Definitely struggled for years. Too bad. Another good place that would flourish if it were 20 minutes closer to Boston. I thought about joining for years, but it is tough to drive that far often enough.
New member here, just wanted to say hi and see what courses people are playing at/ meet up for a round sometime if the state doesnāt go on lockdown lol
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They just closed my dealership on all Sundays but tomorrow looks a little chilly. Going to try and play Thursday as I am off all day.
For those not following with āAs the International Turnsā saga, sounds like brother number 3 is leaving his very successful finance job to come put things back together. What a terribly handled situation but at least looks like Iāll be able to golf at my course this year.
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Any of these guys on here?
I saw this article earlier. Quite the operation they had going.
Iām officially starting to get stir crazy here. Luckily the weather is miserable.
Not that I condone what they did, if you check out the location of that McDonalds, itās probably the absolute worst option to dump your car and pick up your getaway car. There is a Stop & Shop and an Ocean State Job Lot in the two adjacent lots. The maximum length of time a car spends in a Mickey Dās lot has got to be 10-15 minutes and the only spots are against the building in full sight. Just idiots all around
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I donāt get why they left it at a McDonaldās. If they had a friend, or someone close, pick them up they shouldāve left the car at their house.
God dammit today would have been a beautiful day to play golf. This being a glorious New England spring for golf is not helping me deal with this situation.
At least the courses (better) be in excellent shape when we get back out there.
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Somehow I fear that the assholes out there eschewing ācourses are closedā are the same guise who donāt replace divots or repair pitch marksā¦
I drove by some of the private courses this morning (Weston and Pine Brook) on my way into work for a little and they looked great. I am hoping that some of the public courses will follow suit because I know I am never going to get on those two.
Pine Brook always looks incredible. Iāve had a friend who has played and said there wasnāt a blade of grass out of place.
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Pine Brook is the nicest conditioned course Iāve ever played on.
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A buddy of mine has been a member of Pine Brook for the past 10 years, so Iāve had the chance to play it 3-4 times per year. With the exception of 1) tournaments and 2) Friday afternoons, Iāve never seen more golfers than greenskeepers there. They have so many people working on the course at all times, it is amazing. It is Boston areaās version of Augusta in April
The downside to that, though, is cost. I believe they have the largest fees of any metro-Boston course and their assessments are also excessive
(Iāll also add that the food at PB is outstanding. Most CC food is āmehā, but Pine Brook food is incredible)
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Thatās awesome you get to play there that often! Iāve heard the same about cost/dues - which makes sense given how nice the club is.
I played for the first time last summer and it was fantastic. I really liked the layout and the conditioning was superb. Need to get back there.
How is the actual layout of the course?
@Nanderson - Itās a fun course, it has some heritage, but the land isnāt perfect. A few quick observations
- More elevation changes than most courses in the Newton / Weston / Wellesley / Brookline area, which actually makes it a hard walk. Dedham probably has the same elevation change, but it is more isolated to the area around the clubhouse, where as PB is consistent through out the course
- The best part about the course, in my mind is the par 3ās. #2 is an uphill par 3 that plays some visual tricks on you with its green, #4 is a great downhill par 3 that looks easy, but has a large green with some tough puts. 13 and 16 are two long downhill par 3ās. 13 might be my favorite hole on the course, 200 yards, over a small pond protecting a tiered green - just a fun hole
- 16, 17, 18 is a great finishing stretch when you get back to the clubhouse area. 17 is a shortish par 4 that plays longer given its uphill green, followed by 18, which is a long par 4 that is downhill off the tee than uphill into the green.
- There are a couple of really tough driving holes in 5 and 6, but it generally can be forgiving off the tee
But like I said, when you play PB you remember two things 1) the conditioning and 2) the food
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Is 13 the par 3 on the street on the same side as the clubhouse?
I usually take that road to get from 20 to the Pike (and vice versa) and almost crash my car every time rubbernecking at the course.
16 and 4 are the par 3ās that are by the clubhouse, you most likely see 16 before you get to the clubhouse if youāre coming from the pike. Not sure if you can see 4 driving by, but it is just past the clubhouse (in the same direction as above). 13 isnāt too far from the halfway house, which borders the 10th tee (which you should see on the left if youāre coming from the pike). However, fairly sure you canāt see 13 from the road. BTW, the halfway house is as nice as most clubhouses around
Iāll also add that Pine Brook might have one of the most accessible locations of a private club in the Boston area. It is essentially where Leo J Martin is, only turn right rather than left when you exit the Pike. I could be at the course from the Back Bay in less than 20 minutes for a lunch and early afternoon round
Last May a buddy of mine was getting married there and I tried to flash whatever credentials (one of which being the chair of our greens committee) I have to get on and play. That failed miserably but I did get a tour of the course with the Superintendent, great guy who has been there for like 30 years.
And I second what others have said - the par 3s particularly looked like a blast - and though I had never been there before it was cool to get a sense of how the course has changed over the years. My home course was designed by the extremely underrated Wayne Stiles, as was Pine Brook, so it was interesting to get a feel of how they accentuated some classic Wayne Stiles features (e.g. false front on greens).
And the food and drinks at the wedding were amazing.
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