Still unspoiled in many ways Nantucket is a special place where you can ride a bike for miles without seeing another person and the only sounds you hear are the rickety sound of the wicker basket on the front of the bike and the wind in your ears. It also makes for the most interesting Two Good Rounds given the incredible golf courses for a small island and Cisco Brewers which originally started out as America’s only outdoor brewery.
By far one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever seen is Sankaty Head Golf Course. You will have to use a lifeline to get in this very private club, but should you have the good fortune to step into the clubhouse dating back to 1923, you will have one of the most spectacular panoramic views. The kind of view that is so beautiful it makes you want to cry and believe this is God’s country. Designed by Emerson Armstrong and opened in 1923 this world-class links style golf courses is perched on the edge of Nantucket Island in Siasconset. The famous Sankaty Head Lighthouse, also the club logo, has stood on a bluff on the southeastern side of Nantucket Island since 1849 and looms over the front nine shining brightly over the Atlantic Ocean.
The Nantucket Golf Club is the most recent addition, opening in 1998. This eighteen-hole, par seventy-two course is a Rees Jones design created on a 250-acre spread of rolling terrain that was part of Levi Coffin’s former farm. Not far from Sankaty Head Golf Club the founders created a world-class private golfing experience perhaps out of need due to the long waiting list for membership at Sankaty Head.
Miacomet Golf course is Nantucket Island’s only 18-hole public golf facility. This link-style course is located one mile from the ocean and three miles from town. The course is owned by the Nantucket Island Land Bank and was named after an area of the island once inhabited by Native Americans referred to as “Miacomet” or “the meeting place”. Officially opened in 1963, Miacomet is continuously revered by Nantucket’s year-round population.
Sconset Golf Club, known as “Skinners” was Nantucket’s first golf course dating back to 1894. It is now a 9-hole public course and the current clubhouse is the old farmhouse, and the old barn still sits next to the greens, a constant reminder of the history of the land.
The trip would not be 
complete with a visit to Cisco Brewers. The self-proclaimed alcohol amusement park contains a distillery, winery and brewery. All three are on the same property with a courtyard in the middle for socializing while tasting the various libations and is often accompanied by live music.
The Brewery is best known for Whale Tail Pale Ale, an English style pale ale and the brewery’s flagship beer named in honor of Nantucket’s whaling history. Sankaty Light Lager is a light American Golden Lager. It is named after the famous lighthouse and without your lifeline the beer may be the next best thing if you can’t play Sankaty Golf Club. The distillery is most well-known for Triple Eight Vodka which is made from organically grown corn, triple distilled and blended with ultra-pure sand-filtered island water from well #888, hence the name.
However bourbon, rum and gin are also produced here. While the grapes for the wine are imported given the difficulty to grow grapes on Nantucket the rest of the wine process is done on site. The winery produces chardonnay, pinot gris, sparkling rose and port. www.ciscobrewers.com
“At sea a fellow comes out. Salt water is like wine, in that respect” Herman Melville
Author-Two Good Rounds