Larry Lambrecht
As part of GOLF’s rigorous assessment process for our newcomers Top 100 courses in the USA AND The best 100 courses you can play ranking, our fleet of 100-plus expert panelists identified the best golf courses in each state.
You can check out the links below to browse all of our course rankings, or scroll down to see the best courses in Massachusetts. And if you’re looking to create your future ride, you’d be wise to let the new GOLF Course finder the tool helps you. Here, you can edit all of our lists – top 100 public, best munis, best short courses, best par-3s and more – or filter by price to create the itinerary perfect for your next trip.
Ranking of other GOLF courses: Top 100 courses in the world | Top 100 courses in the USA | The best 100 courses you can play | The 100 most valuable courses in the USA | America’s Best Municipal Courses | The 100 best short courses in the world
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Best Golf Courses in Massachusetts (2024/25)
SYMBOL GUIDE
# = Top 100 courses in the USA
Y = Top 100 you can play in USA
V = The 100 most valuable courses in the USA
P = Public/Resort
Ed. Note: Some subjects were removed from our ranking because they did not receive enough votes.
1. Country Club – Klydi/Ketri (Brookline) (#)
A community of Boston Brahmins for more than 125 years, this tree-lined layout has hosted four US Opens and the famous 1999 Ryder Cup. Its hole configuration for the 2022 US Open proved to be the course of his best yet consisting of his 27 holes, but note: GOLF lists the Clyde/Squirrel course as its members play regularly. This is the hole configuration that was used for the 1913 Open when local boy Francis Ouimet stunned the big, bad Brits. Its old-school features include cross hazards and medium-sized greens. The field at the 2022 US Open was reminded that there is no substitute for hitting the fairways and greens as the thick turf remains a challenging component of the course just as it was in 1913.
2. Myopia Hunt (South Hamilton) (#)
Some critics of the ranking complain that holding a major unfairly elevates a course. Is that true of Myopia Hunt, given that he has played in four US Opens? Probably not, considering the last one was in 1908! What helped Myopia continue to rise up the list is the appreciation for Gil Hanse’s restoration work, where trees were felled and fairways widened/reconnected to Herbert Leeds’ fabled bunkers. The beautiful fairway green is best admired from a distance, but it’s not obscured by the tough fairways on 4, 6 and 13. Neither of those two putters are long, but the slopes that Leeds filled them with around 120 years ago, define treason with modern green speed. With the wind more noticeable and the playing surfaces firm, the pitch’s spiky playing attributes are once again on full display. Fun fact: The winning score in the four US Opens averaged about 324, or 81 strokes per round.
3. Eastward Ho! (Chatham) (#)
Herbert Fowler will always be associated with his first love design, Walton Heath outside London. In that case, he had to lend his golfing qualities to the open heath, as the site had modest topography. What he was presented with here on Cape Cod was just the opposite: a glacial moraine with plunging landforms converging in the most random of ways. What a challenge to overcome, but his figure 8 with the club in the middle took the opportunity to perfection. For original holes, few courses can compete.
4. Old Sandwich (Plymouth) (#)
A modern classic with a starchy, aged vibe, the Old Sandwich occupies prime ground in the piney hills of eastern Massachusetts, where the land begins to curve toward Cape Cod. Although not on the water, the course is often swept by the Atlantic breeze, while its sand dunes and fescue add an extra layer of coastal atmosphere. The short par-4s are something Coore and Crenshaw are proud of, and the Cape-style 5th is a fine example of what they’ve built. But the 7th may be the most memorable two-putter, with its island-shaped green set amidst a sea of ​​sand.
5. Essex County (Manchester-by-the-Sea) (#)
Forget its origin story involving the Curtis sisters (yes, as in the Curtis Cup) and Donald Ross, Essex shines for having one of the best collections of holes in New England. After facing a 600-plus yarder on the 3rd followed by a you-may-need-here par-3 driver on the 4th, the golfer can feel bruised. But what follows is perhaps the best set of par-4 holes in the state, highlighted by 17 and 18, which play up and down a small mountain. Beautifully presented like any Ross course in the country.
6. Kittansett (Marion) (#)
Having hosted the Walker Cup in 1953, this club has long enjoyed an enviable reputation. Now, thanks to a slow and thoughtful 20-year restoration by Gil Hanse, the course may live up to its reputation. Central features in the form of bunkers or grass mounds make the course a tactical delight off the tee, while its medium-sized greens, from the island’s famous beach green at 3 to the built-in putt at 16, make for an elusive set. to hit in regulation. Difficult from Buzzards Bay, the course is generally buffeted by the wind, which adds challenge to the task at hand
7. Sankaty Head (Nantucket)
8. Boston GC (Hingham)
9. Salem (Peabody)
10. Worcester
11. Nantucket
12. The Vineyard (Edgartown)
13. Charles River (Newton)
14. Winchester
15. Oyster Harbors (Oysterville)
16. George Wright (Boston) (P, V, Y)
17. Longmeadow
18. Taconic (Williamstown) (P, Y)
19. Hyannisport (Hyannis Port)
20. TPC Boston (Norton)
*Even in this golf-rich state, many of our panelists single out and rave about the 9-hole Whitinsville.
How we rank our courses
For our newly released US Top 100 and Top 100 to Play lists—a process that helped us create the top 50 rankings in the country—each panelist was given a ballot consisting of 609 courses. . Alongside the list of courses were 11 “buckets” or groupings. If our panelists deemed a course to be among the top three in the US, they marked the first column. If they believed the odds were between numbers 4-10, they checked that column, followed by 11-25, 26-50 and so on up to 250+ and even a column for “remove”. Panelists were also free to write in courses they felt should have been included on the ballot.
Points were assigned to each bucket; to arrive at an average score for each course, we divide its overall score by the number of votes. From these point totals, courses are then ranked accordingly. It’s an intentionally simple and straightforward process. Why? Because it has historically produced results that are widely praised. Like the game itself, there’s no need to overcomplicate things or try to fix something that already works so well.
The key to the process is the experience and expertise of our panel. Hailing from 15 nations and all the golfing meccas around the world, each of our 127 hand-picked panelists has a keen eye for architecture, both regionally and globally. Many of our panelists have played more than 1000 courses in over 20 countries, some over 2000. Their handicaps range from +5 to +15.
Because the nature of course evaluation is so intensely subjective, no opinion counts. The only way, then, to build meaningful consensus is to incorporate this diversity of panelists and experiences into a ranking.
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