There are many outstanding areas for golf in the United States. New York is packed with Top 100 golf courses, Michigan is outstanding in the summer, large cities like Chicago and Philadelphia are surrounded by amazing golf. Hell, there isn’t an area in the entire country were you will have to drive more than 3 hours to find some quality golf.
However, the golf courses of New England hold a special place in my golf heart. The area is dense with under appreciated golf courses and golf history in the area runs particularly deep. New England has an ability to charm like no other area of the country. This is precisely why we decided to write a book about it. Welcome to The Golf Courses of New England from Back Nine Press.
The task of highlighting all of the worthy golf courses in New England is a daunting one. Therre are 371 golf courses in Massachusetts alone. We also had to cover Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island. As someone who believes that every golf course has something special about it, I wanted to highlight every single one. My publisher Jim over at The Back Nine Press told me that was not reasonable so we agreed to dial in on the highlights.
With extensive experience from The RGV Tour 1.0 and 2.0, I already had a large amount of photography for the book, but we needed to fill in the cracks. With a publisher’s deadline rapidly approaching, I headed to Boston to tie up the loose ends on the New England golf trail.
The purpose of this book is to discover, showcase, and celebrate the great courses of the region—public and private, old and new—by combining gorgeous photographs with informative and entertaining writing about each course. Please enjoy this special preview of The Golf Courses of New England.
After a few quick seconds at Sankaty Head I realized that we could not, in good faith, write this book without showcasing the spectacular Sankaty Head. This became one of my favorite walks and perhaps my favorite feature in the book.
In my travels I had somehow managed to miss one of Boston’s premier clubs in Winchester Country Club. I happily made up for my oversight with a fantastic tour of this beautiful Donald Ross gem.
We had no plans on featuring Old Sconset before my visit to Nantucket and if we had stuck with the original plan that would have been a serious crime against golf. Surely we would have faced time in golf jail. Fortunately, I paid the course a visit and we avoided prosecution. Old Sconset is affordable, interesting and spectacular. You don’t want to miss this feature.
One of the 2 public options for golf on Nantucket ended up being another pleasant surprise. Somehow every rock that you turn over in New England happens to have another interesting golf course buried underneath it. A slightly foggy morning delivered some great photographs for the book.
The Donald Ross hits do not stop coming in New England. Warwick Country Club is just another case of a splendid Ross creation that flies under the radar while of its neighbors hog the spotlight. In the Golf Courses in New England the spotlight is spread evenly.
Another spectacular morning delivered some amazing results for our feature at Concord Country Club. The courses in this book are not only tremendous to photograph but they all possess a rich and interesting history. Concord Country Club is no different. A final and spectacular set of photographs was added to the book.
I could have stayed and played in New England until the snow began to fall but my deadline had arrived… it was time to head to press. The courses featured here were only our final additions to a book that features 72 of New England’s greatest golf institutions. The features in this book represent some of my favorite moments on a golf course and I am immensely proud of the final product. I hope that in some way my experiences can enhance yours. You can purchase The Golf Courses of New England here.