PITTSFIELD – Sometimes, opportunity knocks, and knocks, and knocks before a person recognizes the potential that lies ahead.

That’s not what happened when Mike Dugas headed back to Maine from a New York-and-Florida existence back in 1995 to become one of the owners of J.W. Parks Golf Course.

It was much, much simpler.

Dugas was sick and tired of packing up a two-room apartment twice a year and heading either north or south to take a six-month position.

“When the phone call came [that J.W. Parks was being sold], it was almost like it was too good to be true,” Dugas says. “I started playing here. My wife’s from here. We’re coming home, and doing what we love to do. How often does that happen?”

Since then, Dugas and his co-owners (wife Dawn, along with her parents, Stanley and Linda Kitchin) have been pouring themselves into J.W. Parks Golf Course, which has been a players’ favorite for years.

J.W. Parks is a cozy, wooded nine-hole course that rests on two parcels of land (50 acres, total) that straddle an unused railroad line.

The course was owned by Maine Central Institute from its inception in 1964 until 1995, when Dugas’ group bought it.

For Dugas, J.W. Parks was more than just an investment and a job. It was the place he learned to love the game.

“I started playing here when I was 4 years old,” Dugas says. “My father used to bring me over. He was good friends with [longtime pro] John Dana. He used to bring me over and I’d ride around with him. John made me a club. And I’d play with my dad and my grandfather.”

Visitors to J.W. Parks won’t find a slick-and-impersonal country club atmosphere. They’ll find a place where the conditions are pristine, the greens roll true, and the staff is friendly.

Dugas proudly notes that two years ago, a golf publication’s reader’s poll rated his course the top nine-hole layout in the state.

The restaurant, The Broken Putter, is one addition that has been made since Dugas and his group took over, and residents of Pittsfield – golfers and nongolfers alike – know they can go there for a good meal no matter the season.

The Broken Putter is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, and is open all winter.

One reason for golfers to take note of that: Dugas offers up one of the tastiest links deals in the state. Head to Pittsfield for 18 holes and you get a cart and lunch (or breakfast, if you’re an early riser) all for 25 bucks.

And even if you don’t have time for 18 holes and a meal, a trip to Pittsfield is well worth the time, due to a golf course that will challenge players of all ability levels.

It may not be long, Dugas points out, but J.W. Parks has a way of exacting its revenge.

“For a course that plays as short as it does [2,998 yards the second time around for men, 2,678 for women), 69 is the lowest score that I know of when the Maine State Golf Association has had their event there.”

The course record, for the record, is a 61, but it came from a guy who has years of intimate knowledge about the course. His name? Mike Dugas.

Dugas says the course succeeds in walking the line between challenging and forgiving.

“I think what makes it unique, and has made it stand the test of time, is that we offer holes that are extremely challenging for the recreational player, but by the same token, we have holes that make the recreational player feel they can play the game,” Dugas says.

“[On some holes] they can hit a wood and maybe hit a wedge or a 9-iron into a green and have a chance to putt for birdie.”

J.W. Parks features some holes that are long and grueling. The uphill par-5 third, for instance, can stretch to 531 yards, and has a tricky two-tiered green, while the fourth is a 227-yard par 3 with out of bounds on the left.

Others are short and potentially rewarding. Or potentially disastrous. It all depends on how reliable your swing is.

One of those is a Dugas favorite: the sixth (or 15th), which measures either 268 or 252 … but can make or ruin a round.

The trouble, Dugas points out, is that the farther right a golfer hits, the more menacing the greenside water hazard will become on an approach.

“That’s a very tender shot,” Dugas says.

Big hitters can aim for the green, but a narrow 10-yard opening between the water on the left and a bunker on the right is all he can aim at.

“It’s such an interesting hole, from a risk-reward [standpoint],” Dugas says, pointing out that the hole will change even more by August, when a new tee box will shift players to the left … and make long draws bear dangerously close to the water.

“You’ll have to hit over a group of trees off the tee to take a direct line, or hit a big hook, which obviously is coming right toward that water hazard,” Dugas says. “A bounce to the left, and you’re done.”

Dugas says his group has spent $300,000 on the course and restaurant since buying J.W. Parks, and the results are paying dividends.

A tee-to-green irrigation system became operational last summer, and it has made turf maintenance much more predictable.

“Before, if you threw seed out there in June and you didn’t get rain, like last year, then you might as well have thrown seed in the garbage can,” he says.

Not any more.

And that just serves to make a nifty nine-hole course even more fun, Dugas figures.

“I think we have a nice layout for a recreational player,” he sums up. “It’s friendly and challenging. It’s not a bad golf course to walk. And you really can’t beat the specials we do.”

Vital statistics

J.W. PARKS GOLF COURSE

Holes: Nine

Yards: 2,927 (first nine, men), 2,554 (first nine, women), 2,998 (second nine, men), 2,678 (second nine, women)

Par: 71 (for 18 holes)

Slope: 120 (blue tees), 118 (gold), 111 (red and white); rating: 34.1 (blue tees), 34.2 (gold), 68.1 (red and white)

Greens fees: 9 holes: $14 weekday, $16 weekend; 18 holes: $18 weekday, $22 weekend; special: 18 holes, cart, lunch: $25 weekday, $30 weekend (available 7:30 a.m.-noon)

Memberships: single $440, couple $600, family $650, senior single $390, senior couple $550, student $200

Tee times: not necessary

Directions: Take I-95 to Exit 38, turn left off ramp, take a left onto Route 152, J.W. Parks Golf Course is on the left

Footwear: No metal spikes

Phone: 487-5545