Course number 69 was Presidents Golf Course in Quincy, MA.
I’ve seen this course from my car while driving up 93 numerous times. I’ve heard about this course from many people. Somehow, this was my first time playing it.
The vibe is low key, the clubhouse is old, the hot dogs are boiled, the golf course is a scruffy underdog that just can’t seem to break through and probably never will.
The course feels tight and compact, with greens and tees seemingly everywhere. The routing is odd but they somehow get a par 70 out of it.
Off the tee it can feel like corridors are tight, but they aren’t. However, missing wide makes it hard to negotiate approach shots due to tricky, massive bunkers, which are the best feature on the course.
The strength of the course, in my mind, is the middle stretch. Holes 5-12 run through the property that doesn’t feel like it’s on the side of a hill or pressed up against a road or traversing a body of water.
The 5th hole is a reachable par 5 with a blind tee shot and a downhill approach to a big green guarded by bigger bunkers.
The eleventh is spectacular looking. A drivable par 4 with a green on a plateau that pockmarked with bunkers. It feels tight from the tee because the reeds block your view of the fairway.
I wish there wasn’t a par 70 fetish when it comes to golf courses. The land that Presidents is on could be great if it was par 68. The 15th is the worst hole in the state, there are other contenders for sure. It would be a cool par 4, instead of par 5. But it’s an absolute mess.
Presidents is a quintessential public course. Considering it was 45 bucks to walk and is 20 minutes from my house, it’s a place I’d return to when the traffic looks clear. But if traffic is heavy and the tee sheet looks busy, not sure I’d make the trip.