holes: (All fees listed include cart fee) $105 (regular peak season rate), $80 (Maine Day, available to Maine residents on Wednesdays); **due to winter damage, a special rate of $60 is in effect indefinitely.

Memberships: $1,150 (taxpayers), $1,350 (Stratton-Kingfield), $1,600 (regular)

Tee times: recommended

Directions: Travel to Kingfield and take Route 16/27 from Kingfield to Carrabassett Valley. Turn left onto access road that leads to Sugarloaf/USA. The golf course road is well-marked on the right.

Footwear: no metal spikes

Phone: 1-800-THE-LOAF