Coore & Crenshaw is nearing completion of the redesign of the Pines course at The International Golf Club & Resort in Bolton, in the greater Boston area of Massachusetts.
The design team has created completely new corridors and green sites, with holes framed by sandy waste areas and pitch pines. Tees, fairways and rough areas are planted with fescue grass, while greens are bentgrass.
“Bill, Ben, shapers Ryan Farrow and Zach Varty, and the rest of the Coore & Crenshaw team have worked their magic, taking an exceptional site and crafting what we strongly believe will be considered one of the country’s best new golf courses,” said Paul Celano, director of golf at The International, which was acquired by Escalante Golf in 2021.
“Their deep admiration for courses built during the early 20th century, the so-called ‘Golden Age of Architecture’, is an ideal match for our vision of a golf-first experience at The International that preserves and honours the club’s 120-year history.”
A nine-hole course was built on the site in 1901, with a full 18 designed in 1954 by Geoffrey Cornish, with input from Francis Ouimet. It opened in 1955 at 8,040 yards from the back tees and with steeply pitched greens and challenging bunkers. Following renovation work by Robert Trent Jones in 1972 that extended the course to 8,325 yards, the course was for decades known as America’s longest.
Now, though, the club believes golfers are less focused on difficulty as a measure of quality, and instead prefer courses that are strategic, walkable and enjoyable for players of all skill levels.
“The Pines will check all of these important boxes,” said Celano. “With our recently renovated Oaks course, we now combine 36 holes of exceptional golf with a welcoming club environment and culture rooted in a deep respect for the game and its treasured traditions.”
Watch: drone footage of several holes during construction.
Remaining tasks include edging bunkers and adding sand, trimming and clearing trees, establishing fairway lines, and seeding the practice green.
The club expects limited member play on the Pines to begin this autumn.