Winchendon Golf Club
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About
Editor's Note: Course closed for business in Feb 2017.
Opened in 1921, Winchendon Golf Club (formerly known as Winchendon School Golf Club) has remained almost untouched since Donald Ross redesigned the course in 1926. The classic design is only 5,512 yards from the back tees. Though it may be shorter than most modern courses, it is no less challenging. The layout is narrow with hilly fairways and small, undulating greens. You'll need to have an accurate short game in addition to creative shot-making skills. Local knowledge of the hilly terrain comes in handy when attempting to overcome the golf course's many tricky lies. Without any homes bordering the fairways, golfers can enjoy scenic vistas of the New England countryside. The third and seventh tees provide a particularly stunning view of Mt. Monadnock in the distance. Winchendon Golf Club is especially worth playing in the fall when a vibrant wash of red, orange, and gold colors the landscape.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blue | 70 | 5512 yards | 67.5 | 121 |
White | 70 | 5348 yards | 66.9 | 117 |
Red (W) | 72 | 4856 yards | 70.1 | 122 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White M: 67.8/122 | 278 | 409 | 242 | 280 | 242 | 231 | 211 | 175 | 314 | 2382 | 472 | 385 | 376 | 377 | 372 | 285 | 161 | 502 | 165 | 3095 | 5477 |
Red W: 70.5/124 | 262 | 343 | 233 | 270 | 227 | 219 | 196 | 170 | 293 | 2213 | 424 | 359 | 366 | 365 | 285 | 277 | 147 | 482 | 145 | 2850 | 5063 |
Handicap | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | |||
Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 34 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 70 |
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Reviewer Photos
Closed Ross Course
Course was short with wonderful old Ross greens. Sad that it closed.
Good course that is fun to play
Great course that was not crowded. Great staff! Good food. Strongly recommend.
Rough Shape in August
Tee boxes and fairways in tough shape, greens were better. Front 9 is very short with a strange design, back 9 is longer and better. Hitting through crabgrass on most tee boxes was not enjoyable. Driving a cart on some of the fairways was very bumpy. Some of the fairways were completely burnt out so you were hitting off or landing on cement like surfaces. Would not return. Not many people out so 18 holes went quickly thankfully.
Fun round
The course is short and quirky, but considering the lack of rain the course was in decent shape. If the course was busy I could see it being a pain, but golfers were spread out and had a great round.
Terrible Conditions!
Beat up tees, rocky and barren fairways, and greens that putt like a shag carpet. There are a few interesting holes here (it does claim a Donald Ross pedigree after all) but the awful conditions detract from every part of the game. Poor Donald must be rolling over in his grave. The one saving grace is that it is a really short course so you don't have to put up with it for too long.
Great Price, Few rough holes
I really enjoyed playing here, the staff was very friendly and helpful. I was a little confused at times where the next tee was, however the staff pointed me in the right direction. The 13th and 14th hole look like they let the cows eat the grass at night... that's the only Con I suppose.
Fall Golf in New England
On a cool fall day we had a great time playing the Winchendon course. Leaves in the fairways or near the woods were not a problem. The grounds crew had done an outstanding job of clearing them out.
After a nice round we enjoyed a beverage and an order of Buffalo Chicken tenders, which I would highly recommend!
All the staff was extremely friendly and courteous.
Check it out!
Goody
Donald Ross Beauty but Getting Old
If you like Donald Ross the golf course designer then you'll LOVE these greens. Quick, many false fronts and in GREAT shape. The rest of the course is very tough. Many, many boulders coming up through the fairway plus you'll need to ride your golf cart like a jockey on the horse or you will need a chiropractor later.
Some very tough par 3's and short nearly driveable par 4's. At full price this is way overpriced for my liking. Through Last Minute Golf it was fantastic.
Challenging Greens
When a golf course has limited resources, the majority of those resources should be spent on the quality of the greens. This is obviously the philosophy at this course. Tee boxes and fairways are below average but the greens more then make up for it. With the exception of a couple of winter damaged greens, they had a challenging, consistent fast pace. As good as courses costing 3X more.
Horrible course, not worth the money!
This course is horrible! I played there in a foursome recently and the course conditions were the worse I've played. The fairways are hard as rock, with patchy grass...the tee boxes are the same and the greens are very inconsistent, slow and bumpy. The worse part is we reserved a discounted, prepaid tee time through golf18, that the golf pro decided to cancel...we received the cancelation call after we played the round! So full price paid $36 w/cart..deal was for $21 w/cart...course is not worth even the discount price!
Watch out for children
After waiting for a new cart because ours rain out of juice the school that the course plays around let out. There were young teens swinging clubs everywhere, taking huge divots for no reason, yelling, laughing and hitting drives at each other. To make matters worse, the cross country team RUNS THE GOLF COURSE, there was absolutely no way to concentrate due to the ever present fear of shaking a drive and killing one of them. The front 9 was in decent shape, besides being covered in leaves and pine needles. The greens were all pretty beat up and the tee boxes in some cases looked like they had been attacked with a garden spade. See comments above about children swinging clubs wildly. I will say however that the staff in the pro shop was extremely friendly. Also, when our cart died they replaced it as fast as they could. I know now that I will never golf at this place on a week day again, if ever.
two sides of the same coin
the front nine was very short and quirky. Nice conditions but very short. The second nine was very nice and made up for the short first 9. All in all a nice round at a famously designed course.
they mean tight!
A few of the greens were in rough shape. But overall the course was in pretty good shape.
When they say "short and tight", they mean it! And with a handful of blind shots, it's quite challenging. We enjoyed it!
Rick Rushia
A great day on the course with my Dad. No problem, just gave them my reservation form, they gave me a cart key and away I went. Clerk was very friendly. If you can hit the ball relatively straight, this is a very fun and challenging course to play. Do not miss this chance to take advantage of their special.
great day of golf
Good day of golf. First time for us at this course. Staff were very friendly, happy with pace of play, enjoyed the back 9 more than the front. All in all a good value and good golf!
Choppy greens
The front 9 was good. Back 9 was ruddy.. The greens need work.. Overall layout is nice. This course could use an infusion of love and tlc. Overall a fun day though and price was great booking with golf now.. Would not rush back though.
Washed Out
Booked a time in advance for July 4th. We got through about 6 holes and it started pouring buckets. We came in after 9 and were drenched. Granted, we could have asked for a credit for the other 9 but felt the staff should have recognized to close the course. Due to the fact that we pre-paid thru this site we felt obligated to press on. Would like to play this course in better weather. Very hard to write a true review based on those conditions.
Why it is called the golden age of golf architecture
A real fun course designed by Ross that fits perfectly into the surroundings. It is a reminder of what great golf architecture can be without bulldozers and ugly man made hazards. Pure golf.
Tale of two nines
Front nine is practically an executive course, but back nine, with elevation changes, is a genuine test, as are all of the par threes. Several greens have severe slopes that will cause some well-hit balls to run off. Four or five of the greens are in bad shape, bunkers need more sand, and the ground in teeing area is fairly hard. But for the price, you can't complain.