What are some must play courses in MA?

[frdmel97]

Im looking to play the best courses in MA this summer! Im willing to travel all over MA, distance to the course is not a problem.

 

Courses I have already played:

-Granit Links

-Cross Winds/Weaverly Oaks/PineHills

-Black Stone National Golf club

-Gorge Wright

 

On my list:

-Red Tail

 

Suggestions please!

-Fred

 

[edresnick]

Taconic, The Ranch, Red Tail, Farm Neck.

[TheMadHacker]

Crumpin-Fox.

[bostonbrahmin]

If this is strictly for public courses:

The Ranch, Red Tail, and Farm Neck are my top 3 that you haven't played.

And a grab-bag of the more fun/quirky courses in mass that are worth playing:

Ponkapoag #1, Marion Golf Club, Presidents Golf Club, Wachusett CC and Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick.

[Imp]

Good list. :)

 

[Pearson10M]

I look at the Ponky Courses and think.....so much potential.  Great terrain, technical challenges, some grip-n-rip holes, some finesse/shot placement holes. In the right hands these two courses could be in the top 5 in state. But like Leo J, they get nowhere near the greens/landscaping love as GW and Devine in Boston.

 

[BostonWRX]

Red tail, farm neck

 

for some cheaper I think fun to play pembroke and crystal lake

[ShortStick]

can’t add much to the public courses list. For me, Farm Neck, Taconic, Crumpin-Fox, Pinehills (Jones), Ranch.

if you act quickly before they sell out, the MGA runs member days at some sweet privates. The links are on mgalinks.org.

[jdl]

Member Days now use a lottery system, so you just sign up and they'll let you know if you're in. Last few years a lot of the events ended up having open spots available after the lottery, the MGA usually sends out email notices about those. I find the events less attractive after they bumped the price up to $90, but it is an option to get on some courses you otherwise might not be able to play. A couple good ones listed there, I like The Orchards and Thorny Lea.

[bostonbrahmin]

Absolutely. Unfortunately Ponky is state owned versus City owned and as long as the state refuses to sell it to somebody competent it will remain that way. That being said it would be a shame for it to be sold to a housing developer or otherwise so I'm content to play it as a cheap dog track every so often.

[deli_llama]

How are your connections in Ma? There are some amazing private courses sprinkled across the state.

[jimb6golf]

Some good courses I've played around the area include:

• Wachusett GC - old D Ross course
• Butternut CC - very tight
• Pinehills - Jones and Nicklaus courses
• Granite Links - expensive, great views, a little over rated
• Olde Scotland Links
• West Bridgewater
• Poquoy Brook
• Wentworth Hills (great shape, shorter)
• Red Tail
• Shaker Hills
• Captains/ Cranberry Valley/ Olde Barnstable/ Bayberry - all on the Cape
• George Wright - post renovation is supposed to be great
• Sandy Burr
• Foxboro - private but has some public openings

Just some random courses that I've played and enjoyed.

 

[Chanceman]

There are some awesome 9 hole courses in MA such as

 

Whitinsville (private but accessible)

Marion

Highlands/Truro

Edgartown,

Chappaquiddick

Siasconset

and also

Hotchkiss CT

Hooper NH

[frdmel97]

This year I have played:

 

Redtail: played them mid May. POOR conditions. great holes/design. kinda surprised it was $100 round...... rocks in bunkers made them unsafe and unplayable. patches of dirt in middle of fairway for many holes. I will give them another try next year. 

 

Farm Neck: played them last week. Great holes/design! Many holes on the water. Great greens. practice facility was awesome with grass range. definitely worth the trip/money. 

 

im going to try to get to Taconic, The Ranch, Crumpin-Fox in July/Aug. 

[jdl]

Weird, I played Red Tail on June 1 and it was in great shape. Guess they did a lot of work in those couple of weeks? I played early and it was only $66 with a cart, so that may have helped my outlook. Also saw an email from them they have started an extensive renovation project including the driving range, tee boxes and club house.

 

Some other course reports:

 

Juniper Hill has their greens back from last year's disaster. They are still not great, but at least there's (living) grass and not painted dirt. They've never had really good greens there but at least they are playable. They seem reluctant to mow them so I think they are stimping at about a 5? 🙂

 

Butternut is in good shape except for bunkers which seem to get no care.

 

Kettle Brook, Green Hill, Connecticut National, Maplegate are all in pretty good condition.

[_jc13]

Crumpin-Fox is a great course and inexpensive for the quality of the course. Farm Neck is a great course with tons of views overlooking state beach and the bay. Mink Meadows is a fun little 9 hole course that can be played as 18 and has one of my favorite views overlooking Lake Tashmoo. If you’re in Western MA some fun courses to try are Cold Spring Golf Club, Ledges, and Chicopee is a really nice course.

[PNBgolf]

Taconic is one of my favorites. Here are Front 9 and Back 9 videos if you’re interested in seeing the whole course. 
 

Taconic Golf Club - Front 9

Taconic Golf Club - Back 9

 

[sratacik]

Red Tail is a fun public course...very scenic in the fall.

[Chanceman]

Is there an accepted Fall cut off date for playing golf in New England. At say Portland or Kennebunkport. I expect there’s a 30 day range from year to year?

[jdl]

Depends on where, some courses stay open year round, especially on the Cape.

 

Many will switch to shotgun starts on weekends when the clocks change and close sometime in Oct/Nov depending on the weather.

[jimb6golf]

Most courses will stay open until the first snow, or possibly a long freezing stretch too.  There are a few courses that remain open throughout the year, weather dependent however.  It's still fun to get out even in the cold (you can dress warmer) just for the exercise and to work on your game a bit.  Courses like Sandy Burr, Heather Hill, Blissful Meadows and Triggs Memorial come to mind as options. And the courses on the Cape are mostly open, although some use winter greens.

[Big_hitter_The_Lama]

If you are looking for great design challenging courses i would recommend some of the following

Massachusetts public tracks 

 

Crumpin-Fox

Shaker Hills

The Ranch

KettleBrook

George Wright

ButterBrook

Pine Hills -Nicholas Course

 

Connecticut Public Tracks

 

Gillette Ridge

TopStone

CedarKnob

Keney Park

Wintonbury Hills

Edited February 9, 2024 by Big_hitter_The_Lama

[cbbaron]

On 2/9/2024 at 2:10 PM, Big_hitter_The_Lama said:

If you are looking for great design challenging courses i would recommend some of the following

Massachusetts public tracks 

 

Crumpin-Fox

Shaker Hills

The Ranch

KettleBrook

George Wright

ButterBrook

Pine Hills -Nicholas Course

 

Connecticut Public Tracks

 

Gillette Ridge

TopStone

CedarKnob

Keney Park

Wintonbury Hills

Jones at Pinehills is superior to Nicklaus though the course is no slouch

[Big_hitter_The_Lama]

I’ll have to play that side of Pine Hills this season! Thanks for the reccomendation.