OAKLAND — Knowing the history of Waterville Country Club paid off for 83-year-old Sid Farr. He now has an enviable view of the 100-year-old golf course.

Farr, a club member since 1960, won a trivia contest as part of Waterville Country Club’s centennial celebration the last four days. His prize was an aerial photograph of the golf course, which is now hanging in his Waterville home on the wall opposite his bed.

“It’s the first thing I see when I wake up every morning,” he said.

Members and guests have been seeing a lot of the club since it kicked off the festivities Wednesday.

The club wrapped up the celebration Saturday night with a banquet that included a five-minute video of its history, live music and dancing, all taking place in a tent just outside the clubhouse restaurant.

Despite persistent cool temperatures and occasional rain, the club has been abuzz since Wednesday for trivia night, a lobster bake and a pig roast. There’s been a lot of golf, too, with various tournaments that included an “Old Nine” tournament, which incorporated the club’s original nine holes in the scoring.

“The attendance has been phenomenal,” said Mary Keller, who won the “Old Nine” tournament. “This place was packed inside and out (Friday).”

“We’ve had really great turnout the last three nights. We’re really pleased,” added Danielle Marquis, who is on the club’s board of directors. “A lot of work went into the planning, the committees, the boards, the staff, the volunteers. Plus, we’ve been getting in a lot of golf.”

“Four straight days,” Keller said.

“Me too,” Marquis said.

They weren’t the only ones. Special greens fees allowed guests and the public to play for $19.16.

“I don’t think in my wildest dreams I thought we’d be this busy,” club professional Don Roberts said. “We’ve done almost 800-900 rounds in four days, which is unheard of for us.”

With 380 members, the semi-private club is thriving. But it used the centennial as an opportunity to get even more people on the course this week.

“We’re hoping to get more public interest and get the community involved,” Marquis said.

The club’s history parallels much of the history of golf in New England. Interest in the sport exploded nationwide when Francis Ouimet won the 1913 U.S. Open. Ouimet became the most prominent golfer in the country and, being from Boston, was a hero in New England. He was the first to tee off at Waterville Country Club when it opened in October 1916.

“There are a lot of clubs that were formed in 1916. It had to have something to do with Francis Ouimet winning and being from Boston,” Roberts said. “For him to be here, I mean, I find it quite incredible that he even got to Waterville, Maine, from Boston.”

Farr is one of the few members who played on the same nine-hole course Ouimet and others played that day before it expanded to 18 holes in 1967.

“I’ve never seen it better. Except for a few years, I’ve played here every year since 1960,” said Farr, who still gets out to play with friends on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Saturday’s on-and-off rain may not have made for the kind of day that ends up being commemorated on Farr’s bedroom wall, but many still teed it up and hoped to hit it straight.

“That’s kind of how golf goes,” club president T.J. Smart said. “It doesn’t always have to be perfect to be good.”

Farr played Saturday morning before the rain arrived. He enjoys walking the course and appreciates how its retained much of its rustic charm, without a lot of the development that has popped up on and around a lot of courses in recent decades.

“It’s just a wonderful club and wonderful people,” Farr said. “I think among all of the courses in the state, this is my very favorite. It’s a fair course. It’s challenging. It’s fun. But mostly, it’s the people.”

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com Twitter: @RAWmaterial33