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3.9
13 Reviews (13)
5 Stars
4
4 Stars
4
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
2
1 Stars
1
Conditions
4.7
Value
3.0
Layout
4.8
Friendliness
3.3
Pace
3.0
Amenities
4.5
48.7%
Recommend this course
6 out of 13 reviews
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About

Holes 18
Type Public
Par 72
Length 6567 yards
Slope 123
Rating 71.2

Wachusett Country Club in West Boylston has a reputation for being one of the best public golf courses in central Massachusetts. The club is conveniently less than an hour from Boston. The rolling hills that the course covers are its defining feature. The golf course itself is perched atop a large hill with views spanning the Wachusett Reservoir and the Wachusett Mountain. The layout tumbles across a variety of elevation changes that range from subtle to dramatic. Scoring well on this golf course will depend on your ability to navigate the numerous hills. Wachusett Country Club's front nine is wide open with several challenging holes that wind uphill while the bunker-filled back nine will test your iron skills. Although both nines are about equal in difficulty, the front nine can be especially tough on windy days.

Course Details

Year Built 1927
Fairways Bent Grass
Greens Bent Grass
Golf Season Open: 4/01 Closed: 12/01
Architect Donald Ross (1927) Stephen Kay

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes
Clubs Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Walking Allowed Yes

Food & Beverage

Food & Beverage

Available Facilities

Banquet Facilities

Reviews

3.9
13 Reviews (13)
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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 2
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
First Time Playing

Worst Pace of Play in Mass

Only got through 12 holes due to pace of play. 3 groups backed up on 13 and we we already at the 4 hour mark. Clubhouse will send a guy out on the golf cart just to show face and not do anything. Worst experience I have had in the state. Shame because it is in great condition and a fun layout.

Conditions Excellent
Value Poor
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Fair
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Wa Wa Wa Chusett.

This course is sweet. I paid $50 to walk 18 holes and it was easily the best deal of any course I’ve played this summer. The conditions are at the level of a private course and they do justice to the Donald Ross design. Hole 4 and 5 are really fun holes. Hole 16 had a unique risk/reward opportunity. 18 is a par three finishing hole, part of the original Ross design according to my playing partners. The clubhouse is well appointed, with 3 indoor simulators, reception space, and a nice bar/grill. The do it right at this course. The view of the reservoir from the first tee makes it worth the trip before you even start. But the course delivers throughout. I will be back again and again. My only hesitation to write this review is that other people will find out about how good it is.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 14
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
2.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Should have told us about the greens being aerated!

Here is the problem, front nine greens were aerated (not much sand), back nine greens aerated (a lot of sand). I understand this has to be done, but they should have told us when my buddy called to book time (two foursomes). We could have gone somewhere else or the fee should have been discounted down to $40.00 at the most. Greens were almost impossible to read and puts bounced all over the place! The pro shop could have told us about the greens, when we arrived. I would not recommend this course because they were not honest with us. Also, the limited menu is bull and no beverage cart. I thought this place was supposed to be topnotch. They should take lessons from their sister course, on how to run a golf club. Funny we ate inside at that course with a full menu, three months ago! We have played a lot of courses in Ma, Ct & Ri and they all have had a full menu available, with indoor and outdoor dinning.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Poor
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
3.0
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Walked

Staff has bad attitude

Course is fine, but a bit overpriced for LATE October. We played 18 and decided to go around for another 9. Clubhouse tried to charge us an extra $30 for a threesome to take 1 additional cart (COVID) for 9 holes (the greens fee was $35). Both clubhouse and starter had bad attitude right from the get go. Not attentive. Had to "bug" him for basic information about when we were up, what cart to take, where is the key... all the while it was like I was really inconveniencing him. There are too many good courses in central MA to want to deal with this ever again.

Conditions Good
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Poor
Pace Average
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 5-9
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Previously Played
Wet weather
Used cart

Must Read Review

I never leave reviews for anything, but I encourage you to read this before choosing to play here. (Also please note this review does not include the kitchen and bar staff who always provide a delightful experience.)

This course used to provide an all around great atmosphere; great golf, food, & a friendly staff. However, in the last year or so this has changed immensely. It takes 3 hours to play 9 holes due to the fact that they over book for the money and could care less about any of their customers. The staff specifically working in the pro shop could not care any less about their customers. To the point where I have witnessed them tell a customer to take his money elsewhere. I understand dealing with unhappy customers is never fun, but I have never heard a business say this unless the individual became physically or verbally violent.

