One hole I liked from each Oct. round

+ Club Pro from Cape Cod earns Champions Tour Status

Author

Sean Melia
November 01, 2024

Hey Everyone,

It’s November. Whoa… feels like just yesterday I was getting ready for my first round of 2024. Now the rounds are dwindling, but it’s been an incredible stretch of weather for golf.

If you’re looking for some discount golf, I pulled together some courses around New England that have some great shoulder season rates. Read it here.

Over the last two months, I have put more time into this newsletter in hopes to add more value and feed the golf sickos (that’s you) with more writing and videos about Bay State Golf.

If you would like to support my work, you can become a Supporter or Founder of Bay State Golf. Those folks can read all my posts, including early access to course reviews, a quarterly video, the ability to comment on posts, and more. I

f that’s a bridge too far; I am working on a 2025 desk calendar with original photos from this past year. A great gift that will be delivered by early December. Pre-Order here for $35.

November is the month of gratitude (and a few stolen rounds of golf…), and I am grateful that you have opened this newsletter and have chosen to let me into your email inbox whether you’ve been here for five years or five hours.

Let’s get to this week’s business.

News and Notes:

Cape Cop Amateur: The Cape Cod Amateur straddles two weekends, stroke play qualifying and the Round of 32 happened last week. The Round of 16 gets going on Saturday morning at Hyannisport Club. Ricky Stimets shot a 67 to earn medalist honors but lost to Hyannisport member Jake Peacock in 22 holes in the Round of 32. Live scoring.

Nick Macarrio representing East in East West Cup: In a rather new event where players from East and West, as delineated by the Mississippi River, compete at Maridoe in Dallas. It starts on Nov. 1. Here’s the website.

New England Interscholastic HS Golf: Maine’s Jack Quinn shot a 67 at Mohegan Sun to win the boys’ competition. New Hampshire’s Carys Fennessy shot 1-under to win the girls’ competition for the second year in a row. Fennessy also won four NH Girls’ State titles. Just an incredible career.

Club Pro Jason Caron earns Champions Tour Card: Jason Caron was born on Cape Cod and is the head pro at Mill River Club on Long Island. Incredibly, he has earned status on the PGA Tour Champions for next year after a 3rd place finish in last week’s Simmons Bank Championship launched him inside the top 35 in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup. Over the course of the season, Caron played in nine events, recording four top-five finishes. Caron is married to Connecticut Golf Hall of Famer Liz Janangelo Caron, who once held the women’s NCAA scoring record with a 62 and as the ACC Player of the Year as a sophomore at Duke.

If you are interested in a golf trip, I have partnered with The Golf Trip Guys, who are running a Hilton Head golf trip in April. It’s called the Spring Training Classic. Co-founder Sean Toland joined me on this week’s podcast (watch on YouTube).The trip is a great opportunity to shake off the rust before next year’s season and meet some new people. Grab a friend and book this fun trip. Details.

A favorite hole from each of the seven courses I played in October

It's hard to imagine a better October to play golf. Incredible warmth and bright foliage made for some exceptional golf throughout the state. The conditions were superb, the fairways and greens had that "thump" to them.

This month, I made two trips to Western Massachusetts to play golf and checked off some courses closer to Boston. In total, I played seven different courses.

Just like I did in September, I am picking out one hole from each course that I really liked. This week's newsletter also includes a link to a YouTube video where I recap my entire month of golf.

Taconic - 13th Hole - 403 yards

The back nine at Taconic is one of the best in the state. An exceptional set of holes all the way through. The 13th runs along the edge of the property that slopes left to right. Out-of-bounds runs along the left side, and edging closer to that boundary with the tee shot gives a better view of the raised green. Most balls will collect down to the right side of the hole, leaving an awkward, tough uphill shot with the ball below the player’s feet to a long, skinny green.

The view from the green is exceptional, and it’s a hard green to putt. Gil Hanse did some work here, softening the putting surface and filling out a trough that ran along the left side of the green.

Quaboag CC - 7th Hole - 241 yards

I’ve called this hole “hilariously bad” because the tee shot is just bonkers. Players can hit a 150-yard shot and have less than 100 yards into the green. A creek runs across the hole, making it hard for shots in the 175-200 yard window to stay dry. Trying to reach the green is also an option. It’s sitting on a slight mound, which means inaccurate shots can bounce away from the green and down to low points.

Given it’s the 7th hole and the tee box is in the shadow of the clubhouse, it also creates a bit of drama. Would be a great matchplay hole.

