I was fortunate to play these heavyweights back to back this year and thought I would share my comparison that I had with a good friend recently.
Let's discuss!
Kittansett and Boston GC. I don’t even know where to begin because they are both fantastic golf courses but there are different aspects that make them both great.
Let’s put them toe to toe and see what happens!
Routing: Kittansett wins. The routing bay, then into the woods, then back out to the bay to finish is great. I have a favorite bay stretch (3-6) and a favorite inland stretch being 8-13. Boston starts away from the clubhouse and it’s a decent walk from 9-10. Personally I’d love to see the nines switched at BGC.
Land Movement: Boston Golf Club wins. Coming from Eastward Ho! Boston Golf club the previous two days, I was absolutely stunned by the land movement of both golf courses. The land is absolutely phenomenal for both golf courses. I was thinking that the inland holes at Kittansett would have more movement, but they didn’t. Regardless they made great use of the land, but just didn’t have the canvas that BGC has.
Greens: Boston Golf Club wins in overtime. The greens at Kittansett were subtle and very very tricky which I loved! I was scratching my head all day and my caddie was finding lines that were the exact opposite of what I was thinking. It took me until 18 to make a birdie and it was a two putt after hitting a drive 4 iron to 20 feet. Hanse made some very bold greens at BGC and I like how they are able to keep them a hair slower to allow for some very fun pin positions and putts. There is a lot of strategy at BGC as to where you need to hit a shot from to have access to certain pins, where I felt that Kittansett was all aerial darts from anywhere in the fairway with only one or two exceptions. The areas short and around the greens at KGC were soft and did not allow for shot creativity which surprised me.
Par 3’s Kittansett wins. The Island green was such a cool feature right on the bay. It’s a short hole, but you better hit the shot or else! We had very little wind when we played, but I would LOVE to play this hole in a big crosswind or into the wind. BGC’s par three’s never seemed to grab my attention as much as the other holes. I thought the 8th hole was the weakest on the property and hole 11 just seemed to get you from point A to point B.
Par 4’s Boston Golf Club wins. There was a lot of variety out there and plenty of opportunities to catch “speed slots” if you hit a good drive from the correct tees. They were more prominent on the longer more difficult holes and gave the opportunity to turn a hard hole into a scoring hole with a well played tee shot. There were a lot of drive wedge holes out at KGC but that comes from being a classic old style golf course.
Par 5’s Boston Golf Club wins. On each of the par 5’s there is a risk that can be taken to make the hole considerably easier whether its on the tee shot by taking a bold line, or getting aggressive on the second shot. Each one offers the golfer the opportunity to get a distinct advantage on the hole over his opponent and that really struck me as a huge asset to the golf course. The par 5’s at Kittansett were very good, but just couldn’t stack up.
Conditioning Boston Golf Club wins. Kittansett had a very rustic feel to it, which was really cool. It was timeless and the greens were in fabulous condition. Boston Golf Club does extremely well conditioning the course and keeping the areas around the greens firm and fast which was great. I’d really like to see Kittansett browned out and fast!
Ambiance/Walk in the Park Kittansett Wins. The location is phenomenal and It was one of my most pleasurable walks this year. I got legitimately sad when I realized we were walking up to 17 green. It is that special of a golf course and I would have no problem playing there every day.
In the end, Boston Golf Club wins 5-3. Despite getting more points, I would still put them at a 5-5 split if I had 10 rounds to play. Both are fantastic golf courses and deserve the praise that they get!
Mark