Butter Brook Golf Club (with pics)

[Dan_Callahan]

I had a chance to play Butter Brook Golf Club in Westford, Mass, today. This is a Mark Mungeam course that opened 9 holes in 2004. Evidentally, the back 9 got caught up in environmental issues and it took a few years to complete.

After playing Mungeam's Oxford Greens in Connecticut, my expectations were very high. Oxford was one of my favorite new courses when I played it last year. The par 3s at Oxford in particular are spectacular.

Butter Brook doesn't have quite the same wow factor. Instead, it is a very solid, very fun traditional New England layout, with tree-lined fairways that can be tight in spots (although not Cyprian Keyes tight). After the first few holes, I thought a comparison with the Captains Course in Brewster was appropriate. It came as a shock, then, to reach the 12th tee and suddenly find a golf hole with a huge fairway and not a single tree. The next few holes have this same open, expansive feel and it is like you are on a totally different course. I loved it. More about these back 9 standouts later.

Some pictures:


The opening hole is a par 5 that bends to the left. It's a pretty easy entry to the course, although the layup takes some finesse. A good layup leaves a wedge to a fairly small green.


The second hole is a 316-yard par 4. This is a crappy picture looking back down the fairway. There is a hazard to the right. You've got to decide if you want to hit driver over it or an iron short. There is room to go around it, although the hole is so short it isn't worth the risk. I hit 5-iron that ended up great but when I play it again I will probably hit 7 to be safe or driver to try to get on the green.


I didn't get a picture, but the third is a nice 136-yard par 3. This is the tee shot on the 403-yard 4th. The hole doglegs sharply to the left, where it also runs down a big hill. Seems like the bunker to the right would be an aiming bunker, but I found that you really want to be well to the left of that. I went over the bunker and blew my drive into the rough through the fairway. Staying left gives you a geat kick and leaves only about 140 back uphill to a large, two-tiered green that slopes severely from back to front.


The second par 3 is also short at 130 yards. The hole was cut front right, and any shot that landed within 10 feet of it kicked severely to the left. There are some cool rock outcroppings that were left around the green.


Three views of the 436-yard 6th. This is a very good hole with a demanding tee shot. There is lots of room behind the bunkers on the left, but it is a poke to carry them. The pond on the right is very much in play. Looking at the first picture, I aimed at the gap between the near bunker and far one and actually hit one straight. I was left with about 130 yard back uphill to a green that is much longer than it appears from the fairway.


Another good hole, the 554-yard 7th allows all sorts of options. Try to carry the crossbunkers off the tee or take the safe route and land short. For the second shot, there is lots of room to bail out on the right, but the shortest distance to the green is down the left. There is a hazard down the left, which gives very little margin for error.


Didn't get a picture of the 171-yard 8th, but it was an uphill par 3 with bunkers protecting the left side. This is the second shot on the 618-yard 9th. The tee shot bends hard to the left, although you can play short to where the dogleg starts to turn if you just accept the fact that there's no way you're getting there in two. The second shot plays downhill. There is tons of room to the left and a little magnet of a hazard on the right.


The back 9 starts with one of the longest walks from green to tee I've ever experienced. It fet like half a mile before we arrved on the 10th tee. I would guess that the range, which we passed on our trek, was originally the 10th hole. It seems perfectly place for that and it looked like there might still be a green there. Anyway, the tee shot on the 380-yard 10th is cool, with the hill and huge bunkers blocking any view of the fairway. Left is good here, as there is OB all the way down the right (wish I'd known that).


The par 3 11th is a beast at 250 yards, but there is ample room to run the ball onto the green. There is an ineresting depression in the front, left of the green that you don't want to have to putt through.


. . . And then you come to this. After hitting down corridors, you stand on the tee and look out at an open field. The 12th is 521 yards and slightly downhill. With no trees, the wind picked up by a good 10 mph. Not one of the four of us hit a good tee shot on what seemed like it would be the easiest driving hole so far. This is a very solid par 5.


The Road Hole? It sure plays like it, although at only 321 yards it also has the allure of a driveable par 4. Yes, to get to the green you need to hit over the left edge of the barn. This was by far my favorite hole on the course. It has everything—blindness, risk/reward, quirk. Definitely one that you will remember years later. It's a cool greensite, too, with bunkers protecting short left and long right with room to run it up through the middle.


