NORTON, Massachusetts – If you’ve always wanted to get involved with Mass Golf and experience a well-organized, enjoyable golf event and outing, Member Days are for you. For more than a decade, Mass Golf Member Days have provided 18-hole rounds at premier private golf courses across the state for thousands of members of all ages and abilities.
As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 7, the lottery system for Member Days has opened to all Mass Golf Members who wish to participate in one or more of the 18 events. The individual lotteries close six weeks out from each event date.
The Member Days slate is set to begin Monday, May 8 at Indian Pond Country Club in Kingston, followed by Member Days at Scituate Country Club and The Club At New Seabury (Ocean Course) on the next two Mondays, respectively. The schedule runs all the way until the final week of October, concluding October 30 at Haverhill Country Club.
“The point of Member Days is to make you feel like a member for a day,” said Kyle Sherman, Mass Golf’s Manager of Member Events & Services, who oversees the Member Days program. “You can look forward to a great atmosphere; they’re fun, casual, but you’re still competing for something in a sense if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Each year, thousands of members apply to participate in Member Days, and selections are based on an individual lottery. Members can request up to 4 spots (including themselves), and they are notified by email if they are selected. A waitlist is also established for those who are not selected but registered for the lottery.
In order to accommodate as many members as possible, preference in each individual lottery will be given to members who have not yet played in a Member Day throughout the year. As the season progresses, members who have not played in a Member Day in 2023 will see their chances increase. If the field for an event is not filled by first-time 2023 players, invites will then be sent to past 2023 Member Day participants, in the order in which they were randomly selected in the lottery.
“Your chances of participating go up with each event that you’re entered into,” Sherman said. “It worked out very well last year in terms of getting more people access to play in at least one member day. People really seem to like it. We’re sticking with that for this year, and hopefully it goes smoothly again.”
In terms of which events to enter, there are choices from way out west in Pittsfield all the way to the Cape.
Returning to the Member Days schedule are renown sites such as Oak Hill Country Club (Fitchburg) and Orchards Golf Club (South Hadley), both of which have hosted Mass Golf signature championship play over the past two seasons. Whitinsville Golf Club, the highly-acclaimed Donald Ross-designed 9-hole course in Central Massachusetts is also included. In 2020, GOLF.com ranked the club No. 2 on its inaugural list of the top 50 stand-alone, nine-hole golf courses in the world.
Sherman said having returning sites is crucial to keeping the Member Day program going year after year.
“We have great courses that are very supportive of Member Days and the many other events we conduct here at Mass Golf,” Sherman said. “I love having a mix of regular courses and then also some first-timers. Either way, we know people are going to have a good time at these places.”
The newcomers to the Member Days schedule this year include Brockton Country Club and Milton-Hoosic Club in Canton.
Built in 1891, Milton-Hoosic is one of Mass Golf’s oldest member clubs and one of the few in state designed by Willie Park, Jr (others include CC of New Bedford, Pawtucket CC). Like Whitinsville, Milton-Hoosic also cracked the top 50 list of best standalone nine-hole courses in the world. The course’s 4th hole features a stellar drive into a valley, with a creek lurking at the end of the fairway and an approach playing into tricky elevated and sloping green.
Brockton, which was founded in 1900, features a par-36 9-hole course stretching across a modest 2,961 yards from the tips. Originally laid out by notable golf course architect, Willie Campbell, who is credited with designing The Country Club, the course has undergone numerous revisions such as adding punishing hazards and nearly 600 yards of distance. The club also co-hosts the Brockton City Open with its fellow city courses.
For the latest information and schedule for Member Days, visit MassGolf.org, scroll under the “PLAY” tab at the top of the screen, and click “Member Days”.
Monday, May 8
Indian Pond Country Club (Kingston)
Monday, May 15
Scituate Country Club (Scituate)
Monday, May 22
The Club At New Seabury – Ocean Course (Mashpee)
Monday, June 5
Indian Ridge Country Club (Andover)
Monday, June 12
Ledgemont Country Club (Seekonk)
Wednesday, June 14
Brockton Country Club (Brockton)
Monday, June 26
Segregansett Country Club (Taunton)
Monday, July 10
Wedgewood Pines Country Club (Stow)
Monday, July 17
Oak Hill Country Club (Fitchburg)
Monday, July 24
Milton-Hoosic Club (Canton)
Monday, July 31
Pawtucket Country Club (Pawtucket, RI/Seekonk)
Monday, August 28
Orchards Golf Club (South Hadley)
Monday, September 25
Berkshire Hills Country Club (Pittsfield)
Wednesday, September 27
Acoaxet Club (Westport)
Monday, October 2
Whitinsville Golf Club (Northbridge)
Wednesday, October 11
Mt. Pleasant Golf Club (Lowell)
Monday, October 16
Crestwood Country Club (Rehoboth)
Monday, October 23
Ipswich Country Club (Ipswich)
Monday, October 30
Haverhill Country Club (Haverhill)
For the latest updates and news, visit MassGolf.org or follow Mass Golf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @PlayMassGolf.
Mass Golf is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing golf in Massachusetts by building an engaged and inclusive community around the sport.
With a community made up of over 110,000 golf enthusiasts and over 360 member clubs, Mass Golf is one of the largest state golf associations in the country. Members enjoy the benefits of handicapping, engaging golf content, course rating and scoring services along with the opportunity to compete in an array of events for golfers of all ages and abilities.
At the forefront of junior development, Mass Golf is proud to offer programming to youth in the state through First Tee Massachusetts and subsidized rounds of golf by way of Youth on Course.
