Value & Atmosphere: 9.6
Condition: 8.9
Overall Score: 9.3
When we ask most greater Bostonians their favorite public course to play in the area, you definitely get a wide variety of answers. But, one definitely comes up more often than others and for some reason, Cam and I never made the trek to Hyde Park to tee it up at George Wright.
I was fortunate enough to play my first round with a few regulars including long time member Richie Driscoll. I say fortunate, because if you don’t know your way around this place you’ll find yourself in a lot of trouble. The first 2 holes open up with the “gentle handshake” as Richie described, only to be met with a monstrous par 5 third hole but tells you to put on your seatbelt for the rest of the round.
I don’t want to discourage higher handicaps or newer golfers from trying GW, just fair warning this isn’t a wide open field. In fact, this is the type of course you’re dying to take another shot at - each hole can be navigated to perfection if you know the intricacies.
The atmosphere is completely old school, felt like I was back in the early 2000’s strolling up for a tee time. The Norman-Style clubhouse is mesmerizing as you walk through to the first tee and truly exemplifies the character GW hosts.
We’re always searching for spots with true value for the conditions, and this course is top tier in that aspect. It is $62 for a non-resident to walk 18 holes on the weekend. This isn’t a stroll through the park, but I highly recommend hoofing it if you’re able - you’ll get such a better feel for what Donald Ross intended here.
What you might not know, is George Wright was a Hall of Fame baseball player who played for the Cincinnati and Boston Red Stockings in the 1800's. He became a prominent figure in the Boston area following his career.
The course was constructed in the late 1920’s with 60,000 pounds of dynamite and took an estimated $1,000,000 to complete by 1938. A few decades later, GW fell into rough shape and the land was considered for alternative use. Thankfully, in the late 80’s, things turned around and this beauty was restored to glory. The city of Boston took over operations in 2004 after years of contracted management.
To all of you who said “you have to go” and “it’s one of the best around”, you were right, and we thank you for your service. GW remains an institution, and respectfully earned one of Big Divots highest scores with a 9.3