Gannon or Meadows?

DJGainer · January 7, 2019

I posted before and got good suggestions from the group here so I am hoping for some more good advice. i wasn't able to get out at all in the fall due to the weather here on the North Shore in Massachusetts, but I am now looking to setup a Mass Golf and move my GHIN over to it. I have the option to choose a home course, and from where I am located in Marblehead, the two closest courses appear to be Gannon in Lynn or the Meadows at Peabody.

Can anyone give me an opinion on the two course or a compare/contrast of the two? How are the conditions on these courses throughout the playing season? What is the likelihood of getting out early on a weekday in peak season? What do you think of the layout? Am I missing any other public courses I should be considering instead of these two?

Thanks in advance guys.

austinc203 · January 7, 2019

I like both courses, but if I had to choose I would go with Gannon as the better course. And if you go for Gannon's membership, I believe you get early access to tee times. I don't believe Meadows has a membership, based on their website, but I could be wrong.

I know for me, living in Swampscott, I am really considering going for the Gannon membership this year.

Chris_NH · January 12, 2019

I posted before and got good suggestions from the group here so I am hoping for some more good advice. i wasn't able to get out at all in the fall due to the weather here on the North Shore in Massachusetts, but I am now looking to setup a Mass Golf and move my GHIN over to it. I have the option to choose a home course, and from where I am located in Marblehead, the two closest courses appear to be Gannon in Lynn or the Meadows at Peabody.

Can anyone give me an opinion on the two course or a compare/contrast of the two? How are the conditions on these courses throughout the playing season? What is the likelihood of getting out early on a weekday in peak season? What do you think of the layout? Am I missing any other public courses I should be considering instead of these two?

Thanks in advance guys.

Gannon is the better course (by a wide margin IMO) but it's nearly impossible to get on - especially on weekends.

I lived in Marblehead for 3 years. I used to drive up to Black Swan (Georgetown), Butter Brook (Carlisle) or southern NH. I loved Marblehead, but unless you can afford Tedesco or something like that, it's really tough for a public golf.

OrangeCrush · January 21, 2019

I grew up in Lynn (don't hold it against me) so I have played a ton of golf at Gannon and a decent amount at Meadows. Gannon has a MASSIVE membership that clogs up the tee times big time. You have tons of cops/firefighters/GE workers with their off time shifts taking up slots. It's VERY frustrating to get a weekend tee time, I usually play there week days when I take a personal day.

Gannon is one of the definition of old school class N.E. courses, it's not long at just under 6100yds from the tips. Many holes are an iron off the tee for a Par 4. The greens are small but usually in exc shape. The holes are tightly tree lined. I LOVE Gannon and wish I could play more there.

The Meadows is a totally different animal. The course plays close to 6800 yds, it's wide open, and from the tips is a hell of a challenge. It has a couple quirky holes and it's a course that takes 3-4 times to understand it. The course is VERY hilly and if you aren't in running marathon physical shape, good luck to you walking 18. You can do the front 9 fairly ok but the back 9 will get you!

For ME, if I were to join a club, I would choose the Meadows just because Gannon's membership is so large that getting on would be too difficult/not worth it to ME.

I played with ChrisNH a fair amount and we like to agree to disagree on some courses (and his hatred of the Patriots but that's another story lol). If you are looking to join a club, as Chris said Black Swan is a solid option, I personally think Butter Brook is a top 5 best public course in MA. I just love the topography changes and the hard conditions. Also inquire at The Ferncroft Middleton, that is full private and one of the cheaper options close to Swampscott area. I know we spoke privately, I LOVE Tedesco but it's $$$ to join.

The local courses I would AVOID are Hillview in N. Reading and Sagamore Lynnfield especially the latter. They think the are The Country Club-Brookline with the attitude there!! Sagamore is a course that you can play 2-4x a year and that's it.

DJGainer · January 23, 2019

I grew up in Lynn (don't hold it against me) so I have played a ton of golf at Gannon and a decent amount at Meadows. Gannon has a MASSIVE membership that clogs up the tee times big time. You have tons of cops/firefighters/GE workers with their off time shifts taking up slots. It's VERY frustrating to get a weekend tee time, I usually play there week days when I take a personal day.

Gannon is one of the definition of old school class N.E. courses, it's not long at just under 6100yds from the tips. Many holes are an iron off the tee for a Par 4. The greens are small but usually in exc shape. The holes are tightly tree lined. I LOVE Gannon and wish I could play more there.

The Meadows is a totally different animal. The course plays close to 6800 yds, it's wide open, and from the tips is a hell of a challenge. It has a couple quirky holes and it's a course that takes 3-4 times to understand it. The course is VERY hilly and if you aren't in running marathon physical shape, good luck to you walking 18. You can do the front 9 fairly ok but the back 9 will get you!

For ME, if I were to join a club, I would choose the Meadows just because Gannon's membership is so large that getting on would be too difficult/not worth it to ME.

