Boston public course question

[Paul Richards]

Anyone familiar with the best of Boston, what course(s) would you recommend for a Monday afternoon in October?  My understanding is that most of the private clubs are closed, although I am sure some are not.  So if open, please include them in your 'mix'.

Cheers!

[Jay Flemma]

Red Tail - You'll love it!

[Jon Cavalier]

Red Tail - You'll love it!

Second for Red Tail.

[Mark McKeever]

George Wright is one of the best public Ross courses out there.

Mark

[PCCraig]

Red Tail is an hour outside of downtown Boston.

George Wright is just south of town, and more worth seeing than Red Tail. 

[Chris DeToro]

Guess it depends how willing you are to drive too...

[Amol Yajnik]

Guess it depends how willing you are to drive too...

Was just about to come in here and ask the same question.  Within 30 minutes of downtown Boston, George Wright gets my vote every time.  I was just out there today, greens are rolling very well and the course got some much needed rain last week. 

Pinehills and Red Tail are both going to be ~1 hour drive from downtown Boston.  Red Tail has the better layout, but both courses at Pinehills will win on conditioning.  Normally I would also suggest South Shore in Hingham, but they aerated their greens earlier this week. 

To the OP, if you are staying outside of downtown Boston, that will obviously change your driving times and perhaps make your decision a bit easier.

[PCCraig]

Guess it depends how willing you are to drive too...

Was just about to come in here and ask the same question.  Within 30 minutes of downtown Boston, George Wright gets my vote every time.  I was just out there today, greens are rolling very well and the course got some much needed rain last week. 

Pinehills and Red Tail are both going to be ~1 hour drive from downtown Boston.  Red Tail has the better layout, but both courses at Pinehills will win on conditioning.  Normally I would also suggest South Shore in Hingham, but they aerated their greens earlier this week. 

To the OP, if you are staying outside of downtown Boston, that will obviously change your driving times and perhaps make your decision a bit easier.

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't walk across the street to play either course Pinehills. Not to mention drive an hour and pay $100+

[Brad Tufts]

As much as they aren't terrible, I agree with my esteemed colleague ex-Bostonian.

I think George Wright is the call, with Franklin Park shortly behind.  FP (William J. Devine) has been in great shape this year, has been doing some nice improvements, is totally old school, and you will likely shoot a good score with the 6000 yard back tee length!

GW is Ross, FP is Willie Campbell c. 1895, then a Ross redesign in the teens.

South Shore is a great suggestion too, but aerated isn't worth it.

[Brad Sheridan]

Paul,

I don't believe that all the privates will be closed. I was out on Winchester today, but can't speak to any others. In terms of publics I agree with the other's suggestions and assertion that your exact location may determine your best choices. PM me if you need any help

[Richard Hetzel]

George Wright is one of the best public Ross courses out there.

Mark

Agreed. We played it in June and loved it.

[Paul Richards]

Thanks to all for your input. Cheers!

[Jay Flemma]

We left my buddy's house by Fenway and got to Red Tail in less than 50 minutes on a Saturday morning...plus, that's not so long a drive for a great game of golf  And that's what Red Tail is - a great game.  I hope people here aren't poo-pooing it just because it's modern becauise Silva loves Macdonald Raynor and Banks and gives us a lot of those ideas at Red Tail.  George Wright may have the more famous designer...but Red Tail, I think, is a stronger golf course.  Plus the 17th at Red Tail is a masterful Cape hole that wins Boston's best public hole award year in and year our.

Really you can't go wrong either way.  

You know what we should do?  How about in a couple weeks we all go out there and play the two of them together for a nice GCA weekend?  Maybe we could even add Black Rock or something?

Here's some pics of Red Tail, Paul (from a few years ago in the late fall):

[Pete Lavallee]

George Wright aerated last Monday, if that makes a difference. Whitinsville is still a great option with a golfnow tee time almost every day at 7:30.

[Amol Yajnik]

George Wright aerated last Monday, if that makes a difference. Whitinsville is still a great option with a golfnow tee time almost every day at 7:30.

The OP was asking about playing on a Monday afternoon, seems that Whitinsville only posts tee times for Tuesdays-Thursdays on Golfnow.

Franklin Park aerated earlier this week, not George Wright in terms of the greens.  They were aerating the 3rd fairway when I was at GW on Thursday, but I definitely didn't see any issues on the greens.

Jay, I'm not bemoaning Red Tail at all from a design standpoint, it's my favorite layout in the area.  I will bemoan it from a conditioning standpoint, which IMO has gone downhill steadily in the past 3 years while the costs of a round are still pretty high.

[Mark Steffey]

there are hardly any outings heading out on mondays now and grounds staff are thin this time of year.  it's worth the 20 minutes to work the phones and see where you could play in the private sector.

[Jeffrey Morrison]

Another possibility is Mt Hood in Melrose...a fun, quirky muni in Melrose...only 20 min north of the city

[Michael Moore]

hole that wins Boston's best public hole award year in and year our

Jay, who hands out this award?

[Jason Topp]

 Plus the 17th at Red Tail is a masterful Cape hole that wins Boston's best public hole award year in and year our.

Jay - is the 17th in any of your pictures?

[Mark Steffey]

 Plus the 17th at Red Tail is a masterful Cape hole that wins Boston's best public hole award year in and year our.

Jay - is the 17th in any of your pictures?

the 1st and 3rd pictures are of the 17th

[Stephen Northrup]

George Wright is the call. The first hole is underwhelming but it gets much better from there.

[Mark Steffey]

if you are going to land in the afternoon and need to play inside 128 (quick, bestest chance of avoiding traffic tie ups).  it's worth your time to call -- in order - TCC, Winchester, George Wright.   Winchester is probably the easiest to get to.

[Jay Flemma]

George Wright aerated last Monday, if that makes a difference. Whitinsville is still a great option with a golfnow tee time almost every day at 7:30.

The OP was asking about playing on a Monday afternoon, seems that Whitinsville only posts tee times for Tuesdays-Thursdays on Golfnow.

Franklin Park aerated earlier this week, not George Wright in terms of the greens.  They were aerating the 3rd fairway when I was at GW on Thursday, but I definitely didn't see any issues on the greens.

Jay, I'm not bemoaning Red Tail at all from a design standpoint, it's my favorite layout in the area.  I will bemoan it from a conditioning standpoint, which IMO has gone downhill steadily in the past 3 years while the costs of a round are still pretty high.

Amol, the conditioning was quite fine when I played there a couple weeks ago.  And the greens rolled perfectly true!  Great stuff!

[Chris DeToro]

if you are going to land in the afternoon and need to play inside 128 (quick, bestest chance of avoiding traffic tie ups).  it's worth your time to call -- in order - TCC, Winchester, George Wright.   Winchester is probably the easiest to get to.

Winchester is fantastic. 

[Rob_Waldron]

Paul

Considering your affinity for Ross designs you have to visit or play George Wright.  Walk through the clubhouse and imagine what might have been. Very interesting piece of property with the golf course routed over some challenging terrain. Some $$ have been spent to upgrade over the years, just not quite enough. Regardless I think you will appreciate it.