The Best Public Golf Courses in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is home to more than 400 golf courses. The Bay State offers everything from challenging inland layouts to picturesque oceanside courses. At GolfLink, we cast a net over the state to find the best public courses in Massachusetts.
Miacomet Golf Course
| City | Nantucket, Massachusetts |
| Yardage | 6,890 |
| Rating/Slope | 73.6/128 |
| Peak Rate | $200 |
You might not associate Nantucket with public golf, but there is one public track on the island. Miacomet Golf Course stands among some of the most exclusive clubs in the state and doesn’t disappoint one bit.
Ralph P. Marble bought the land back in 1956 with hopes of making it a profitable cow pasture, but decided to turn it into a golf course instead. We’re glad he did because this links-style course is less than a mile from the ocean and is a blast to play. The greens range in size from 3,000 to 6,000 square feet and the fairways provide generous landing areas. Bunkers line just about every fairway and protect every green, so be sure your sand game is sharp before taking on Miacomet. Looking for a friendly wager amongst friends? We suggest the player who finds the fewest traps during the round wins the pot.
Miacomet is so good, the USGA hosted the 2021 U.S. Mid-Am there, and it's a fun and playable course for any golfer. It is on the pricey side, but we're still talking about Nantucket, afterall.
The Ranch Golf Club
| City | Southwick, Massachusetts |
| Yardage | 7,174 |
| Rating/Slope | 75/139 |
| Peak Rate | $100 |
If you’re looking for one of the best golf deals in all of New England, you have to head to the Ranch Golf Club. Damian Pascuzzo designed this public track which costs no more than $100 in peak summer months. For the rest of the season, you can play the course for as little as $70. Southwick is located just west of Springfield and is just minutes from the Connecticut border.
The course has very subtle topography changes that you sometimes don’t notice until you look back at the hole you just played. This is thanks to being located in the foothills of the Berkshires. It’s a bit off of the beaten path, but if you’re anywhere near the Ranch Golf Club you can’t pass up the opportunity to play it.
Crumpin-Fox Club
| City | Bernardston, Massachusetts |
| Yardage | 7,023 |
| Rating/Slope | 75.1/147 |
| Peak Rate | $125 |
We’re not sure if there’s another course in the U.S. named after a soda company, but we know Crumpin-Fox Club is the only one in Massachusetts. The name derives from Crump and Fox Sode Company, a local beverage maker in the mid-1800s.
Crumpin-Fox is a true championship layout that tests even the best amateur players. It has hosted many Massachusetts state golf events. It mixes in tree-lined fairways with small little crevasses that will take your golf ball to parts unknown. Just about every green is heavily guarded by bunkers and raised ever so slightly to make you second-guess your yardage. Roger Rulewich designed Crumpin-Fox, a longtime partner of Robert Trent Jones Sr. You can find many hints of RTJ in this course, namely its subtle difficulties and hole routing to give a beautiful flow to your round.
Farm Neck Golf Club
| City | Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts |
| Yardage | 6,815 |
| Rating/Slope | 72.8/135 |
| Peak Rate | $275 |
Farm Neck Golf Club is located on the northeastern tip of Martha’s Vineyard and is well worth a short ferry ride with your clubs in tow. A collaboration between Geoffrey Cornish, Bill Robinson and Patrick Mulligan sought to save this piece of land from over-development, a job well done if we must say. Farm Neck is such a treat, past U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have been known to tee it up there while on vacation.
You get a little bit of everything at Farm Neck, including heavily wooded areas, sprawling meadows, and marshland, all while being set just beside the ocean. It’s a truly unique experience that we can’t recommend enough. The setting is one thing, but navigating your golf ball around this course is another. Big hitters aren’t rewarded without the accuracy to accompany the yardage. Keep it in the fairways and you’ll really enjoy this beauty.
Pinehills Golf Club (Nicklaus and Jones)
| City | Plymouth, Massachusetts |
| Yardage | 7,243 (Nicklaus) 7,175 (Jones) |
| Rating/Slope | 75.2/135 (Nicklaus) 75.4/137 (Jones) |
| Peak Rate | $145 |
Plymouth is famous for U.S. history and folklore, depending on what you believe. The town was founded in 1620 and is the site of Plymouth Rock and a full-scale replica of the Mayflower II. What everyone in town can agree on, however, is that Pinehills Golf Club provides a pair of championship courses attached to legendary names.
The Nicklaus Course opened in 2002 and was designed by the Golden Bear’s son, Jack Nicklaus II. More than anything else, your iron game better be tuned up to score on this course. Tight windows, protected greens, and elevated surfaces await your approach shots.
The Jones Course opened in 2001, and was designed by “U.S. Open doctor” Rees Jones. If you play this course from the back tees, it’s as challenging as any Jones design out there. As you creep forward up tee boxes, however, it becomes more playable for all handicap levels.
No matter which side you play at Pinehills, don’t skip buying some merch in the clubhouse. Its pine tree with crossing golf clubs is one of the coolest logos in all of golf.
Granite Links Golf Club
| City | Quincy, Massachusetts |
| Yardage | 3,340 (Granite) 3,478 (Milton) 3,395 (Quincy) |
| Rating/Slope | 36.4/140 (Granite) 36.4/140 (Milton) 36.9/134 (Quincy) |
| Peak Rate | $165 |
Granite Links Golf Club is a semi-private facility in Quincy, 10 miles south of downtown Boston. The facility boasts 27-holes of championship golf and some great views of the Boston skyline while you’re navigating your way around.
Granite Links opened in 2003 and was designed by John Sanford. If you’re wondering what’s up with the name, Granite Links was built on an old New England rock quarry, which is a big reason the course takes the shape that it does. The 27-holes are made up of Granite, Milton, and Quincy nine holes. Statistically, Granite/Milton is the most difficult combo you can play, but locals and visitors will attest that all 27 challenge every club in your bag.
Red Tail Golf Club
| City | Devens, Massachusetts |
| Yardage | 7,006 |
| Rating/Slope | 72.7/135 |
| Peak Rate | $80 |
Red Tail Golf Club is located just northwest of Boston in the city of Devens. The area is best known for housing the U.S. Military reserves, but it’s also home to Red Tail Golf Club. This is a sneaky good track that deserves a place on any top course list for the greater-Boston area.
Brian Silva did a fantastic job allowing this course to simply flow with the natural landscape. You’ll encounter streams and ponds along the way as well as tall grasses and sandy areas. Wooded areas are made up of tall birch and maple trees, which shape this coastal-feeling layout. The course is named after the native red-tailed hawks, which you are basically guaranteed to see plenty of when you play here.
The Massachusetts Golf Scene
Massachusetts has a lineage of golf history which can be drawn back to the oldest course in the state, The Country Club in Brookline, which unfortunately, you probably can't play. The course was founded in 1854 and is one of the founding charter clubs of the USGA. The Country Club has hosted four U.S. Opens, including in 2022 when Matt Fitzpatrick won, and the classic 1913 U.S. Open won by local amateur Francis Ouimet. It was also home of the infamous 1999 Ryder Cup where the U.S. stormed back on Sunday to defeat the European team.
Professional golfers to come out of Massachusetts include Paul Azinger, Keegan Bradley, Scott Stallings, Peter Uihlein, and Francis Ouimet.