The par 3 14th is 200 yards and plays slightly uphill. The green definitely favors a fade. This is the last par 3 on the course, and as a set there is some good variety without a real standout. Again, just very solid.


I found the tee shot on the 447-yard 15th to be one of the more difficult on the course. There is water right and bunkers left. The safe route is left, but that leaves a very long second. And with no trees, the wind is strong here (and, at least today, not helping at all). Going at the water down the right is the more direct route, but any kind of flare will end up in the hazard.


After a few tough holes, it is a relief to come to a reachable par 5. The tee shot needs to carry a pond, but the water isn't really in play unless you hit a very bad shot (or are playing from the wrong tees). More options present themselves here, with the decision to try to fly the cross bunkers or stay short and take three shots to the green.


The 17th has some Cyprian Keyes in it, with a forced carry over a hazard to an almost perpendicular fairway. At 416 yards, the hole demands a draw to leave a relatively short approach. Unfortunately, a draw also brings into play the hazard that runs all the way down the left side. This is a difficult green to hit with a long iron, so the risk is well worth it.


The 18th isn't a bad hole but it also isn't a very dramatic finish. At only 355 yards, it doesn't offer much of a challenge. I hit 3-iron off the tee and was left with about 120 (it was playing downwind). The crap in front of the green really prevents you from hitting driver. I gave it a shot for fun with a second ball to see if the hazard was in play and sure enough went right in it. I wish there was more of an opening at the green to tempt you to go for it. Otherwise, it is a pretty easy par or birdie finish for the better player without ever forcing you to think or second guess yourself.

All in all, I would definitely recommend Butter Brook. It doesn't have the visual pop of Red Tail or the very impressive par 3s of Oxford Greens, but it is a great example of traditional New England golf at its best, coupled with a few holes that stand out for their uniqueness. It is a place that I would love to play every day, because it requires all sorts of shots. You need to be straight with the driver, there are many opportunites to take risks or play safe, and in the exposed areas you are forced to hit lower shots to try to control your trajectory. It is also half the price of Red Tail ($50 vs. $100).

Although it is by no means a flat course (there are all sorts of rolls in the farways), it is very walkable. However, the walk from 9 green to 10 tee is a beast, and there are a few other spots on the back 9 where a hike is involved. I would guess these spots are a result of routing around environmental issues, but I don't know that for sure. Even with that negative, the back 9 is a treat, filled with incredible variety. I was very happy with the course through the mature front 9 holes and didn't know what to expect on the newer back 9. The back was even better.



 

[Mike_Cirba]

Dan,

Thanks for sharing.   I think it looks pretty damn good in pictures.

[Brad Tufts]

Wow, Dan...it looks like a great layout.  It's definately on my list for sometime this year.

It's nice to see a public course with a bit more thought to its design a bit closer to Boston than Plymouth or the Cape.

Recent efforts have been less playable...Meadow at Peabody, Granite Links especially, Crosswinds...

Some of the 1950-1980 courses around town are getting a bit tired at this point as well...Stow Acres, Trull Brook, Braintree...

BB adds to an area that is slowly becoming a good N. England golf destination with Red Tail, Shaker Hills, and a couple other decent ones nearby.

[Tim Gerrish]

Dan,

One of the best things about Butter Brook is the clients, Ed and Betty Kennedy.  They make you feel much appreciated of the work you do.   And that is not just for the guys in charge, but even the workers who built the course.

To answer some of your questions:

The practice facility was originally the 10h hole and still could play as an optional hole (with bowling alley ‘gutter guard’ nets in place) if one of the regulars had to be taken out of play.  

The ‘interesting depression’ on #11 would be considered by many of us to be a thumbprint.  It is a continuation of the swale/hazard that runs into the approach from the right to left and is the main obstacle, besides the yardage.

You could imagine the discussion on whether we should keep the barns or not on #13.  But how could you take them down?!

The safe play on #15 actually gives you the best angle into the green.  A little deception on the tee shot since the water is in play for the medium to longer hitters, especially form the middle tees.

That 'stuff' in front of the 18th green is partially a wetland.  The vegetation along the edge will be cleared away eventually to expose the rock that fronts the green.  We really were trying to persuade players to NOT hit driver since #9 green is very close on the right side.  For the average player the approach shot over a hazard to a right to left sloping green with Butter Brook hard on the left edge is a challenge.

