Any discussion about golf on Cape Cod should begin with a round of applause for the glaciers. When the last ice age drew to a close, those slowly melting monoliths receded in such a way that the uniquely-shaped Cape was left in their wake.

Considering the sandy soils, the miles of diverse shoreline and the gently rolling terrain they left behind, congratulations are in order.

It wasn't until Victorian sensibilities contrived the idea of "leisure activity," that golf was finally introduced to this country from the British Isles -- and there was Cape Cod, a hunk of consummate golfing ground just 50 miles from Boston, the nation's second largest metropolitan area and one of America's first golf hotbeds.

By 1900, this relatively small peninsula (shaped like a giant elf's shoe) was already home to seven golf courses. Today there are more than 50, making Cape Cod a veritable smorgasbord, rarely matched for the charm, quality and variety of its layouts.

While we're certain who discovered and named Cape Cod (a little-known English explorer named Bartholomew Gosnold) and when (1602), it's never been terribly clear where the Cape actually begins. Today, the Cape Cod Canal provides an obvious but utterly man-made bifurcation. Indeed, this waterway is only 60 years old. When Donald Ross laid out Plymouth Country Club in 1908, was it considered a Cape Cod design?

For the purposes of this discussion, the answer is "yes" -- if only because, for the eastbound traveler, Plymouth is where the really good golf begins.

This area at Cape's edge is quickly becoming something of a golf destination in its own right. While the elegant Plymouth Country Club -- a longtime public golf staple -- went totally private on Jan. 1, 2001, new course development has more than picked up the slack.

The building boom started three years ago with the christening of Waverly Oaks Golf Club. This 27-hole, Brian Silva design is already considered one of the top daily-fee tracks in New England.

A stone's throw from Waverly, Rees Jones' Pine Hills Golf Club will open for play sometime this summer. The Nicklaus folks are now building a second course at Pine Hills, and Silva has yet another design under construction in the locale that promotes itself as "America's Home Town."

But Waverly Oaks started it all, and it's the ideal starting point for any Cape Cod golf excursion. The fairways here, despite being dotted with scads of steep-faced bunkers, are some of the widest you'll encounter anywhere. They're generous enough to make driver a reasonable option at virtually every par four and par five. Good thing, because three of the four par fives Silva created here are, for the long and bold, eminently hittable in two.

Each hole at Waverly has been named in the vintage style, and each presents its own risk/reward scenario. For example, "Valley" -- the downhill, par four 12th -- is drivable should one care to challenge the bunker guarding the elbow of this subtle dogleg left. If you lay-up, the Ross-inspired, inverted-saucer green makes even the shortest pitch a challenge.

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