Review: Butter Brook Golf Club (Part 1)

Well, it's that time of year again. Vacation time. Two years ago it was Connecticut. Last year it was upstate New York. This year? Boston. Sort of. It wouldn't be a proper family golf trip if we didn't spread the golf far and wide. Sure, the states in New England are small, but we managed to hit courses in four different states during our trip. And quite a trip it was, my brothers and I played seven courses, though I'll admit that two of those seven were nine hole courses.

We begin our tour of the majority of New England close to Boston (what a concept), with a course we actually played late in the week. Butter Brook Golf Club is a bit northwest of the city, maybe an hour from downtown. It's a quiet place, well forested. The course was built in the mid 2000s by Mark Mungeam; while this is the first solo design of his that I've played, he did the rerouting and new holes at Shennecossett back in the late 1990s when they did their land swap with Pfizer. This course isn't much like Shennecossett, surprisingly enough. But is it good? Let's find out.

The first hole is a par 5 that really sets the stage for what you'll be seeing for most of the round. The fairway is wide, but it's lined with tall trees. The ideal drive is a gentle draw aimed at the fairway bunker on the outside of the dogleg. From there, you can either lay up over the second rightside fairway bunker, away from the bunker on the left side, or you can go for the green. It's not a big target, but there's plenty of room on the right side to miss. This isn't a tough hole, so it's a good chance to start with a birdie.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is a short par 4, only 315 yards. It's not quite driveable, so if you're a longer hitter, you can either lay up with a long iron, or challenge the small ravine left of the fairway to get close to the green. The fairway does narrow up quite a bit once you get past 200-225 yards from the tee, so that's something to keep in mind if you do decide to go for the bold play. The green has a single small bunker to the left, and is as undulating as the first green.

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is a very short par 3, playing just 135 yards. Butter Brook actually has two short par 3s, which is a nice touch. This one has a long, narrow green with a big bunker to the left. You wouldn't the two bunkers short of the fairway wouldn't come into play, since you'd have to chunk your tee shot really bad to find one of them. Guess what I did? Anyway, I'm sure this is a good hole if you play it somewhat close to correctly.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is a mid-length par 4, and it looks a bit intimidating when you're standing on the tee. There's not a lot of fairway visible, but rest assured, there's more hole hiding over that fairway bunker, which isn't actually in play, and more fairway to the left. It's actually a pretty easy tee shot, and it's not tough to get into a decent position to attack the green, which is the most interesting part of this hole. It's a very long green, and falls significantly from back to front in a series of waves. You won't want to be above the hole, and you won't want to find the bunkers that flank the green, since they're quite deep.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The long and undulating fourth green.

The fifth hole is the second short par 3 at Butter Brook, and oddly enough, it's literally exactly the same length as the third hole. Fortunately, this hole does play differently to the third. Your eye may be drawn to the small section of exposed rock short and right, but the bunker left of the green is a much more pressing matter. That said, the green does slope from right to left, so it may actually be easier to recover from the left than from the right.

The fifth hole.

The sixth hole is a fairly long par 4, by far the longest on the front nine. That's not saying much though, since there are only three. The hole is 435 yards long, and that isn't made any easier by the drive, which is tricky. That bunker on the left really narrows the fairway right where you want to land the drive. If you can carry the bunker, the fairway is quite wide. The green is partially blind and protected by a big bunker short.

The sixth hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a fairly long par 5 at 550 yards, though it's nothing compared with what we'll see soon. This is quite a hole, and unusual for a par 5 in that it gives you something to think about on every shot. Off of the tee, there's a fairway bunker right and left, both eating into the fairway. There's dense forest lurking left as well. If you do hit the fairway, there's another bunker on the left side about 125 yards from the green that you need to carry to give yourself the best shot into the green. The third shot is slightly downhill into a small depression; the green is fairly undulating and punchbowl-like.

The seventh hole.

Approaching the seventh green.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is the third par 3 on the front nine, which is a nice touch. Too many courses go with the standard two par 3s and 5s, this one has three of each par. This hole, playing 170 yards, has a touch of Redan about it. The green is gently sloped from right to left, and with the bunkers short and left, you definitely want to hit a draw into this green, and it may not be a great idea to go straight at the flag. 

The eighth hole.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is a very, very long par 5 at 620 yards. Now, maybe I'd be more in favor of this hole if we hadn't started on the back nine. That made this the last hole of the day, and let me tell you, playing a hole this long at the end of the round is not my idea of a fun time. But let's look at the hole in isolation. You definitely want to hit a draw off of the tee; going too far to the right brings in the tree line. There aren't any bunkers to worry about, which is something. The same goes for the second shot, which is less good. Basically you need two brute force shots just to give yourself a decently short third. That third shot is the interesting shot, hit over a long bunker to a medium-sized green. 

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.