There’s a ying and yang to playing a round at Ocean Edge Resort & Club’s golf course, and that’s by design.

The Cape’s only Nicklaus-designed course offers up 18 holes of pure golf challenge. Expect holes that make you think, rethink and sometimes hold your breath. That’s how Nicklaus designs; that’s how you expect to play on his courses.

But the Ocean Edge team makes sure it’s all balanced by comfort. From the service to the setting to the true country club feel, 18 holes at Ocean Edge may challenge your game skills, but it does it in a way that’s sublimely on point.

My husband and I headed down for an overnight golf escape early summer. Ocean Edge is a private club; only members and Ocean Edge Resort guests can play the course. That plays to its advantage.

As soon as we arrived, a staffer politely pulled my well-dressed husband aside and let him know that shirts must be tucked in while playing there. I’m all for the democratization of golf; sports almost always grow better by expanding their client base. But as someone who plays almost exclusively public, you see some … interesting attire out there. It was nice to realize right away this would be a semi-spiffy round.

We headed over well before our tee time. Shuttles run regularly from the Mansion area of the resort at the beach to the golf club and housing there, tucked a bit inland in Brewster; it’s also easy to take and park your own car. Your choice.

We were greeted by a starter who grabbed our clubs, cleaned them and set them up in our cart. He pointed us in the direction of the driving range where balls were at the ready, no need to purchase slot coins to get a bucket.

“Don’t worry about timing,” he told us. “It’s close, and if it gets near time I’ll come find you.” How kind.

Right away, we saw how challenging in a good way this course is.

But first: the conditions. Pristine, lush green, and somewhat forgivable surfaces, both on the fairway and on the greens help balance out the challenge.

And challenge there is.

Here’s a first tip for playing this course: print out their hole-by-hole descriptions and suggestions (you’ll find them here: https://www.oceanedge.com/golf/course-gallery-details). I made the mistake of planning to refer to it on my phone only to find out (and this is one of the few “could be betters” about the course) that their Wi-Fi is weak at best. When I mentioned it to the starter at the turn, he said “Oh, great input. I’m going to print some out and give them out.” (Good idea).

The course is a long one, with some bunkers, traps, elevated greens and dog legs that don’t give you many “dial it in” holes or even moments. Even their par threes, like hole three that I was approaching like it would be a snap only to find that the crosswind and layout meant more smart shot planning, make you work your muscles and your mind. I like that.

If you were going to pick a word of the day, it would be undulation. Greens and approaches flow up and down like the tides at the nearby beach. And rolling is a standard: the fairways have ups and downs that both make it challenging and – in the case of a few of my drives – give you bonus yards galore when you land in the right place.

It’s all beautiful. One of the hilliest courses on the Cape, its fairways are lined by tall, healthy trees, and while there’s no ocean view, at times you get that salt air scent.

A snack and beverage cart appeared so frequently, I felt like I was conjuring it. And when a foursome errantly jumped a hole in front of us (it happens everywhere), a course attendant appeared before we’d even thought of it much and straightened things out. It never slowed our play.

While we could have headed back to the beach section of the resort for our post round meal, we opted to sit outside at Linx Tavern, part of the club’s pristine and airy in a perfectly Cape Cod kind of way clubhouse.

I noshed on a beautiful meze plate (a healthy and unique choice for a golf club) and my husband scarfed down their Local Burger, giving it two thumbs up. From there, we watched as every kind of group teed off: a dad and his two young sons, four women clearly on a girls trip, a couple like us out to enjoy the day.

Ocean Edge Golf (https://www.oceanedge.com) is worth the overnight it requires. You’ll find stay and play packages and even if you don’t book one of those, they have great twilight fees. Besides, a second day gives you the chance to go at it all again. With the hole by hole tips in hand and the memory of the day before, the course plays even better.