| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2026.1 | New England CC Description | CFSCTC::SCHOONMAKER | | Tue Jul 11 1995 15:30 | 142 |
| I've played NECC on a weekly basis for about 4 yrs now. 4-5 yrs ago the conditions were impeccable.
Just beautiful. They've gobe through some major financial problems there, going bankrupt a few
times. Apparently, they're putting money in it now, and you can tell. They've rebuilt some tees,
paved some cart paths, cut down trees, added some rangers, etc.
I played last thursday, and it was in OK shape. Nothing like 5 yrs ago, but certainly much better
than it's been in a long time. They still have a ways to go, though. It's a fun course, that
tests your accuracy and mental game. Do not expect to come away from this course feeling good
about your game. It is very unusualy for anyone to score well here the 1st few times out. A friend
of mine who's a club pro shot 90 the 1st time here, and 75 the 2nd.
Now for a hole-by-hole: (note, yardages are approximates, some are probably way off)
Hole 1: par 4 350-390 yds
Uphill off the tee, narrowish fairway. Don't miss the green left, since it will go down a
hill. Large bunker front left of green eats a large share of balls.
Hole 2: par 4 300-340 yds
As you're standing on the #1 tee, look at the green to your left, this is the 2nd green.
Pond in front of the green. A very short hole. Pond is reachable off the tee, especially
from the whites. Take a good look at fairway of #2 when on 1st hole.
Hole 3: par 3 140-155 yds
Nice par 3, big bunker front left. L shaped green.
Hole 4: par 5 470-500 yds
Easy par 5 if you play it right. 90 degree Dogleg left. You want to get your tee shot
to the corner. From the back tee area, it's a fairly long way. From the whites it's
probably only 190-210. From the corner, there's a straight shot to the green, which
is about 40-50' below the fairway, and 2-tiered. Good view of the 5th hole from the
fairway too.
Hole 5: par 3 122-143 yds
Uphill par 3. Double green with #7. This green was half replaced a year ago and
still is not there yet. A very tough green to putt, I've seen lots of 3putts and
a handful of 4putts on this green.
Hole 6: par 4 350-400 yds
Good hole. Straightaway. Don't go left, it's all trees and you'll have to chip
out to the fairway. Right isn't much better, but it's better. 2nd shot plays
about 2-3 clubs less than you would normally take because of the change in elevation.
Green won't hold much, not even balatas. Try to land it on the front, it will roll.
Aim left of the green, since if you go right of the green at all, you're ball will
most likely be lost in a sea of weeds/marsh.
Hole 7: par 4 330-360 yds
Straightaway. Bunker on left of green. fairly undulated.
Hole 8: par 4 340-390 yds
Great hole, one of the best on the course. Depending on the tee area, you have a
carry from as little as maybe 100 yds to about 180 to the fairway. The fairway is
narrow, and from the tips it looks like you gotta hit it about 250 to get there.
Elevated tees. 2nd shot is generally from about 130-160 yds, and it's a dogleg
right shot, over a small creek to a large green protected by a pot bunker "the magnet"
and has a pond behind the green. Another tough green to putt. Par is an excellent
score here! Bogey ain't bad either!
Hole 9: par 4 350-400 yds
Straight. The whole fairway slopes right to left, with the right being the high
side. Play a fade to the right side, since it will roll down. There's a couple
fairway bunkers on the left side that catch A LOT of balls. Big, nice green.
That was the easy side, now you're in store for some trouble...
Hole 10: par 5 480-520 yds
slight dogleg right par 5. biggish landing area off the tee. Very narrow
fairway from there on out. Marsh along entire left side. Very good hole.
Grass bunker on right side of green.
Hole 11: par 3 150-180 yds
Forced carry of maybe only 120-150 yds. Take an extra club. There's a bunker
behind the green, and I've never seen anyone in it. We're always short
here.
Hole 12: par 4 340-390 yds
great hole. Uphill, slight dogleg right. LARGE marsh in front of green.
Big green. Marsh has bullrushes and it makes the green almost undetectible
and screws up your distance bigtime. Gotta carry the green on this 2nd shot,
so if you have 160, make sure you got a club you can *carry* 155-160. Par
is a great score here.
Hole 13: par 4 320-410 yds
If you're playing the whites, you'll want to hit no more than 180 off the
tee since there's a marsh in front of the green. From the blues, go ahead
and hit driver. It's a downhill tee shot. Green doesn't accept balls very well.
Expect them to roll to back of green.
