Green Hill reconfigured

jdl · October 15, 2018

Thought I'd post this with a few pics, Green Hill in Worcester might qualify as a hidden gem, I know up until a few years ago I had only heard of it and not played it. Now it's a course I'll play regularly. They've re-done much of the back 9, getting rid of an awkward layout where there was an internal OB that tried (and failed) to protect a par 3 green. Holes 10 and 11 are the same, but now #12 is an uphill, straightaway beast of a par 5. The 16th was already a long uphill par 5, now there are 2 on the back 9. And there's a new hole, #17 that's a short uphill par 4. The other holes are the same, though the order is changed. Getting rid of that OB is a win, though the new layout is not perfect as there are a number of times where you have to walk back from the green to the next tee box. It definitely slowed down my group on Saturday. The other great thing about this course is it's cheap! They took pity on us playing in cold rainy conditions and gave us the afternoon rate on a weekend morning, only $32 for 18, pretty sweet.

Pics of the new #17:

DCSerafin · October 25, 2018

I couldn't agree more about Green Hill. It is a fun challenging layout with normally excellent conditions, nice greens and a great staff and prices are great.

A couple minor corrections to your description of the changes.

1.) The internal OB didn't protect a par 3 green; it protected the Par 4 10th green which was at the elbow of the 16th hole, a 90* dogleg right Par 5.

2.) The 10th hole is no longer the same. It went from being a 380yd Par 4 dogleg right requiring strategy off the tee. You used to have to navigate a large tree directly in front of the tee with a fairway that slopes right to left (opposite the dogleg). Now its is a mediocre straight 310yd Par 4. I understand why they did it (protect golfers on the new driving range) but it certainly took away one of the better holes on the course. (imho).

3.) There were always two Par 5s on the back nine, the uphill 13th (which is now the 16th Hole) and the dogleg right Par 5 16th which was rerouted as you stated and is now the Par 5 584yd 12th hole.

There is still OB and now its more in play on the 10th and 12th holes (buffering the new range)

I also agree there are longer walks (between greens and tees) which is also a negative and something I have always liked about older courses.

The walk from the 11th green used to be < 30yds now it's >100yds uphill and the walk from the 16th green is now about 200yds to the new 17th Tee (the walk from that green used to be about 50yds to the next hole).

It will take getting used to the changes, but in the end, shortening the 10th and replacing the 17th to accommodate a practice area will be a win for the city of Worcester and the golfers.

jdl · October 26, 2018

Thanks for the additional comments and corrections on #10. I agree that was not a great change. And if they were going to change that hole they should have blown up and re-done that green, which is an abomination.

3.) There were always two Par 5s on the back nine, the uphill 13th (which is now the 16th Hole) and the dogleg right Par 5 16th which was rerouted as you stated and is now the Par 5 584yd 12th hole.

Just to clarify, I'm aware there were already 2 par 5s, my comment was that now they are both really LONG par 5s. The old 16 was pretty short with the dog leg even though it was uphill. I remember the first time I played it, my drive was flirting with the OB right and I ended up getting lucky and having an opening through the trees. I hit a hybrid near the the green, chipped on and 2 putted for what I thought was a bogey. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was a par instead.

And another change I just thought of, the new range takes away one of my favorite bail-out shots on 18. Can't blast it right to the top of the hill any more. :)