Boston Golf Club - Hingham - Anyone Played?

[mr.haha]

as title states. ill be playing there this weekend and was just wondering what type of course it is and what your thoughts were. i typically play private courses but this is my first trip down there and would like possible comparisons to weston, wellesley, pinebrook etc...

 

thanks!

[bryanr]

Haven't played the others listed but BGC is a great course. If you're playing before 1, you'll be going out with a caddy. If your playing partner doesn't have a preference, I enjoyed playing with a guy nicknamed Peacock on the bag.

Great practice facilities. Warm up your putting as much as possible as the greens are very challenging. Placement of your approach shots is very important.

[mr.haha]

thanks bryan,

i will be playing there before 1 so i guess ill be getting a caddy. do you recall what the average caddy tips are? i ask because wellesley is notoriously cheap at 30 per bag whereas other couses that i have been to usually get 50-75 a bag.
also, do you recall if bgc is one of those courses that is relatively short with hellish greens? it seems that way from your post. pinebrook is only 6500 yards but has greens running at 11s with false fronts all over the place.

thanks again

[bryanr]

Pm sent

The course isn't short and should play right around 7000 yards. There are a few extra tees that can be played on some holes to add more yardage (or mix it up for a different vantage point). I made up a rough game plan using google earth beforehand to at least get a sense of what clubs I could expect to use.

The greens are quite challenging, to say the least. They aren't rock hard, so keeping it on the green isn't overly difficult, but they are very very contoured, probably more so than most PGA venues. Depending on the day, they could be extremely fast or just very fast. They are obviously in beautiful condition so you will at least have a fair chance to read them but I can't imagine you play 18 without getting frustrated a few times. I mentioned the approach shot placement because if you understand the pin placement and pick a proper area of the green to shoot for, you can save yourself the headache of a long putt with multiple breaks. There are also plenty of putts where you want to think there is break but it's dead straight. There may be occasions where you find yourself in a greenside bunker and the best play is to hit out away from the flag and ensure that you at least have a par putt rather than pinseek and risk ending up over the green.

Overall, just enjoy the course and listen to the caddy. It's an awesome place and not uptight or intimidating - very old school with a lot of charm. You will probably only see a handful of other people all day.

[HardHatsRequired]

Caddy fees aren't at Wellesley levels. In addition, they are generally paid via the member through the golf shop (no cash), but this might have changed given the circumstances in 2011 -- I admittedly have not played it this year.

As bryanr noted, the difficulty lies in the greens. They are definitely more contoured than the vast majority of PGA venue greens, and they also typically run faster. The course can play over 7000 yds, but it's wide open off the tee. Bryanr said it exactly right -- you have to be on the correct tier of the greens, or you're looking at three+-jack city. That said, the greens, while heavily sloped and quick, are also extremely true, so it's possible to make putts. It's definitely not an old-school design like the other courses you mentioned.

IMHO, the only thing about the course that detracts are some of the greens, which are excessive, especially #5. Having played the course numerous times, the only viable strategy on #5 is to blast your tee shot as far as possible up the left, pitch just in front of the green, then pitch (or chip) and putt for par. Miss right off the tee, and your ball is gone. The only way to make three there is to block/over-cut your tee shot so that it's very close to the green -- or have the ability to hit uphill, less-than-full-club pitch shots that can hit and stop on a crowned green that's about 12' wide (really) with lost-ball territory if you miss long by a few feet.

PM me if you have any other questions.

[mr.haha]

bryanr/hardhats

thanks alot for the tips/suggestions. im pretty pumped to play the course that being said itll be a fun thinking course around the greens.

[cubiclegolfer]

How did you play? I have never played the course but heard great things. Did you get on via a member, reciprocol?

[mr.haha]

[size="3"]Cubicle, my good friend knows the former owner of this course (I forgot his name) and he was able to get us on. We were pretty lucky because everything was covered, tips, food, caddies and incidentals. [/size]

[size="3"]As the others mentioned, the course is around 7000 yards but we did not play from the tips. We played from a mix of tees so I would guess around 6700 yards at most. My friends aren’t the best of golfers so that is why I suggested we play from something more manageable. [/size]

[size="3"]Fairways were pretty wide open with exception of a few holes (#5 as mentioned above) and the greens were as advertised. They were for the most part large, very undulating and ran at a 10-11. [/size]

[size="3"]Overall I played very well with the exception of a couple holes where I pumped drives OB. Surprisingly my putting and specifically my mid range irons saved me. My longest putt of the day was probably 20 feet and everything else was in the 10-17 foot range which negated any crazy breaking putts. I also had no 3 putts but I can easily see how 3 putts may occur especially if you are on the wrong side of the green. Unfortunately I didn’t have many 1 putts and couldn’t convert on birdie chances but overall I felt very good about the greens.[/size]

[size="3"]The course was spectacular overall and the only fault that I could find was that the practice range was not large enough to handle drivers and woods.[/size]

[bryanr]

[quote name='Opiumpipez' timestamp='1316626375' post='3580188']
[size="3"]Cubicle, my good friend knows the former owner of this course (I forgot his name) and he was able to get us on. We were pretty lucky because everything was covered, tips, food, caddies and incidentals. [/size]

[size="3"]As the others mentioned, the course is around 7000 yards but we did not play from the tips. We played from a mix of tees so I would guess around 6700 yards at most. My friends aren't the best of golfers so that is why I suggested we play from something more manageable. [/size]

[size="3"]Fairways were pretty wide open with exception of a few holes (#5 as mentioned above) and the greens were as advertised. They were for the most part large, very undulating and ran at a 10-11. [/size]

[size="3"]Overall I played very well with the exception of a couple holes where I pumped drives OB. Surprisingly my putting and specifically my mid range irons saved me. My longest putt of the day was probably 20 feet and everything else was in the 10-17 foot range which negated any crazy breaking putts. I also had no 3 putts but I can easily see how 3 putts may occur especially if you are on the wrong side of the green. Unfortunately I didn't have many 1 putts and couldn't convert on birdie chances but overall I felt very good about the greens.[/size]

[size="3"]The course was spectacular overall and the only fault that I could find was that the practice range was not large enough to handle drivers and woods.[/size]


[/quote]

Good info. I would love to putt as well as you did the next time I play there. I would add that there's another driving range which is closer to 300 yards and has Pro V1 practice balls, alignment sticks, impact bags and some other toys. It sounds like you were on the smaller warmup range that is closer to the first tee, which slopes uphill about to about 200 yards and usually has plastic distance-limiting balls. There's also a great short game area with piles of Pro V1s that's about 150 yards wide with a green for chipping and sand practice (shots up to 70 - 80 yards) and a large green with multiple holes for putting. The practice facilities overall are great, just a bit spread out.