Hole 14: par 4 270-320 yds
Not a bad short par 4. Large bunker on right side in front of green down
fairway. Don't go long, right, or left on approach to green.
Hole 15: par 3 140-160 yds
Forced carry to green. Very elevated tee. Green is very wide. HUGE breaks
for putts that go from left side to right, or vice versa. Read the putts
from a couple angles on this hole.
Hole 16: par 4 340-390 yds
Marsh in front of green makes another forced carry on this hole. Put tee shot
so you have about 130-150 left to be safe. Marsh is reachable from the whites.
Don't go over this green, there's some nasty bunkers there. Good hole.
Hole 17: par 4 350-390 yds
Another great hole. Downhill tee shot. Aim left side, since most balls even
pulled badly will find their way to the fairway here. 2nd shot is a full forced
carry to the elevated 2 tier green. great, great looking hole from the 2nd shot.
Kind of reminds you of the 12th green at Augusta, I kid you not. par is great here!
Hole 18: par 5 480-500 yds
Not a particularly good finishing hole. It's ok, but not great. Dogleg left
Big fairway. 3rd shot to green don't go long. Couple of big bunkers guarding
green.
You'll see a practice area by the 18th tee. It's the future sight (it was anyway)
of the clubhouse. Once the new clubhouse is there, they'll probably renumber the
holes as they were once before, and clearly intended. The 18th hole will become
the 1st hole. The 8th will then become the 9th (good 9th hole). The 17th will
become the 18th (great finishing hole). Hopefully this will happen sometime in
our lifetime!
Let me know how the round went!
Eric
|
| 2026.2 | | USPMLO::DESROCHERS | Was this ignorance or bliss... | Tue Jul 11 1995 15:47 | 6 |
|
Thanks a million!!
Tom
|
| 2026.3 | .1 reformatted | STOWOA::ODIAZ | Octavio, MCS/SPS | Tue Jul 11 1995 17:20 | 155 |
| (Note .1 with less than 80 column margins)
I've played NECC on a weekly basis for about 4 yrs now. 4-5 yrs ago the
conditions were impeccable. Just beautiful. They've gobe through some
major financial problems there, going bankrupt a few times. Apparently,
they're putting money in it now, and you can tell. They've rebuilt some
tees, paved some cart paths, cut down trees, added some rangers, etc.
I played last thursday, and it was in OK shape. Nothing like 5 yrs ago,
but certainly much better than it's been in a long time. They still have
a ways to go, though. It's a fun course, that tests your accuracy and
mental game. Do not expect to come away from this course feeling good
about your game. It is very unusualy for anyone to score well here the
1st few times out. A friend of mine who's a club pro shot 90 the 1st
time here, and 75 the 2nd.
Now for a hole-by-hole: (note, yardages are approximates, some are
probably way off)
Hole 1: par 4 350-390 yds
Uphill off the tee, narrowish fairway. Don't miss the green left, since
it will go down a hill. Large bunker front left of green eats a large
share of balls.
Hole 2: par 4 300-340 yds
As you're standing on the #1 tee, look at the green to your left, this is
the 2nd green. Pond in front of the green. A very short hole. Pond is
reachable off the tee, especially from the whites. Take a good look at
fairway of #2 when on 1st hole.
Hole 3: par 3 140-155 yds
Nice par 3, big bunker front left. L shaped green.
Hole 4: par 5 470-500 yds
Easy par 5 if you play it right. 90 degree Dogleg left. You want to get
your tee shot to the corner. From the back tee area, it's a fairly long
way. From the whites it's probably only 190-210. From the corner,
there's a straight shot to the green, which is about 40-50' below the
fairway, and 2-tiered. Good view of the 5th hole from the fairway too.
Hole 5: par 3 122-143 yds
Uphill par 3. Double green with #7. This green was half replaced a year
ago and still is not there yet. A very tough green to putt, I've seen
lots of 3putts and a handful of 4putts on this green.
Hole 6: par 4 350-400 yds
Good hole. Straightaway. Don't go left, it's all trees and you'll have
to chip out to the fairway. Right isn't much better, but it's better.
2nd shot plays about 2-3 clubs less than you would normally take because
of the change in elevation. Green won't hold much, not even balatas.
Try to land it on the front, it will roll. Aim left of the green, since
if you go right of the green at all, you're ball will most likely be lost
in a sea of weeds/marsh.
Hole 7: par 4 330-360 yds
Straightaway. Bunker on left of green. fairly undulated.
