Public Golf in Greater Boston
A New Hope
Welcome to the Back Nine, published every Thursday. The Front Nine comes out every Sunday.
Normally I post about my golf game, but in this Thursday’s Back Nine, I am fulfilling a public service.
Finding a public golf course to play in Greater Boston is painful. This is primarily because there is no easy-to-use database of New England golf courses. There are plenty of articles promoting wicked good golf courses and the top courses in the state. The problem is the former aren’t comprehensive and the latter favor private courses. There is nothing worse than finding a nearby track that looks great only to realize that it’s country club for millionaires and billionaires. By the time I’m done Googling, I’ve turned into Bernie Sanders.
“What about Google Maps?” you’re wondering. No doubt, Google Maps is the most comprehensive source for public golf. However, it still requires the user to go into individual websites to find out basic info such as whether it’s a par-3, 9-hole, or 18-hole golf course, and even to check greens fees. Searching is so exhausting, I almost always default to my local muni, Fresh Pond.
So, I have begun building my own database of Greater-Boston and New England public golf courses. Here’s what it looks like.
Key information is displayed below each picture: course, my rating, location, and greens fees. You can click any course to display more information, such as whether it has a practice range, its dress code, and difficulty. And you can sort and filter on any of those - and more - properties.
I’ve started with just four courses but will add more each week. If you have a course to suggest, leave it in the comments! Similarly, if you have ideas for info to include, leave them in the comments.
That’s all for this Thursday’s Back Nine. See you on Sunday’s Front Nine.