January 2022
Friends of Putterham,
Happy New Year! While the freshness of this year is still ripe, I wanted to reach out to welcome you to perhaps the most exciting year in the existence of our beloved golf course. While 2021 featured historic weather events and numerous course closures, I believe the greatest takeaway from last year was our focus on steady and persistent improvement even through the most challenging of days. Now, we enter a really exciting time, and 2022 has the opportunity to be the most exciting year in my career.
For those who haven’t heard the exciting news, we have retained the services of golf course architect Mark Mungeam to develop a master plan for our golf course. Mark brings an extensive career of knowledge and experience to draw from as he develops a plan to bring our golf course into the modern century. We have significant challenges with the functionality of the golf course, consistency of aesthetics, and accessibility hurdles to address. Mark and his team of talented professionals will recommend a plan that is best suited to meet our goals and provide long-term direction on how to address these challenges. The Town of Brookline has put together a Design Review Committee focused on the development of this master plan, consisting of four Park and Recreation Commissioners and three residents of the Town. This committee will be meeting frequently through the rest of winter and into spring, working through the development process. Please join our meetings and provide any insight, ideas, and feedback through the public comment portion of each meeting. To see the meeting schedule, minutes, and agendas, please visit our website, under the Community heading.
2022 will also be historic for the Town of Brookline as we welcome the U.S. Open to The Country Club during the month of June. While the event will be conducted from June 13th -19th, the impact from the Open will begin at our golf course on June 1st. We will be playing an integral role for the USGA as we support event logistics from the grounds of our golf course: parking on holes 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 11; public safety headquarters in the clubhouse; and media parking and logistics on holes 14 and 15. While the scale and scope of this may scare some of you based on previous experience, I’m choosing to look at it as a generational opportunity. Our agreement with the USGA guarantees the restoration of all used areas to be as good as, if not better than, before the championship. From your patronage of our golf course, you are likely familiar with these areas, and I think we can all agree that all of these areas could be better… this event gives us this opportunity to make that happen! For a great resource of information on the US Open, please visit www.brooklinema.gov/usopen . This website is maintained and updated as new information is released.
While you may share my excitement about the Open, you may also have concerns about how this affects your ability to enjoy our golf course. Beginning June 1st, the golf course will begin to modify its routing and likely consolidate to a 9 hole routing for a few days and then eventually close completely to facilitate the championship. After the completion of the championship, our property will receive top priority to begin the restoration. I would be naïve to think this will be a short process, but we are actively working with Mark Mungeam to create a plan for these restorations and possibly test some functionality concepts after the Open. The amount of investment made will be more than the total investment of the past 5 years. I will ask in advance for your patience while we take this opportunity to invest in the course we all love and give it the proper chance to repair. My goal will be to have a majority of the golf course open by mid-July at the latest, weather likely the biggest variable.
In the fall, as we get ready to unveil the golf course landscape master plan, we’ll be engaged with another architectural firm that will be creating a similar master plan for the clubhouse and surrounding areas. This is truly exciting because the potential for improvement exists all over the property. Just like the golf course plan, we’ll be sharing those meetings with all of you.
In closing, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our culinary partners at Hemlock Grill, who recently have been awarded a 10-year contract to provide food & beverage for the golf course. The team at Hemlock is truly focused on creating a culinary experience that exceeds expectations and proves to become a neighborhood destination. Their creativity, consistency, and culture will permeate through everything they do and will only enhance the experience at Brookline Golf Course.
To ensure you continue to have the most up-to-date information about the course status and our plans, as well as special deals and promotions, I invite you to sign up for our Email Club. To register, click here.
As always, thank you for your patronage. My team and I look forward to the opportunity to welcome you to the 2022 season.
Warmest regards,
Justin Lawson, PGA
General Manager
