ROCKPORT – Golfers, including the ones competing in this week’s $48,000 New England Open, will find the Samoset Resort Golf Club nearing the end of a series of changes to one of Maine’s most scenic courses.

It’s all part of a $10 million project that includes new and completely renovated housing as well as the golf course changes.

The final adjustments to the layout include a complete replacement of the 15th hole, which runs alongside Penobscot Bay; a dramatic 70-yard shortening of the 16th hole; and a new teeing area and landing area for the 12th hole.

These changes come after various reworkings of the first, fourth, fifth, and 14th holes, and the building of a completely new 18th hole, now a monster 474-yard par 4 from the gold tees.

“We went back-and-forth on that one, wondering if we should make it a short, easy par 5 or a tough par 4,” said Chris Christie, the resort’s director of golf.

“We finally decided to leave it at a par 4,” he said. “From the whites, it’s a more manageable 410 yards.”

That’s a point that comes up often, and it can be an important factor in a golf course which attracts very good players who want to test themselves and other golfers who are playing as part of their package at the resort.

“We’ve made it more fun and more beautiful,” said Christie. “It’s a challenge for the better players and still good for the player who only gets in a few rounds a year.”

The current 15th hole is a 375-yard par 4 that runs straight along the water. The new one, still early in its construction, will be about a 330-yard par 4 on the hill above the current 15th. The 15th will become the site of new housing for the resort.

“I don’t know how high the housing will come,” said Christie, “but you’ll still be able to see the water. And I think the trees will be thinned out some to give a better view.”

The new 15th, while much shorter than the current 15th, won’t necessarily be easier, especially for the longer hitters.

“Those two oak trees will frame the approach into the green,” Christie said of the hole which also drops downhill and a little to the left, “and there are going to be a set of bunkers about 260 out [from the back tees]. That should force most people to lay up short, or you could try to fly it over. It’s a real risk-reward situation.”

There’s still a lot more dirt that has to be trucked in to build the green, but that’s been business-as-usual for the resort.

Large amounts of dirt were hauled in to raise the green on the par-5 fourth hole and the tee for the fifth, which is now a long uphill par-3 with two bunkers back-to-back in front of the green.

The early holes, two through eight, especially, can be affected greatly by the wind which generally blows up the coast.

“I stood right there [at about 170 yards] one day and flushed a 5-wood and didn’t reach the green,” said Christie. “The guys today [on a nearly windless day from 185 yards] are probably hitting 5-iron.”

The fourth green used to be wide and somewhat shallow. Now it’s narrow and deep and 15 yards closer to the ocean.

“It forces you to think,” said Christie. “And [the green] has great undulations.”

The 14th was changed from a downhill par 4 to a 545-yard par 5 when the fifth was changed to a par 3.

“I think it makes [14] a much better hole,” said Christie.

The 18th forces a player to carry his approach shot over a pond with a stone wall on the back bank and over a bunker, although it is possible to bail out to the left and have a little chip left.

Mike Baker, the assistant pro at Bangor Municipal Golf Course, approves of the changes.

“I like the fifth hole,” he said. “You have to hit it the right distance and in the right position. It’s hard to get a feel for where you want to hit it.”

There are some who would prefer some things stay the way they are.

Billy Downes of Hampden, Mass., the New England Open defending champion, said, “Fifteen, I think, is the best hole on the course.”

Million-dollar shot

Approximately 120 golfers will have a chance at a $1 million prize during the 6th Jaret & Cohn Chamber Challenge Tournament Friday at Samoset Resort Golf Club.

One person will have his or her name drawn and get one shot at the 165-yard par 3, after the tournament’s award ceremony and lunch.

Dave Barber is the NEWS golf writer. The Golf scene will appear each Wednesday through September. He can be reached at 990-8170 or at dbarber@bangordailynews.net