Winery GC.
Larry Lambrecht
As a part of GOLF’s rigorous scores course of for our newly launched High 100 Programs within the U.S. and High 100 Programs You Can Play rankings, our fleet of 100-plus professional panelists recognized the most effective golf programs in each state.
You may take a look at the hyperlinks beneath to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll right down to see the most effective programs in Massachusetts. And when you’re trying to create your personal journey sooner or later, you’d be sensible to let GOLF’s new Course Finder device help you. Right here, you possibly can toggle all of our lists — High 100 public, finest munis, finest quick programs, finest par-3s and extra — or filter by value to create the right itinerary to your subsequent journey.
GOLF’s different course rankings: High 100 Programs within the World | High 100 Programs within the U.S. | High 100 Programs You Can Play | High 100 Worth Programs within the U.S. | America’s Greatest Municipal Programs | The 100 Greatest Brief Programs within the World
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The most effective golf programs in Massachusetts (2024/25)
SYMBOL GUIDE
# = High 100 Course within the U.S.
Y = High 100 You Can Play within the U.S.
V = High 100 Worth Course within the U.S.
P = Public/Resort
Ed. notice: Some programs had been omitted from our rankings as a result of they didn’t obtain sufficient votes.
1. The Nation Membership — Clyde/Squirrel (Brookline) [#]
A Boston Brahmin society hang-out for greater than 125 years, this tree-lined design has performed host to 4 U.S. Opens and the well-known 1999 Ryder Cup. Its configuration of holes for the 2022 U.S. Open proved to be its finest composite course but out of its 27 holes however notice: GOLF ranks the Clyde/Squirrel course that its members play regularly. That’s the configuration of holes that was used for the 1913 Open when native lad Francis Ouimet surprised the massive, dangerous Brits. Its old-school options embody cross hazards and medium-size greens. The sphere on the 2022 U.S. Open was reminded that there isn’t any substitute for hitting fairways and greens as thick tough stays a part of the course’s problem simply because it was in 1913.
Patrick Koenig
2. Myopia Hunt (South Hamilton) [#]
Some critics of rankings grumble that internet hosting a significant unduly elevates a course. Is that true for Myopia Hunt, on condition that it has performed host to 4 U.S. Opens? In all probability not, given its final one was in 1908! What helped Myopia proceed to rise within the checklist is appreciation for Gil Hanse’s restoration work whereby bushes got here down, and fairways had been expanded/reconnected to Herbert Leeds’s fabulous pit bunkers. The good-looking blue stem tough is finest admired from a distance however there isn’t any hiding from the severely titled greens on the 4th, sixth and thirteenth. None of these two-shotters is lengthy however the slopes with which Leeds imbued them about 120 years in the past outline treachery at fashionable inexperienced speeds. With the wind extra evident and the enjoying surfaces agency, the course’s thorny enjoying attributes are as soon as once more on full show. Enjoyable reality: The successful rating at its 4 U.S. Opens averaged practically 324, or 81 strokes per spherical.
3. Eastward Ho! (Chatham) [#]
Herbert Fowler will at all times be related together with his beloved first design, Walton Heath exterior of London. In that occasion, he needed to lend the open heath its {golfing} qualities as the location featured modest topography. What he was offered with right here on Cape Cod was the precise reverse: a glacial moraine with tumbling landforms that converge in probably the most random manners. What a problem to route however his figure-8 routing with the clubhouse within the center seized on the chance to perfection. For authentic holes, few programs can compete.
courtesy
4. Outdated Sandwich (Plymouth) [#]
A contemporary basic with a starchy, old-school vibe, Outdated Sandwich occupies selection floor within the pine hills of japanese Massachusetts, the place the land begins to elbow towards Cape Cod. Although not on the water, the course is usually buffeted by Atlantic breezes, whereas its sand dunes and fescues add an additional layer of coastal atmospherics. Brief par-4s are one thing of some extent of pleasure for Coore and Crenshaw, and the Cape-style fifth is as wonderful an instance of any they’ve constructed. However the seventh is perhaps the extra memorable two-shotter, with its inexperienced perched, island-like, amid a sea of sand.
5. Essex County (Manchester-by-the-Sea) [#]
Neglect about its pedigree historical past that features the Curtis sisters (sure, as within the Curtis Cup) and Donald Ross, Essex shines for having probably the greatest collections of holes in New England. After tackling a 600-plus yarder on the third adopted by a you-might-need-driver-here par-3 on the 4th, the golfer could also be feeling bruised. However what ensues is probably the most effective set of par-4s holes within the state, highlighted by 17 and 18, which play up and down a small mountain. As handsomely offered as any Ross course within the nation.
6. Kittansett (Marion) [#]
Having hosted the Walker Cup in 1953, this membership has lengthy loved an enviable repute. Now, due to a gradual and considerate 20-year restoration by Gil Hanse, the course may truly exceed its repute. Central options within the type of both bunkers or grassed-over mounds make the course a tactical delight off the tee, whereas its medium dimension greens, from the well-known island inexperienced on the seashore on the third to the built-up knob at 16, make for an elusive set to hit in regulation. Onerous by Buzzards Bay, the course is mostly buffeted by wind, which provides problem to the duty at hand
7. Sankaty Head (Nantucket)
8. Boston GC (Hingham)
9. Salem (Peabody)
10. Worcester (Worcester)
11. Nantucket (Nantucket)
12. Winery (Edgartown)
Larry Lambrecht
13. Charles River (Newton)
14. Winchester (Winchester)
15. Oyster Harbors (Oysterville)
16. George Wright (Boston) [P, V, Y]
Metropolis of Boston Golf
17. Longmeadow (Longmeadow)
18. Taconic (Williamstown) [P, Y]
19. Hyannisport (Hyannis Port)
20. TPC Boston (Norton)
*Even on this golf-rich state, a whole lot of our panelists single out and rave in regards to the 9-holer Whitinsville.
How we rank our programs
For our newly launched High 100 U.S. and High 100 You Can Play lists — a course of that helped us create 50 best-in-state rankings — every panelist was offered a poll that consisted of 609 programs. Beside the checklist of programs had been 11 “buckets,” or groupings. If our panelists thought-about a course to be among the many high three within the U.S., they ticked that first column. In the event that they believed the course to be amongst Nos. 4-10, they checked that column, adopted by 11-25, 26-50, and so forth out to 250+ and even a column for “take away.” Panelists had been additionally free to jot down in programs that they felt ought to have been included on the poll.
