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In the “Green Jewel” of Melrose, MA, Mt Hood Golf Course Shines
- Eric J. Mac Donald
- Dec 1, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 31, 2020
Formerly known as "Bear Hill," Mt. Hood Golf Course was finished in 1937 as a park for skiing and sledding in the winter with a 9-hole golf course to go with the many walking paths utilized in the summer. Surprisingly, it was part of the Work Progress Administration, designed to put American job seekers to work on public projects. Today, the golf course is managed by the Friel family, who are well known on the Muni Tour for one of their other golf courses, Green Meadow, in Nashua, NH.
Mt. Hood Golf Course features small greens and wide fairways. However, for longer hitters, the course will feel very short. There are numerous opportunities to attack the links from the many launch pads (elevated tees) set up to help shorter hitters. The course itself feels like it is designed with the shorter hitters of the golf ball in mind, rather than the long hitters. Even so, it is fun and interesting for either type of golfer to play.
While the fairways may appear to be generous, nothing outside of them will help the golfer. Most areas outside the fairways will not help the ball stay in play, nor will it be easy to play to the green from there. The importance is placed on hitting a good tee shot to the fairway. The naturalness of the golf course makes recovering from missed shots more difficult due to the thickness of the woods and rock outcroppings surrounding the golf holes.
At first glance, the course looks like it will be an easy day at the park. This course can quickly take away a good round and make it worse. It may come from the lost balls on blind shots or bad misses. However, it will not be from the bunkering as there is not much of it protecting the greens and fairways.
While the entire course is only 5,633 yards, it is a tougher walk than you would expect. There are 8 elevated tees with various changes in elevation. The fascinating use of the topography maintains an entertaining golfing experience. It feels a bit like a hike while golfing. The course sort of meanders around Mt. Hood instead of playing up and down (e.g.Apple Hill) or just on the side of Mt. Hood (e.g., Newton Commonwealth).
Conditions were quite good. The course did face a bit of trouble from the summer heat, browning out some areas. However, the course was able to come back from that and was looking healthy in the fall. Aesthetically there is plenty of green grass on the rolling hills of the fairways to help your ball moving along while the wildlife runs around the course. Two holes offer great views. The first hole is on the front side, the par 4, 8th hole, which has Stayton Tower located near the tee box. The tower was also used by the Army to watch for German U-boats. The par 4, 12th hole features a fantastic view of Boston as well.
Conditions: Overall, the conditions were up to par. The course was relatively clear of leaves in the fall, so golf balls were easy to find. Difficulty: Going by the numbers on the scorecard, the course is elementary to play for both scratch golfers and high handicappers. Practice Green: There are two practice greens located near the clubhouse. Value: The value is appetizing, as it is about $50 to play as a non-resident of Melrose. Range: There is no range located at the golf course. Wear a hard-hat: Most of the holes are well divided by trees, so you can leave the hard-hat at home or in the car.
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