I wouldn't leave a review like this if this was a one time bad experience as every business deserves a second chance. But after multiple bad experiences and a lot and I mean a lot of good friends who play here every week feeling the same way, there are too many great golf courses in the area to play at before here.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Poor
Pace Poor
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
Incentivized Review
5.0
Previously Played

Wachusett is a GEM -

This is a beautiful Donald Ross design. Holes 1 - 3 warm you up, 4 - 6 gives you a chance to stretch holes 7 to 9 you better be ready off the tee because being in the fairway is crucial. The back 9 is magic with Donald Ross gems all over. Conditions are always outstanding and you will want to play more when you are done with 18.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
4.0
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Possible GEM

As written in the past, other than the staff, this course has some great potential. We were there to enjoy and begin a bachelor party. There were eight of us. We spent close to $1,000 between greens fees, a new pair of shoes, hats, some refreshments, and misc. One of the guys brought a bottle go JW Blue. We had a toast on the 2nd hole - no issues. Our handicaps range from 8 - 18. The ranger was caught drinking a bud light on the third hole and warned us the course policy was to evict anyone drinking that did not purchase from the course. We politely complied and dumped the beer. (It was only Bud Light) I kindly said, we're here to have some fun and celebrating a bachelor. He didn't care. So we complied. Bought 22 beers. We were respectful, never disorderly, and never once was anyone being held up by our play. In fact, we had one to two holes empty behind us. This guy was on us every two holes to speed up play. Now everyone knows what it's like trying to play golf with this type on constant harassment. It's too bad, it's a nice course, but I'd have to agree with a previous review. It simply felt that we were not welcomed there. I felt like we were in a dictatorship country - you will not have any fun!

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Poor
Pace Excellent
Amenities Poor
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 48
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Rude

If it were not for the staff and members this could be a great place to play. Made us feel like we were intruding on their space.

Conditions Excellent
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Poor
Pace Fair
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 5
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Average weather
Used cart

Excellent Donald Ross Layout

Wachusett Country Club is an exceptional golf club with a fantastic Donald Ross layout. The layout is challenging and diverse. Holes 8-13 are pound for pound some of the most demanding stretches of golf in the New England area.

Conditions are always excellent and the clubhouse offers a great atmosphere for a few cold ones after a very enjoyable round. Less than an hour from Boston this is a course you could play every day and never become tired of it.

Conditions Excellent
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 6
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Forgiving and diverse...

Lots of up and downs here, makes it interesting but nothing too challenging. They did a good job of mixing up tight fairways and target golf, never both on the same hole. Since the course is forgiving, players of all handicaps come here, which can sometimes result in slow pace of play, but mornings are usually all members, so depending on your tee time, it may not impact you at all.
Greens were very fast last I played here, much faster on the course vs the practice greens.
Driving range is across the street, bring $5 bills with you for it if you want to hit a few. Sometimes its grass only, but it's more often mats only, which is frustrating. But for a $5 bucket, it's not too bad.
No 9 hole rates available.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
4.0
Previously Played

Interminable round

Took over 5 hours to play. The course was in great shape, but there seemed to be no effort by the course to keep play moving along at a reasonable pace.
Will never comeback on a Saturday afternoon and cannot at this time recommend playing there.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 99
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Top 250 Contributor
Massachusetts Advisor
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Walked

A Fun, Public Donald Ross Course

I finally got out to Wachusett to see this acclaimed Donald Ross course. It was quiet at 4 PM on a Saturday and I thought it would be a good summer afternoon to play a stress free round. We cruised around the first 7 holes in 1:20. Then we hit a brick wall on the 8th tee. It took us 2:40 to play the last 11 holes. It was us catching the tee sheet that was chock full from 6 to 3. I cannot fault this course for being busy. It is fun to play and in very good condition. You can see where they have been upgrading several tee boxes and how careful all of the mowing is. The par 5's are somewhat short, but they have nuances. The 2 on the front both have blind water hazards that you have to be aware of. There are several great par 4's of over 400 yards. The 13th is the only long par 3 and it features a treacherous green. In fact most of the greens have classic Ross traits. Large sweeping curves, hidden slopes, false fronts and crowns, that make it imperative that you avoid certain sides of the greens. The greens were slow for us, but if they had been faster, people who have been 4 or 5 putting frequently. They were a lot of weekend hackers out as one might expect. They may have been over matched, but they were having fun. I think. They rerouted the holes a few years back and the only drawback is that you end, we in the dark, on a bland par 3, which had a 2 group backup on it. I think the Marrone family which owns Wachusett knows what they are doing and will not hesitate to keep improving this masterpiece. I will come back soon and take another shot at it, but probably not a weekend afternoon.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Fair
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser

Public Donald Ross gem

This is a Donald Ross gem readily available for public play. It has a lot of the traditional Ross features, but in a moderately difficult rather than super challenging layout. It is Donald Ross for the masses!
The condition are good, leaning to very good.. They had air-rated the greens a few weeks ago. They should be in great shape in another week. Well worth the asking price.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Difficulty Moderate
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