Hole 8: par 4 340-390 yds
Great hole, one of the best on the course. Depending on the tee area,
you have a carry from as little as maybe 100 yds to about 180 to the
fairway. The fairway is narrow, and from the tips it looks like you
gotta hit it about 250 to get there. Elevated tees. 2nd shot is
generally from about 130-160 yds, and it's a dogleg right shot, over a
small creek to a large green protected by a pot bunker "the magnet" and
has a pond behind the green. Another tough green to putt. Par is an
excellent score here! Bogey ain't bad either!
Hole 9: par 4 350-400 yds
Straight. The whole fairway slopes right to left, with the right being
the high side. Play a fade to the right side, since it will roll down.
There's a couple fairway bunkers on the left side that catch A LOT of
balls. Big, nice green.
That was the easy side, now you're in store for some trouble...
Hole 10: par 5 480-520 yds
slight dogleg right par 5. biggish landing area off the tee. Very
narrow fairway from there on out. Marsh along entire left side. Very
good hole. Grass bunker on right side of green.
Hole 11: par 3 150-180 yds
Forced carry of maybe only 120-150 yds. Take an extra club. There's a
bunker behind the green, and I've never seen anyone in it. We're always
short here.
Hole 12: par 4 340-390 yds
great hole. Uphill, slight dogleg right. LARGE marsh in front of green.
Big green. Marsh has bullrushes and it makes the green almost
undetectible and screws up your distance bigtime. Gotta carry the green
on this 2nd shot, so if you have 160, make sure you got a club you can
*carry* 155-160. Par is a great score here.
Hole 13: par 4 320-410 yds
If you're playing the whites, you'll want to hit no more than 180 off the
tee since there's a marsh in front of the green. From the blues, go
ahead and hit driver. It's a downhill tee shot. Green doesn't accept
balls very well. Expect them to roll to back of green.
Hole 14: par 4 270-320 yds
Not a bad short par 4. Large bunker on right side in front of green down
fairway. Don't go long, right, or left on approach to green.
Hole 15: par 3 140-160 yds
Forced carry to green. Very elevated tee. Green is very wide. HUGE
breaks for putts that go from left side to right, or vice versa. Read
the putts from a couple angles on this hole.
Hole 16: par 4 340-390 yds
Marsh in front of green makes another forced carry on this hole. Put tee
shot so you have about 130-150 left to be safe. Marsh is reachable from
the whites. Don't go over this green, there's some nasty bunkers there.
Good hole.
Hole 17: par 4 350-390 yds
Another great hole. Downhill tee shot. Aim left side, since most balls
even pulled badly will find their way to the fairway here. 2nd shot is a
full forced carry to the elevated 2 tier green. great, great looking
hole from the 2nd shot. Kind of reminds you of the 12th green at
Augusta, I kid you not. par is great here!
Hole 18: par 5 480-500 yds
Not a particularly good finishing hole. It's ok, but not great. Dogleg
left Big fairway. 3rd shot to green don't go long. Couple of big
bunkers guarding green.
You'll see a practice area by the 18th tee. It's the future sight (it
was anyway) of the clubhouse. Once the new clubhouse is there, they'll
probably renumber the holes as they were once before, and clearly
intended. The 18th hole will become the 1st hole. The 8th will then
become the 9th (good 9th hole). The 17th will become the 18th (great
finishing hole). Hopefully this will happen sometime in our lifetime!
Let me know how the round went!
Eric
|
| 2026.4 | who else printed it out?? | USPMLO::DESROCHERS | Was this ignorance or bliss... | Tue Jul 11 1995 18:40 | 5 |
|
Oh ohhhh.... there goes my advantage... ;^)
Tom
|
| 2026.5 | | CFSCTC::SCHOONMAKER | | Tue Jul 11 1995 19:43 | 15 |
| What's the Maynard league playing?
Front/back? Blues/whites?
I play in a 16 person league, and periodically, especially when we play
back/blues it's not completely unusual for just a few people to come in under
50. We played back/white last week, and the low round was 44, and a couple
45s. Many high 40s, even more 50s, and even a few 60s+!
The tees on this course make all the difference in the world, especially on a
few of the holes.
A friend of mine is a 10 hdcp at Montaup CC in RI and he routinely shoots mid
to high 40s at NECC. Occasionally he'll eek out a 40-42.
Eric
|
| 2026.6 | | DPE1::LEMAIRE | | Wed Jul 12 1995 14:36 | 5 |
| Is there a driving range at NECC to hit a few balls before hitting the
1st tee?