The Ranch - 6th Hole - 380 yards

A lot of options at The Ranch, and depending on someone’s preference, 18 different golfers could each pick a different hole. The 6th hole is a short par 4 that, after playing it once made me realize the lines and visuals off the tee are like a funhouse mirror. Playing it safe along the left side of the hole and away from the bunker guarding the dogleg is one option. It leaves a good downhill view into the green, but woods line the left side and can create issues.

There is more room right than it appears from the tee box. There are trees that act as an aiming line, but it’s position in relation to the right bunker is very different once a player is down in the fairway. Hitting the tee shot over the bunker is the aggressive player, but it’s less aggressive after understanding the design of the hole. However, the narrow green guarded by a bunker is tough to hit from 150 yards and from 60 yards.

Furnace Brook - 3rd Hole - 365 yards

A good hole with two shots that capture the golfer’s attention. The tee shot needs a bit of accuracy, as trees line the right side, and a slope along the left can send balls down toward the 6th green. The more offline the tee shot, the tougher the shot into the perched-up green becomes. I do wish the slope in the middle of the fairway at about 240 yards was fairway instead of rough, but that’s probably an issue more connected to maintenance, as it’s tough to mow those types of areas.

The green is benched into a hill. A big tree and bunker guard the right side and long shots get caught on a downhill slope. Par is tough to make from off this green, and then once on the green, it has some slopes that make putting tough, especially if players have to putt across the green. It is actually a similar green to the 17th at George Wright.

Cape Club of Sharon - 1st Hole - 507 yards

A lot of non-descript holes at CC of Sharon. The first hole, which was the 9th hole in my scramble round, was a strong par 5. A creek runs across the fairway, it’s not quite reachable from the back tees, but it can make layups tough for players who hit wayward tee shots into the trees or on the edge of the treeline.

The green complex is one fo the better ones on the course. Bunkers protect the front left side of the green, and players can avoid trouble by playing down the right side or leaving their ball near the front of the green to make birdie or par.

Hillview GC - 17th Hole - 241 yards

Who doesn’t love a drivable par 4! The great part about this hole is that the green is tough to hold with a drive. It’s uphill, so the ball is coming in lower and there’s bunker and slope in the front. There’s no real way to roll the ball on. You have to hit it high or feel comfortable hitting a shot from the deep bunker in the front or a chip shot from the back of the green.

Skilled players could play the hole differently depending on the hole location. Pins in the back might be easier to access from the fairway with a wedge, while a front pin is easier to chip to from the back of the green.

Like the 17th at Franklin Park, the hole is in a great spot on the course. Unlike Franklin Park, which ends with a par 5, Hillview finishes with a par 3. So matches can turn very quickly late in the round.

Pine Meadows - 9th Hole - 162 yards

I find a par 3 closer on a short course more palatable than one at a course like Boston Golf Club. Maybe that’s because a course like Pine Meadows doesn’t need some grand crescendo, whereas Boston Golf Club “owes” more to a player. A downhill par 3 over water is kind of the perfect way to wrap up a par 35 and settle a match. I also like that this 162-yard hole is downhill. All the trouble is right there to try to avoid.

Full video on my October golf

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When I’m not golfing…

I’m reading…

☕️ Starbucks is slipping… I’ve noticed it myself in my neighborhood. It’s not a place to go and hang out anymore. It’s a de facto fast food joint. NYTimes looks at why Starbucks is losing customers.

I’m listening to…

👂️ I liked this Bill Simmons pod, especially the back half with Kirk Goldsberry about the NBA’s opening week.

I’m eating…

  • Strawberry Pop-Tarts

  • Sweet Green’s Carmelized Garlic Steak was delicious. Can’t remember the last time I had Sweet Green.

  • Monument (our favorite spot in Charlestown) has a new sweet potato and black bean wrap/burrito. Insanely delicious.

I’m watching…

  • Love is Blind might be one of the most perfect background TV shows of all time.

  • While the Red Sox refuse to invest in their team and are completely unwatchable, I loved watching playoff baseball. I’m happy Mookie Betts has another World Series. Maybe, just maybe, the Yankees winning the American League might light a fire under John Henry… but probably not…

  • Speaking of the Red Sox, I watched the first episode of The Comeback on Netflix, which covers the Red Sox and Yankees in 2003 and 2004. Very emotional to see Tim Wakefield on the screen, especially after giving up the walk-off homer to Aaron Boone in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

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