Also you have to keep in mind that we (Kennedy) did not have the 600 AC that Oxford and Red Tail had.  And in today’s market of real estate driven golf courses, there is not a single house.

[Scott Weersing]

Nice pictures!!

Where are the cart paths? I didn't see that many in the photos.

Are the cart paths usually located in the trees?

Can you play out from underneath the trees?

Is the course firm and fast or just soft and soggy?

[Dan_Callahan]

Thanks for the info, Tim. Glad you kept the barn standing on 13. I'm sure there will be some who think it is weird, but I liked it. And there is plenty of room off to the left for those who are worried about not getting over it.

Why was the 10th replaced in favor of the range? Looks like it would have been a decent hole, although perhaps a little tight. It makes for a pretty long walk to what is now the 10th tee.

Scott, I walked the course so I can't tell you where the cart paths were routed. They certainly never came into play, and the only time I remember walking on them was on the hike to the 10th and going through a tunnel to get to the 14th. Otherwise, they are hidden pretty well.

As for firmness, the fairways were definitely getting some roll. Much of the course, especially the back 9, has a hard feel under foot. Seems counter intuitive . . . I would think fairways and greens would become more compacted over time as more and more people walk on them. However, it seems like most new courses have that same firm feel. The greens were receptive and in good shape, although they were slower than they looked (had a shine to them that fooled me into putting defensively on the first few holes). Also, for what it's worth I was reading way too much break into the greens. Once I stopped aiming outside of the hole I had greater success.

The course is a much needed addition to the region, since I refuse to pay $100 for Red Tail more than a few times a summer. I found Butter Brook to require more precision than Red Tail as well, which I hope will only help my game.

[Tim Gerrish]

Scott,

Effort was made to hide and screen paths from view specially those in view from the tee, but also to keep them close to play areas for pace of play.

A lot that determines whether the course plays firm and fast depends upon maintenance practices.  The course is built on top of well drained soils so even after a heavy rain it is very dry and will be open for play.


Dan,

The 10th was renumbered because of the need for a practice area and the profit that can be generated.  I think the old 10th would have been just another tight hole with very limited play options.

[Cliff Hamm]

From the Worcester Telegram.com:
           
Sunday, May 27, 2007
It’s no longer a prime time for new courses


Butter Brook Golf Club in Westford opened its beautiful new back nine to the public yesterday, and that’s big news because new golf holes have become as rare as pay phones these days.

Only two new courses are scheduled to open in the state this year — Donnybrook Golf Course in Lanesboro and the Golf Club at Cape Cod in Falmouth. The golf boom of the 1990s, like the door-to-door encyclopedia salesman, is a distant memory.

New clubs popped up everywhere in the ’90s under the misconception that the number of golfers would skyrocket. In fact, the number of rounds remained flat, and clubs had more competition for business.


According to the National Golf Foundation, more courses closed than opened last year for the first time in six decades. The equivalent of 119.5 new 18-hole courses — including the Renaissance Club in Haverhill and the Boston Golf Club in Hingham — opened in the U.S., but 146 went out of business. Just seven years ago, 375 more clubs opened than closed.

“That’s a little disconcerting,” Butter Brook designer Mark Mungeam said. “The golf course design business right now is a little more of a struggle.”

Mungeam said although most course design work has shifted to renovating rather than building new courses, the competition is greater than ever. People with a love of golf but no architectural background are designing courses, and others let go by large, cost-cutting design companies are working on their own.

Mungeam has been one of the busiest golf course architects in New England for many years. He has designed 25 new courses, including Cyprian Keyes in Boylston, Scottish Meadow in Warren, Highfields Golf and CC in Grafton, and Butternut in Stow. He also has overseen more than 40 renovation projects, including Olympia Fields in Chicago in preparation for the 1997 U.S. Senior Open and the 2003 U.S. Open. But the last new Mungeam designs to open were in 2005 — Quail Ridge, a private 18-hole course in Acton just four miles from Butter Brook, and the Golf Club at Oxford Green, a public layout in Oxford, Conn.

The downturn in the golf course design industry contributed to Brian Silva leaving Cornish, Silva & Mungeam in August. Silva formed his own design firm, and Mungeam stayed with Cornish, his mentor who is mostly retired.

“It’s not sad, it’s not happy, it’s neither,” Mungeam said. “We had been together for 20 years. We had grown more and more separate, doing our own projects, not really collaborating on things.”

