Boston Golf Club

6,715 yards, 143 slope from the Oak tees

It was a day. From breakfast at the hotel, where we got into an animated discussion about plane crashes as a pilot strolled by and slowed, either amused or taken aback, to 36 holes of golf at two very good courses where I actually played well in both, to a nice dinner where ever that was to the parking lot of Boston Golf Club, where we were able to take advantage of the lodging. It was a gold standard day as far as golf trips go. And then I opened the fridge and it got even better. The mother lode. Bottles and bottles of Maine Lunch, my favorite beer, lined up in neat rows like a marching band at a parade. Ripping off a few of those and then settling down for the night capped off one of those days for the memory books. And yes, the Maine Lunch was a big part of it. They are hard to come by in our neck of the woods. Most places simply don’t have it, weakly offering a Yuengling instead. There was one time I went to a specialty store and they had one left, crammed in the rear out of view. And that was me lucking out. Another time, I was at a bar where it was listed on tap. I was about to order one when they erased it from the board altogether. Aye, those Maine Lunch are elusive. Probably for the best. Too much of a good thing and all that. But as I rested my head on the pillow that night and visions of approach shots rolling to the pin while some body of water was in the distance and Maine Lunches danced and twirled in some kind of grand scale Vegas show, I slept deep and easy. A day well spent, they come around every now and then.

The morning sun signified a new tomorrow and revealed our surroundings as I rejoiced at another day of discovery. The majestic respite of Boston Golf Club awaited. An original Gil Hanse design that opened in 2005, it took me maybe 30 seconds of looking outside my bedroom window to realize the setting and land upon which the club is situated is ideal for golf. Undulating among isolated natural forest highlands, Hanse had a great deal of latitude to find great golf within it as well as design, build and shape as he wished with its sandy soil base. Hanse admits the course is focused on fun and interest, which shows throughout. Mind you, there is challenge in that fun and interest but it’s the kind of challenge the golfer welcomes. Shots land and pitch in a barrage of directions, while the scenarios of roll should be envisioned by the golfer before stepping up to address. This structure of play strikes a wonderful balance of Hanse’s distinct style while welcoming the natural environs into it. There is that daring boldness with the shaping and tones of heroism Hanse always enjoys throwing in while the penal elements were well calculated in their respective degree of severity, all within the sea of strategy. It’s also one hell of an enjoyable walk. Being inland, it is up there for me among the more revered ranks of Bandon Trails and Pine Valley in that regard. All of this comes together as the best Hanse original design I have played.

You take the good with the bad in golf, as we all know. My banner day was turning into a banner golf trip as I marveled at one hole after another here, playing better and better as we kept on. And then, the caddies got word of a storm coming through that likely meant we would need to retire to the clubhouse. Just like that, my swing said goodbye and started back to Philadelphia without me. A couple holes later, the skies darkened as the rumblings became louder and longer, we were finally met at the Sixteenth green with golf carts and a sense of urgency to get back immediately. Then the rain started and we all wondered what would become of the caddies, who had to wait for another cart to come. They made it. We had lunch and even though the storm passed, we didn’t have the time to get the closing duo in. Unlucky. Yet perhaps we will cross paths again soon. Sooner rather than later, as I could always use another such night at a place. Some place warm; a place where the Main Lunch flows like wine, where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. You know the rest.

The First is a 480 yard par 5 (from the Oaks). “Three Creek.” Things start off with a par 5 to an uphill fairway. There’s a crest ahead that obscures a complete view of the tee shot but there’s movement left to right while bunkers are on either side of the fairway. After the crest, the fairway starts heading downhill and ends completely at a ravine, the green is on the other side of it on the edge. The green has some width yet anything short or long of it will face tough recoveries.

The Second is a 405 yard par 4. “Rushmore.” The fairway looks out to the undulating land, which includes rock outcroppings on the right, smartly incorporated. It creates some quandaries on what to hit off the tee, as a bunker on the left and the rock pinch the landing area. After the outcropping, the fairway widens significantly and leads uphill to the green, all slopes and undulations and bunker less.

The Third is a 415 yard par 4. “Redan.” The forced carry off the tee should be no problem while the golfer should already be thinking of the approach. The green is indeed a Redan and a reverse at that, moving strongly from left to right, so approaches will likely need to favor the higher left side. The fairway ends at some banks of rough with the green a bit off to the left. Personally, I’d favor the right off the tee so I can attack the green from the left and use as much of it as a backboard. A very cool par 4.

