Newton Commonwealth Golf Course

Had an early tee time but we weren’t the first out. Course layout was beautiful but the experience was completely ruined by the wet greens. Dry your greens please.

Short course with a lot of character on holes. Some greens were a little slow. No practice facilities, but staff more than makes up for it.
Had a great day right in the heart of Boston with three local guys. Couldn’t have asked for better

A great little public track in the middle of Newton. Several blind shots deeply sloping fairways right to left and left to right. No beverage cart during the week so make sure to bring plenty of your own refreshments as it’s hot and there’s no water anywhere to drink outside the main clubhouse.

Not your average golf course
A great Challenging 18!

It’s not long, but it has challenges especially the greens! Trees are everywhere (but rarely present a problem) which gives it a nice New England look especially in Autumn! Enjoy!

There's a great gang of folks that work here led by Albie, who does a fantastic job of listening to patrons and keeping everyone happy and the golf good. Great superintendent always has the course in great condition in spite of many seasonal challenges and moisture issues related to the steep incline that many holes sit upon. This course has a lot of history, being one of the oldest public courses in the nation, opened in 1897 and redesigned by Donald Ross, the course still holds a lot of his architectural influences, in spite of the course being shortened many decades ago after much of the course was awarded to Brighton and built-over in a land dispute (yes, this course was once over 7,000 yards easily, but what's more impressive is that they've maintained an 18-hole layout in a very urban setting on a small plot of land and kept it quite fun and interesting).
Strategy guide:
1. Always leave your ball below the hole on the greens (never chip/putt downhill if you can avoid it);
2. You may not even need a driver if you hit the ball long enough;
3. 5 is a fantastic score on the 2nd hole that plays so much longer than its stated yardage and demands a ridiculously tough tee shot (ideal shot shape is right-to-left for the best chance of avoiding the creek that crosses the fairway from 4 o'clock-to-11 o'clock by staying short of it and playing this as a 3-shot hole)
4. CALL FORE! - THERE ARE SO MANY BLIND SPOTS, JUST ASSUME SOMEONE IS NEAR YOUR SHOT AND SAVE THEIR LIFE, PLEASE (or wear a helmet here, as the fairways travel back and forth along the side of the hill on the front 9 and you could catch errant traffic from 3 holes away).
5. Being able to shape the ball in both directions is a very useful skill at this course, although it is much easier for a golfer to fit a RH cut-shot (left-to-right ball flight) on most of the course's tee shots, as a general rule; the ability to draw the ball will come into play on quite a lot of approach shots resulting from the pitched sidehill lies.
6. Snack shop is great, say hi to Buddy and put some bread in his jar.
7. Pro shop can hook you up if you show up ill-equipped, great selection of equipment
8. Use the practice green since the course can run as fast as the practice surface.

Please please please save your money and play somewhere else. The course is on a hill which ruins a lot of the holes. I can promise there will be no hole where you stand on the tee box and are impressed. The course is also incredibly short (which I don’t mind because I don’t hammer hit it far) but it’s just a terrible set up when basically every hole you’re walking on the side of a hill. The BIGGEST issue is the price, the conditions aren’t great, the pace of play is dreadful but the price is what makes this place so terrible. There’s nothing wrong with playing your average muny, but you shouldn’t be expected to pay like it’s a quality course. The course is below average but priced like a great course, avoid at all costs!

Got a twilight tee time for $15 at 6:30 on friday thinking it was a great deal. Left the course with potential lung cancer.

My buddies and I were able to book 9 holes for $15, trying to get some quick golf in with beautiful weather that day. As soon as we left the first hole it was a disaster. We were constantly waiting for the next group to tee off and as we reached the 3rd hole we could see why. There was a group of 7-8 a couple groups ahead. In what world does this make sense? Then, when we finally got to tee off and reach the green, there was someone spraying some nasty pesticide/green spray paint to cover up the fact that dead grass was nearly everywhere on this course.
Luckily for us, he would spray this right as we reached the green on every hole so we were inhaling Agent Orange everywhere he went. At 8:30 we were finally at the 5th tee box, averaging a lightning quick 30 minutes per hole.

We wanted to finish back at the clubhouse, so we skipped over to the 13th hole and played that as our last hole. With no pesticides, no large party of 8, and no light, I managed to sink a chip for birdie as the highlight to our fantastic 5 holes of golf.

Would not recommend as this course is not maintained, full of people who don't understand what the number 4 is, and literal chemical warfare happening as you try to putt.

GRADE : B- (i got a birdie)

This was my first time playing Newton Commonwealth - the staff here are amazing! Very friendly and helpful. The course is in good shape, the greens were challenging. This course has a bunch of switch-back par 4/5s on the side of a hill so it will test your ability to play challenging lies. I will definitely be golfing here again!

Drove out to walk an early round before work (went off at 6:15 am). Caught up with a group by the 3rd hole. From there, there was already nowhere to go on the course (front or back). Very slow pace of play and poor quality golfers on every hole. Ended up playing 5 holes and walking off after paying for 18. Frustrating experience, will not return.