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The last time I played Franklin Park, in the 1990's, the place was a mess. Fairways were scratchy, tee boxes were awful, greens were highly irregular, and sand traps were, well, not very sandy.

What a great renovation they have done with this place. We played today when it was close to 100 degrees in Boston. But it was windy enough so it didn't feel that bad--and while there were others on the course, clearly some were scared off.

The course is set in a very large park area. It is mostly an open area, with rough and areas of fescue. Many fairways appear open, but others wind through rough and meadows. Everything, including the greens, was in great shape--maybe a couple of tee boxes were a bit off but the greens and fairways were great. There are a lot of really interesting holes and none that I thought were really badly designed.

Players who hit the ball a long way may be a bit frustrated. No par 5s on the front nine and the blues and whites were together on many holes. But for us (two hackers in our mid-sixties), there were only a few holes on which par was clearly not gonna happen when we stepped to the tee. Not a lot of sand traps, but there are some small greens. And going into the rough or fescue can make life much more difficult.

The scenery was really lovely and seemingly wild, though the course sits next to a busy urban street. There is a new, large clubhouse with a real pro shop and a lunch area. I hope to play there again--because there were so few people on the course and because it was in such lovely shape, it was one of the best golf experiences I've had in awhile.

There are some negative comments below--I think they all go back to some years ago, before the City of Boston put some real money into renovating this course. This is a truly fun, interesting, attractive, and challenging place to play.

I played the Renaissance for a tournament, so we had a day with no waiting and no greens fees--all good. But it's truly a lovely, distinctive, and challenging golf course. A fair number of long holes, with dog legs, plenty of water, forced carries, and lots of sand. Some dramatic elevations--one par 3 was about 175 but played straight uphill so it played more like 200 yards. Almost all the greens and fairways in good shape. We took carts--would be a tough place to walk. Has some of the feel of a links course. Fine place to play and I'd be happy to go back.

This course, as others noted, has a checkered history. It was a demanding 18 that opened at the wrong time, and the course went into bankruptcy. It's now a 9 hole course, with some of the holes significantly re-designed and combined. Conditions were very good today, save for one or two greens. It's generally narrow, and I played it from the black tees, when I'm normally a white tee guy. So it was challenging. Lots of elevation changes, narrow fairways, some unusual mounding and design elements. I'm sure that I'd like it more if I played it more often to get a better sense of how to play certain holes--and playing the whites would help. But while it's an interesting course, and is not full of golfers so things move right along, it's not a particularly lovely or enticing course.

Stow South, happily, is doing better. It went through a period when pace of play was brutal. Then it went through a period when conditions deteriorated. New management has come in, and they have put money into improving the place. And they are keeping people on track. Greens were in excellent shapes. Most of the fairways were fine, though some scratchiness. Pace of play was fine. Bunkers (of which I saw many) were in good shape. The course has a mix of wide-open and narrow holes. It also has three or four holes with very funky designs--10 for a start, but 16 is the worst. But in general a good course that is getting some of its mojo back, and the greens fees are fair. All in all, a good experience.

HIghly enjoyable course. Four of us played with handicaps of 5, 12, 19, and 29, and we all truly enjoyed ourselves. Course in excellent shape. Only one or two greens off a bit. Some truly memorable holes. Lots of elevations changes. Picturesque area, well designed holes, good conditions, brisk pace of play. All good and a course we'd gladly play again.

Red Tail still stands as a unique course in Massachusetts. It has many distinctive and dramatic holes. Lots of elevation changes, dramatic use of waste areas, greens perched on sides of hills--in one case an old quarry. Fairways are often wider and more generous then we typically see in New England, but there are bunkers aplenty, deep swale, steep drop-offs next to greens, and lots of large, sloping greens. There have been times when the course maintenance has seemed to slip, but today it was lovely and in good shape. And even with strong, gusting winds today, we had a great day on the course today.

The previous version of Ballymeade was a design nightmare for most of us hackers. The new Cape Club course looks much better and is far more enjoyable to play. The course is much less penal and has a lot of both interesting and lovely holes. If the wind is up, as it can be on the Cape, then it becomes both lovely and a lot more challenging. They are still working the kinks out here. No carts allowed in fairways, which meant a a lot of back and forth. Some GPS foibles. There are still some hidden perils. For example, on the 9th hole, there is water in front of the green on a par 5, but you can't see it from the fairway until you're relatively close to it--so just take a look ahead as much as you can. They've done a nice job improving this course, with new tees and new greens. It will take another year or two for everything to be fully settled, but it's a big step forward from where the course was. It's not a cheap course to play, but the value will be there in time.

Shenny is an old, quirky, unique, lovely course--not perfectly manicured, not long, not all the tee boxes in great shape. But it makes for a delightful day of golf. You start off hitting over a road, then you hit over a railroad line. Then there's the elevated mound with the green on top on number four. Meanwhile, there are very few trees and the place is wide open, with two holes near the end on the water--just a lovely finishing view. The front nine is a bit more interesting than the back, but there's challenge around the back nine greens. The conditions are not always perfect--hey, it's a public course. But in the winter, when I can only dream about golf, Shenny is the course I dream about playing.

I'd actually rate this as 3.5 stars, because there are a few very memorable holes. The Riverside course offers interesting holes, a few of which are quite difficult but fair. Lots of elevation changes, some small greens, and enough water to make life very interesting. Numbers 11 and 17 are particularly memorable and challenging. While there are plenty of trees on the course, most of the fairways are reasonably wide open. The greens are in good shape and don't have a lot of undulation or difficult breaks. Course conditions can vary--I've seen fairways burned out in one year when a drought was on, but this time around, everything was in very good shape.

Butter Brook is typically kept in lovely condition, and today was no exception. The fairways are in very good shape and the greens were very nice. Often the fairways adjacent to the green were also quite tight, allowing us to use putters off the green, not always true on public courses in New England.

The front nine is tighter than the back nine. Many holes are akin to target golf--not a lot of margin for error on many holes, and twisting, narrow fairways on the front nine with a few more wider ones on the back. Finishes with two demanding holes. Interesting, testing course.

Trull Brook provides lovely settings, entertaining golf, and occasional questions about what they were thinking when they build the place. I play there a few times a year and it's almost always in very good shape. Not a long course. Lots of ups and downs, lots of doglegs, big greens with some that have tougher pitches. The elevation changes provide some challenging shots and some lovely views, particularly down to the adjacent river. There are a few funky holes on the back nine--10 and 11 both feature big drops, and 14 has no decent landing area. But despite the ups and downs and twists and turns, the fairways are generally wide enough to accommodate the changes, and the lack of length makes the course a bit easier despite some of of the design challenges. Since it's a muni, can get slow on the weekend, but they try to keep things moving along. Well worth a visit.