Championship Sneak Peek: The Mass Open

Instead of looking outside and seeing this:

Wouldn't you like to see this?

Well in just four short months (aka an ETERNITY), you will be able to! Let's not even talk about the fact that I had a dream last night that it was snowing the week of the Mass Open...

But I digress. The 106th Massachusetts Open Championship will take place at the very scenic Black Rock Country Club in Hingham. While Black Rock may not enjoy a long and storied history, having been founded in 2002, it is a pretty neat place and a club that we are thrilled to bring one of our most historic events to - there are so many interesting and different elements on this golf course that will definitely challenge our best players.

Did you know that Black Rock is situated within a rock quarry that was active as recently as 1998?! The owners of the land selected Brian Silva to create a championship caliber golf course among this unconventional piece of land. Silva has designed some of the Bay State's most acclaimed new courses, including Cape Cod National and Renaissance. Silva knew he had a challenge on his hands but wanted to incorporate the natural elements of the rock quarry. What he ended up with was ranked in GolfWeek's 'Top 100 Modern Courses.' But this project may not have come to fruition without an owner like George McGoldrick.

The story begins in 1992 when George McGoldrick moved to the south shore. Though he loved the area, a key attribute was missing and that was the ability to play a golf course nearby. The private clubs had a ten year plus waiting list, leaving McGoldrick and his friends little option but to drive for an hour just for the opportunity of playing a five hour round at a crowded public course.

As a developer, McGoldrick appreciated that the high end demographics of those around the greater Hingham area thirty minutes south of Boston supported a golf course. The rub was where to find a block of land big enough for both a course and real estate component. McGoldrick became aware of a 200 acre rock quarry that recently traded hands and was presently owned by Jim Read. Of course, a rock quarry presented all kinds of construction challenges but it did have one benefit: other parcels of land around it were available for sale as no person or business voluntarily elects to locate beside an active rock quarry!

Now it is one of the most sought-after residential golf course developments in eastern Massachusetts. It is really interesting to read the story of how this course was built (in the words of Brian Silva):

Finally there are 18 holes on paper.And in the best situation – and I had the best situation at Black Rock – there is a guy like George McGoldrick who sticks with you. Without that, the majority of the paper holes have no chance of becoming golf holes on a site like this. And it keeps going along – some holes fit land in a good way – 7, 16, 2, 9, 12, 14, 15 – while others are what the hell can be done to make this a golf hole! I need as good a client as I can ever find to make it work type of golf holes. Some holes jump at you off the background map – some you recognize walking the land – some finally become golf holes about five minutes before you seed them.

Click here to read the entire article on Golfclubatlas.com. 

So hang in there - we'll get through this winter together! Soon enough we'll be teeing off at Black Rock. It will be hard to beat the excitement of last year, with a four-man playoff, but I think Black Rock is up to the challenge! Do you think Ian Thimble will defend his title? Or maybe we'll see an amateur champion for the first time since 1999!

Left: The Commonwealth Cup, given to Low Amateur; Right: The Clarence Cochrane Memorial Trophy, given to overall champion

Qualifying rounds for the Mass Open begin on May 4th at Longmeadow Country Club and wrap up on May 27th.