Louise
|
| 2026.7 | Both | STOWOA::ODIAZ | Octavio, MCS/SPS | Wed Jul 12 1995 17:14 | 7 |
| Re: <<< Note 2026.5 by CFSCTC::SCHOONMAKER >>>
It'll be an 18 hole round and men will play both tees depending on
the league handicap. 0-12 (for nine) from the blues and the rest
from the whites.
Tavo
|
| 2026.8 | driving range at NECC | CFSCTC::SCHOONMAKER | | Wed Jul 12 1995 20:42 | 18 |
| Re: Note 2026.6 DPE1::LEMAIRE
There is a driving range; it's down by the 18th tee, or the new
clubhouse as I described in my original post. I think irons only
since it's not very long.
Re: Note 2026.7 STOWOA::ODIAZ
I think it's a good idea to put the higher hdcpers from the whites
at NECC. I will be real interested to hear how you make out. Supposed
to be about 100 degrees on Friday. They do have a drink-cart also.
2 guys in my group (not me!) almost took her head off with our tee shots
a couple weeks ago! I mean, a matter of 6-18 inches! Wow!
I'll be playing the front tomorrow night, as it turns out.
Eric
|
| 2026.9 | Quick report on outing | STOWOA::ODIAZ | Octavio, MCS/SPS | Mon Jul 17 1995 13:53 | 12 |
| Re: <<< Note 2026.8 by CFSCTC::SCHOONMAKER >>>
Well Eric, thanks for your tips on the course, they did help, but I
think the heat got the best of all of us. Low gross was 82 overall
and low net in the low handicappers was 75 and a wooping 61 in the
high handicappers. I came in with a 91, about 4 strokes above my
handicap.
I found NECC a good layout, and if they can get those greens in
better shape it would be a terrific course.
Tavo
|
| 2026.10 | I should have patronized the beer wagon. | DPE1::LEMAIRE | | Mon Jul 17 1995 17:54 | 7 |
| A punishing course for us high handicappers who can't routinely
carry 100-140 yards of marsh.
They must have a thriving side business in used balls.
Louise
|
| 2026.11 | It can be brutal. | CFSCTC::SCHOONMAKER | | Mon Jul 17 1995 18:08 | 22 |
| NECC is a very mental course. Especially on the back nine, where it
seems you're carrying marsh every hole. How about that 13th hole?
Massive bullrushes everywhere! It's a great hole, although I usually
walk off with 6 or 7 it seems.
I played a couple of high hdcpers in my league last week, and I had a
career round (front/blue) shooting a 3 over par, 38. They, on the
other hand, had career bad rounds shooting 62 and 67.
Last year (front/whites) I was 1 under after 3 holes. Made an eleven
on the par 5 4th hole. Parred 5, and finished with 8, 6, 9, and a 10.
It just all started downhill, and I couldn't stop it. Finished with a
56, even though I had 3 pars and 1 birdie.
This week we play back/blues and I'm going head-head with the best
golfer in the league. It could get ugly if I start out bad. And
starting out on that par 5, 10th hole is no treat. If I play OK, I
could shoot low 40s, if I start out bad, it could go into the 50s.
*dread*
Eric
|
| 2026.12 | Lonnnnng shots from the blues | STOWOA::ODIAZ | Octavio, MCS/SPS | Mon Jul 17 1995 18:25 | 13 |
| Re: <<< Note 2026.10 by DPE1::LEMAIRE >>>
Louise,
you should have taken a look at how it looked from the blues!!
I think the ones who also were punished were the male B flight
players who had handicaps 11 or lower for nine and usually play at
Stow from the whites and were asked to play the blues at NECC. Even
if they didn't mind playing from there, their handicaps didn't
reflect that level of dificulty.
Tavo
|
| 2026.13 | | USPMLO::DESROCHERS | Was this ignorance or bliss... | Tue Jul 18 1995 11:02 | 23 |
|
I completely agree with the difficulty of the course. My 70
year old parents had the same reaction after I sent them to
Shattuck a month ago. Of course, Dad refused to play from the
senior tee's so...
But, popular opinion aside, I loved the course and plan to play
there many more times this summer. We played Sky Meadow the day
before and I liked N.E. much more. It seemed far more natural.
Definitely harder too!
Btw, N.E. from the blues is about the same length as Stow North
from the whites.
And thanks a lot for the course description!!! It really, really
helped! An example was #6. I took 2 less clubs and hit to the
hill on the left and it ended up 10 feet from the pin.
This is a very challenging course!
Tom
|