Many people have argued about an East Coast bias in reporting. I have always felt that golf courses have a bias towards a ratio of accessibility vs. population vs. access. A Cypress Point, Augusta, Pacific Dunes, or Sand Hills is fine because they are either very exclusive or very hard to get to. Put a good course in the middle of a massive population center and it will get over considered. Granite Links is challenging my hypothesis and potentially causing a new line of thinking.
Granite Links by my definition above should be very highly regarded. It is 7 miles from Downtown Boston, unquestionably the best course that allows access in the area, and truly an exceptional golf course (More on that later). That said, it gets very little national press. I am curious if Boston has a bit of an East Egg / West Egg complex. This course was built 6 years ago with land from the big dig and is only semi-private. Could this be why it suffers?
Let me start with its two weaknesses. The greens have primary movement but really no subtle movement. There are shelves and hollows but not a lot of interior creativity. The more substantial weakness is that the sand traps are modern cape and bay. They do not really fit the property and really should be deep, bold, dramatic cylinders like what you see in the UK.
Now for the strengths. The piece of property is amazing. It is an old granite quarry that was partially filled in and shaped with all of the dirt from the Big Dig. There are no trees in play, huge dramatic fairways, lined with fescue, quarry's to play above through and around and fantastic green locations. This course could be put in the UK today and feel right at home. On top of that, the vista's of the Boston Skyline, Bay, and Ocean are really wonderful. Imagine the best of the quarry holes at Black Diamond, or what you wish the quarry holes at Bay Harbor were.
The property really is big and bold. The course has great variety, utilizes every club in your bag and is simply fun. What else would a top 100 course need? Has anyone else played it? Am I off my rocker to have enjoyed it so much? I am just stumped why this course does not generate more buzz.