Silva moved to Dover, N.H., and worked out of his home rather than from CS&M’s office in Uxbridge.

“Quite honestly,” Mungeam said, “the downturn in golf construction, new construction, affected us financially considerably. It didn’t seem to be working as well as Brian wanted from a revenue standpoint. So we decided the best way to fix that was to go separate ways. It was a push for me. I hadn’t even thought of it and wouldn’t have considered it probably, but now I’m happy with the change. I hope he’s happy with the change. We still speak. It’s pretty amicable. But now we compete against one another.”

Mungeam thinks there’s room for both because they serve different clients. Silva has built a national reputation by designing and remodeling exclusive private clubs. Mungeam is content with working on more modest projects closer to his home in Douglas so he can attend his five children’s soccer practices, and Little League and basketball games.

“I don’t like to travel a great deal with the five kids,” Mungeam said. “I’d just as soon have a job close that I’m not making as much money on than to travel way out of the way and spend a lot of time away from home and make more money.”

Mungeam is currently not working on any new courses in New England. His closest job is the planning and permitting stages of designing the Falls at Black Creek in Forestburgh, N.Y., outside the Catskills. He continues to be a minority owner and work on the back nine at Scottish Meadow in Warren. The first two of the second nine holes should be ready for play by next year. Plans still are in the works to build the other seven, but Mungeam refuses to set any target dates because past dates have come and gone.

“I don’t want to make it sound like doom and gloom for golf,” he said. “I don’t feel that way in the least. It’s cyclical. I just think we’re going through a period in reaction to the heavy growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It may last two years, five years, 10 years, who knows? But golf will come back. I really feel strongly about that.”

Butter Brook owners Ed and Betty Kennedy are banking on it. They gave up raising cattle and hogs on their 210-acre property at the junction of Routes 225 and 27 on the Westford, Carlisle and Acton lines to build a semiprivate golf club.

“Am I worried in this economy? You always have to be worried,” said Betty Kennedy, Butter Brook’s general manager. “But we’ve been trying to get this all set for nine years now, so we’re extremely happy to finally be at this point.”

Tim Gerrish, Mungeam’s assistant, said he spotted a hog the size of a small couch when he first visited the property seven years ago. Gerrish made the bulk of the field visits to Butter Brook, but Mungeam gets credit for the design because he’s a senior partner. Things worked in reverse when Mungeam did much of the work on Shaker Hills in Harvard, but Silva received credit because Mungeam was just starting out.

Betty is the club manager and her son, Edward, is the superintendent. The head pro is Matt Hippert, who spent the previous five years as head teaching pro at Worcester Country Club.

Butter Brook’s back nine opened four years after the front nine due to financial and permitting issues. Blue-spotted salamanders were found in vernal pools adjacent to the golf course, so the owners had to work with state agencies to determine how much of a buffer would be needed. For a while, Mungeam thought the 10th and 11th holes would have to be eliminated from his design, but the holes were slightly altered to be built.

Salamanders also were found at another Mungeam design, Cyprian Keyes. The par-4 second hole doglegs sharply to the left to avoid the salamanders that would have come into play if the hole played straight. The third hole zigzags around the salamanders’ vernal pool on the right.

Butter Brook’s front nine is lined with white pines, but the 12th to 16th holes were built in a former cow pasture, so they’re wide open and windswept. Waste bunkers add a degree of difficulty. The 16th hole requires an elevated tee shot over a manmade pond.

The best angle to the fairway on the 13th hole is to carry the corner of a one-story barn which juts out from the right.

Betty Kennedy said the barn was kept because her father-in-law built it and her husband didn’t want to part with it.

You can play to the left of the barn, but bunkers come into play.

Butter Brook, named after the brook which flows through the property, plays to a par 72 and has four sets of tees ranging from 5,100 to 6,800 yards. Membership is full at 250. A double-wide trailer with a porch and deck serves as the pro shop and restaurant, but the Kennedys plan to build a clubhouse in a few years.

Mungeam developed an interest in golf course design by working on maintenance crew at Berlin Country Club in his hometown. He went on to earn a degree in civil and environmental engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1983 before joining Cornish, Silva & Mungeam.



I might add my thanks to Mark Mungeam and Tim Gerrish for concentrating on quality public designs.  For those of us that are not private members it is most appreciated.  Being a Rhode Islander who travels New England for quality golf it is doubly appreciated.  Now how about a design in the Ocean State?