International Golf Club - Pines Course

Although private now, was able to play as a preview for membership. This track is undoubtedly one of the best within 45-50 min of Boston. Conditions are almost perfect (very few wet spots even after wet couple of weeks) and the course has the length to test every club in the bag (blue tees). With features such as the tiger tees (making it the longest course in the country) and also the largest green in the country, the course offers lots of shot shaping and course management challenges. It is a difficult course but just enough easy holes (like #10) that you don’t feel like you’re grinding too hard.

The other course here - The Oaks - was closed while they finish up redoing some bunkers and waste areas. The new crushed limestone bunkers look absolutely amazing. Fall 2021 both courses should be open, offering 36 amazing holes of golf.

Play the Pines course at first opportunity because the new management has Coore and Crenshaw coming to redo the entire thing in 2023. As I settle into Boston this club is top of my list for membership next year especially at a much lower price point than some of the other well known Boston golf courses I’ve checked out/played (Brae Burn, Boston Golf Club, Concord Country Club, Andover CC, Blue Hills)

The International is set in the middle of nowhere and has the potential of a pristine setting. Driving in gives you the idea it will be a premier golf course.

That's when you meet the staff. The first impression of the club. Each staff member makes you feel like they are doing you a favor by allowing you to pay $129 to play golf. It's at that point where they shrug toward the door to let you where you can possibly find a cart to load your own clubs.

The course is in decent shape. The tees are well defined and the fairways have been meticulously manicured.

Again, it ends there. The bunkers look like someone left the cover off of your kids sandbox. And the greens look like the grounds crew members were unsure they where wanted to mow.

There is drinking water on holes 1 and 18. Yup. You heard me right. The cart person is scarce (1 person for both private and public course- I assume she spent most of her time on the private course. Understandably) and the on-course shack is available on 4 and 13.

The staff at the Fireplace Room continues the holier than thou attitude when and if they finish their conversations among themselves to pour a drink. (Check your bill. They charge you for ice!)

There is absolutely no reason this course should be collecting the $129 green fee. If you can play for $50-$60, jump on it. But plan on spending that on a round of beers.

I played this course for the first time in July. The course was in spectacular condition. The staff was great, picked our bags/carts from the parking lot. We ordered food in the fire place room which was promptly delivered to us ON THE COURSE! It was an excellent experience all around.

If I had to nitpick I would say the greens, while in excellent condition, were not exceptionally intricate. They were a bit flat across the board.

All in all though, highly recommend it.

really enjoyed this course and definitely worth playing at the discounted rates. probably worth the full price if money's not too tight. fairways in beautiful condition right now, nice cuts on the roughs. a couple boxes were a little soft, but i'd say the vast majority of the greens were consistent and in great shape. it was very quiet on the sunday afternoon i played, had to wait for the 4some in front of us a couple of times, but finished in just over 4 hours. no water on the course, but plenty of sand. a good challenge, but not a soul crusher. not a lot of thinking of the tees, mostly just grip it and rip it. lots of choices on second shots though. felt like every green had a tier and some were pretty small.

seen some gripes about the carts shutting down if you wander too far from path. didn't experience this and the starter briefed us on cart rules for the day. it shouldn't be that hard to comply with this stuff, guys.

amazing location out in the woods. you're never bumping up against other fairways or side streets or anything. real isolation on every hole. couple of scenic vistas if you're into that kind of thing.

cart/snack bar prices were a little jacked up, but whatever. bring water because their fountains are not great.

I played as a single and got paired up with another. The course is challenging, even more so because the carts do not allow you to drive on most fairways even though the conditions were dry with no obvious damp spots. The carts would shut down automatically if you drove onto the fairway on many of the holes. It made for more walking and a longer round than necessary. The greens were fast and still a little bumpy from a past punching. The fairways were ok, but the real disgrace were the bunkers. This course is littlered with bunkers both around the greens and in the fairways, but the seemed to forget to put any sand in them. For the price you pay to play here I expect nice fluffy sand or at least clean sand. There were so many rocks I felt like I was at a $40 muni. I payed a discounted rate through golfnow and even at that I would no go back. Anyone that pays full price to pay here is bound to be disaapointed.

First time playing the course and IMO it is a must play in MA....Beautiful design with alot of elevation changes and great views. Condition of the course was excellant considering the amout of rain we got over the past couple weeks, there were only a couple of wet spots in low lying areas. Fairways and tee boxes were very nice and the greens rolled smooth and fast. The free range balls were a plus and the practice area was awesome. I would highly recommend this course!