The Fourth is a 410 yard par 4. “Wizard’s Cap.” The tee shot is uphill to the fairway, which continues to the green. There’s a mischievous bunkers on the left that probably comes into play more than the golfer believes it will standing on the tee looking at it. The tee shot is the more pivotal shot and if pulled off, the approach is to a larger green with plenty of surrounding short grass. Left to right movement is prevalent throughout up to the green. The hole namesake refers to a tree beyond the green that’s leaning to the top, its top indeed looking like a wizard’s cap.

The Fifth is a 310 yard par 4. “Shipwreck.” A great short par 4 climbing straight up the hill. The tee shot needs to carry the first half of the hill to reach the fairway but then there’s some freedom how much the golf wants to take on as the right side off fairway is ensnared with bunkering and rough. Favoring the left side off the tee is not a bad idea. The green is back to the right, slender yet a bit deep and in the shape of a boat, alas the namesake. The approach will likely be short but it’s imperative to stick it as the small bunker on the right and slopes all make for nervy recoveries back to the green. A lot of fun to play.

The Sixth is a 150 yard par 3. “Wild Turkey.” Hanse calls this the most picturesque hole he has ever built. It’s a shorter par 3 that needs to carry a sandy waste area that takes the form of a quarry to a wide but very shallow green. You want to get the distance right and nail the shot. But if I had to miss the green, I’d miss short every time as the bunker long of the green make for some very tight recoveries I wouldn’t want to associate with.

The Seventh is a 430 yard par 4. “Penman Hill.” The tee shot lands on the namesake, with the green at its plateau. The golfer would be wise to completely eviscerate the entire right side from his mind. It doesn’t exist, it’s not possible for the ball to go over there. The slope downhill is severe on that side, moving into chasm bunkers and rough. From firsthand experience, extracting from that area is not among my favorite things but if one does find themselves in a similar calamity, hedge off to the left so that the ball doesn’t carry the green and end up in the rear bunker or depression. The left side is no refuge either. There are trees and just beyond those, a lake. Nailing the tee shot is important here, even if it means back off driver and taking a longer approach in.

The Eighth is a 205 yard par 3. “Bent Pine.” Still moving uphill, this long par 3 is with impaired visuals from the tee. What the golfer can see is a hillside of gnarled rough and bunkers, toying with the golfer. No one should be in them but the fact they are there makes him start wondering. There is some mounding on the right further up the hill, which helps guide the tee shot towards the green over to the left. There is lots of space up there that cannot be seen from the tee the further towards the rear your shot moves. Just make sure to get it up there.

The Ninth is a 450 yard par 4. “Geronimo.” The namesake refers to what your ball screams as it launches high above the forest canopy and then comes sailing down to the fairway over 70 feet below. Mind the fairway pinch you can see on the left and figure out where your tee shot would end up to account for it. With the trees on the right, the tee shot really wants to favor the left and flirt with the encroachment in some manner. The green is a nice size, moving left to right, towards a stone wall and small creek. A nice end to the front.

The front nine has tremendous variety and enough cannot be said about the use of very good land for the purpose. This is exemplified particularly with the par 4’s. I would rank them 5, 3, 9, 4, 6, 2, 7, 8, 1.

The back nine starts with the 395 yard par 4 Tenth. “Mae’s.” Thoughtfulness off the tee is a good idea as the fairway speeds downhill and it’s likely driver will overwhelm through its end. There’s also a protrusion left center that will have the ball rolling all kinds of directions. After the break in the fairway, the hole moves downhill to the green, which is wide and guarded by jagged long bunkers at the front, all with a general left to right movement. Precision is the name of the game on both shots here while approaches missing to the right are much preferred over the dreaded high left.

The Eleventh is a 175 yard par 3. “Petrified.” Gil loves complete forced carry par 3’s. Maybe he admits it but man, he won’t lay off them. Fair enough, mix in an aerial game with a ground one, why not. Here, we carry over wetlands to reach the wide green that moves from left to right, much more feverish than it looks. I decided to complicate my life even more by missing long left, which then meant a high wire act of a chip to the green that need to carry the rough yet with enough softness to stay on the green. I don’t think I pulled it off, then had to hit out of one of the bunkers on the right. Probably easier for everyone to to just hit the green. Don’t be me.

The Twelfth is a 405 yard par 4. “Gate.” Everything starts at the green here and moving from there, the tee shot needs to be rather on to set up the best approach. Luckily for me, I belted one out that my caddie felt was some revenge from the last hole. It was. Three bunkers are diagonally spaced out starting from the left and the green is uphill, brilliantly placed on the hillside. Aggressive right to left movement and multi-tiered, so that keeping the ball on the higher right tier is a bit of a chore. My caddie was legitimately excited when I some how pulled it off and not knowing what the green looked like, I didn’t realize how excited I should have actually been. There is nothing holding the ball from falling off the edge of earth on the left. The green site drives this hole and it’s a very good one at that.