I played with ChrisNH a fair amount and we like to agree to disagree on some courses (and his hatred of the Patriots but that's another story lol). If you are looking to join a club, as Chris said Black Swan is a solid option, I personally think Butter Brook is a top 5 best public course in MA. I just love the topography changes and the hard conditions. Also inquire at The Ferncroft Middleton, that is full private and one of the cheaper options close to Swampscott area. I know we spoke privately, I LOVE Tedesco but it's $$$ to join.

The local courses I would AVOID are Hillview in N. Reading and Sagamore Lynnfield especially the latter. They think the are The Country Club-Brookline with the attitude there!! Sagamore is a course that you can play 2-4x a year and that's it.

Much appreciated on your response here, and thanks again for helping out before. I saw Gannon offered a membership but I was hesitant because I don't know that I would get the full value. After I posted this I realized neither is an option to keep my GHIN (looks like Beverly is most realistic option). Only problem with that is that I will probably never go there based on reviews I saw.

OrangeCrush · January 23, 2019

Much appreciated on your response here, and thanks again for helping out before. I saw Gannon offered a membership but I was hesitant because I don't know that I would get the full value. After I posted this I realized neither is an option to keep my GHIN (looks like Beverly is most realistic option). Only problem with that is that I will probably never go there based on reviews I saw.

Glad to help. If you are on FB, check out Golf-n-Ski Warehouse, get on their alerts. They do a massive demo event usually the 3rd week of April and it's a blast to go to. I go to their Hudson NH one as it's bigger than their Greenland NH store.

Chris_NH · January 24, 2019

I grew up in Lynn (don't hold it against me) so I have played a ton of golf at Gannon and a decent amount at Meadows. Gannon has a MASSIVE membership that clogs up the tee times big time. You have tons of cops/firefighters/GE workers with their off time shifts taking up slots. It's VERY frustrating to get a weekend tee time, I usually play there week days when I take a personal day.

Gannon is one of the definition of old school class N.E. courses, it's not long at just under 6100yds from the tips. Many holes are an iron off the tee for a Par 4. The greens are small but usually in exc shape. The holes are tightly tree lined. I LOVE Gannon and wish I could play more there.

The Meadows is a totally different animal. The course plays close to 6800 yds, it's wide open, and from the tips is a hell of a challenge. It has a couple quirky holes and it's a course that takes 3-4 times to understand it. The course is VERY hilly and if you aren't in running marathon physical shape, good luck to you walking 18. You can do the front 9 fairly ok but the back 9 will get you!

For ME, if I were to join a club, I would choose the Meadows just because Gannon's membership is so large that getting on would be too difficult/not worth it to ME.

I played with ChrisNH a fair amount and we like to agree to disagree on some courses (and his hatred of the Patriots but that's another story lol). If you are looking to join a club, as Chris said Black Swan is a solid option, I personally think Butter Brook is a top 5 best public course in MA. I just love the topography changes and the hard conditions. Also inquire at The Ferncroft Middleton, that is full private and one of the cheaper options close to Swampscott area. I know we spoke privately, I LOVE Tedesco but it's $$$ to join.

The local courses I would AVOID are Hillview in N. Reading and Sagamore Lynnfield especially the latter. They think the are The Country Club-Brookline with the attitude there!! Sagamore is a course that you can play 2-4x a year and that's it.

Much appreciated on your response here, and thanks again for helping out before. I saw Gannon offered a membership but I was hesitant because I don't know that I would get the full value. After I posted this I realized neither is an option to keep my GHIN (looks like Beverly is most realistic option). Only problem with that is that I will probably never go there based on reviews I saw.

I played Beverly once. I hate to come off as overly negative, but I didn't like it. There just are NOT good public options within 30 mins of Marblehead IMO. Black Swan is the closest public course that I wanted to play. I had a lot of buddies up at Breakfast Hill in Greenland NH from when I lived in Exeter. Mike (OrangeCrush) and I disagreed on this one too - he didn't like it (#$@$#@ Pats fan ;-) ) but I liked it. I agree completely with him on Butter Brook. It's a bit pricey and it's 40-ish minutes, but it's a solid option.

Driving to get to public golf is the price of living in paradise ;-)

jdl · January 25, 2019

I played Beverly once. I hate to come off as overly negative, but I didn't like it.

I've played it twice and the second time was only because a buddy invited me and I had forgotten the course from the first time. Won't make that mistake again. Way too many blind tee shots and the conditions were just awful. I suppose you could get used to the layout after a while, but it's not my cup of tea.

OrangeCrush · January 25, 2019

I gave Breakfast Hill a 2nd shot this past summer and it was a much better experience than when I played with Chris a few years before that. I would recommend Black Swan before B/H as they are really on par with each other but B/S is just much closer.

See Chris, I can be open minded LOL

Chris_NH · January 28, 2019

I gave Breakfast Hill a 2nd shot this past summer and it was a much better experience than when I played with Chris a few years before that. I would recommend Black Swan before B/H as they are really on par with each other but B/S is just much closer.

See Chris, I can be open minded LOL

It’s funny. Most people seem to like courses better when they play them without me! :-)