The Thirteenth is a 450 yard par 4. “Knuckle Bucket.” Heading a bit downhill, trees line the fairway on both sides but there’s a lot of width to remain ambitious, just needing to clear the ridge of the front right of the fairway. The fairway then bends to the right while a large bunker on the left defines the hole, with the narrow deep green moving left to right ahead. Also note the fairway at center falls to the left, away from the green. The green is surrounded by short grass, almost ensuring the ground game gets its due.

The Fourteenth is a 430 yard par 4. “Big Sky.” This is where we got word of the storm. I think I immediately blocked one off the tee into the trees. Moving downhill onto a well shaped fairway, approaches from the right side are actually preferable from the left, so flirt away with that tree line. The left to right movement, once again, is deceptive and will wrench your ball further and further than you initially projected.

The Fifteenth is a 560 yard par 5. “Coyote Trail.” The tee shot is uphill and a forced carry over native grass to a fairway that crests to bunkering that interrupts entirely. The bunkering continues along the lower left side of the course in what Gil calls some of the best bunkering on the course. This interruption and bunkering is known as, “Hell’s Third of an Acre.” The fairway then continues upwards to the right, adjacent to and above the left bunkering, while it then narrows and descends down to the green on the left. The golfer needs to decide on his path to the green from the second shot, considering the sand, contours, undulations and lines into the green. It’s one of the better par 5’s I have played that Gil has designed, bearing some similarities to the Sixteenth at Inniscrone.

The Sixteenth is a 340 yard par 4. “Principal’s Nose.” The namesake hazard is a central feature at this short par 4. The tee shot can steer clear of the bunkers and principal by favoring the right side but the ball will eschew away from the center line and making the approach that much longer. Those that confront the left side and succeed in avoiding the bunkers are rewarded with a much shorter approach to an elevated green that needs to be reached through the air. The shorter length should be sought out in earnest, as the green is on the smaller side and there is no where to hide off green from brutal recoveries.

The Seventeenth is a 530 yard par 5. “American Chestnut.” Some times it’s good to have good friends and while I wasn’t able to play the last two holes, one of my friends that was in my group returned and happened to photograph them. Another great par 5 just a hole after the splendid Fifteenth starts with a tee shot that takes its time turning to the left, a bunker complex on the right at the end of that turn. At that point, the hole straightens out but fluctuates wildly with its width and its tilts. This has the potential to place the golfer on his heels in trying to decide the best placement of his second shot for the approach and with impaired visuals, some what guessing. A couple of large bunkers are well before the green even if it doesn’t appear that way, yet deceptively comes into play for those trying to hit a longer shot and watch in disbelief as the ball keeps rolling along right into it. The green is free of bunkers with left to right movement, once again calling upon the ground game as Gil flips one switch or another between aerial and ground as the holes unfold.

The Eighteenth is a 175 yard par 3. “Stonewall.” A par 3 finisher is to an uphill green, moving right to left fleetingly with bunkers lining the right and rear. The green is large, which is needed with its speed, yet stay away from its edges. Probably not as much of a scoring chance as most would expect with a par 3, so keep your wits about you until that ball disappears into the ground.

The back nine is marvelous routing in how it uses the particular piece of land, demonstrating the downside to back and forth holes that tend to cram and narrow to fit them all in whereas here, Gil used cross angles with minimal parallels so that the holes comfortably fit and took advantage of the blessed terrain in a lot of different ways. The par 5’s are extremely good while the par 4’s continue their high quality from the front. I would rank them 15, 12, 16, 17, 13, 14, 10, 18, 11.

Generally, Boston Golf is the strongest design I have played of Gil Hanse. He was able to utilize ideal terrain and setting in distinct and delightful ways. The variety of holes are likely under discussed but their sequential presentation does indeed evoke Pine Valley tones inasmuch as each hole’s personality shines, which elevates structure of play and memorability. As mentioned in the hole reviews, the variety of play was calculated, mainly in how the golfer is able to interact with the green. This dance between aerial and ground ensures a well rounded array of skills is tested. The greens are a wonderful set, which elevates the approach and short game scenarios throughout. And of course the walk, which aligns with the rest. A serene sojourn into the woods and hills, if the golfer can’t bear to look at his scorecard after the round, he should take refuge that he just spent a few hours on such an invigorating walk. In last week’s article, I wrote of how more of the newer courses should embrace the other schools of design in addition to strategy. Boston Golf is a great example of selectively incorporating each school to whip up the best course possible.

Clubhouse/Pro Shop: Fitting right in with the terrain, the wood and stone structure does well to provide ample space without any imposition. The logo is elite first class and my only regret is not getting more stuff.