By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
NORTON, Massachusetts (November 6, 2026) – Mass Golf announced today that the association is awarding a combined $50,000 in matching grants to support course improvement projects at Chicopee Country Club and Bayberry Hills Golf Course through the Mass Golf Club Partner Program.
Bayberry Hills, a popular location in the Mid-Cape town of Yarmouth, will use the funds to build a practice putting green on its 9-hole Links course. Chicopee, a popular Mass Golf qualifying site east of Springfield, will push forward a plan to rebuild and recontour the 12th green, which currently has only three usable hole locations.
The Club Partner Program’s Muni Links initiative aims to provide funding to municipal Member Clubs to help overcome budgetary challenges and invest in improvements that enhance course conditions, improve the player experience, and support the growth of a diverse and committed golf community.
“For us, it’s important because Mass Golf is the biggest supporter of golf in the state,” said Dennis Hoye, in his 11th year as PGA Head Professional at Yarmouth Golf, which operates both Bayberry Hills and Bass River Golf Course.
“We enjoy hosting events here every year. We’ve hosted Junior Amateur qualifying events here on the Links course. It’s been great to have the support and work with Mass Golf closely on a lot of these events and means a lot to us. We really appreciate everything that they do for golf in our community.”
Online: Club Partner Program | Chicopee Country Club | Yarmouth Golf – Bayberry Hills | Mass Golf Home
Built in 1999 on a former landfill site just south of the Mid-Cape Highway (Route 6), the course itself hosts about 16,000 rounds a year and serves as the home course of Sturgis Charter Public School as well as other local programs such as Dennis-Yarmouth High School.
Hoye said the new putting green will be a “decent-sized” complex with a bit of contouring and located by the first tee. It will alleviate some logistical issues as the only putting green is currently by the clubhouse, a long walk from the first tee at the Links course. While exact architects and dimensions are still to be determined, Hoye said the plan is to begin work in the final months of the year and to be able to open it to the public by the start of the next golf season.
“This gives people chance to hit a few putts and loosen up a bit, he said. “It’s something should’ve been done earlier and makes everybody’s life easier.
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Known for its well-kept greens, the Geoffrey Cornish-designed Chicopee Country Club regularly hosts Mass Golf qualifiers and has welcomed the AJGA’s FM Junior Championship presented by John D. Mineck Foundation for eight years running.
The 12th, the tougher of back-to-back par 3s, plays about 190 yards from the championship tees. It averaged 4.05 strokes during 2024 Amateur Public Links qualifying. In this summer’s qualifier, just 10 of 74 players made par and none made birdie.
The green pitches so sharply from back to front that the grounds crew has only two or three usable hole locations, with the middle of the green too steep to use. Chicopee head golf professional Mike O’Neill said the slope can produce “a 3-foot putt that rolls off the green.” He fields concerns about the 12th daily and has seen how much a hole location there can affect play. On a course that handles roughly 37,000 rounds a year, those extra putts also slow down play.
Chicopee plans to rebuild the green in the same location, softening the slope to create more options for hole locations and help keep play moving. O’Neill said he hopes the grant will help the club put the project out to bid, with work potentially starting at the end of the 2027 season.
Mass Golf will continue to offer grants and resources to participants in the Club Partner Program, which is open to all Mass Golf Member Clubs. The program is designed to ensure each Member Club can fully benefit from Mass Golf’s services and resources while also allowing Mass Golf to proactively respond to challenges clubs may face.
Earlier this year, the Mass Golf Club Partner Program awarded a grant to Braintree Municipal Golf Course to reconstruct the 8th green and another to support a new cart path by the 6th hole at Westborough Golf Club. Full Story >
“Municipal courses play a vital role in making golf accessible across Massachusetts. Muni Links helps these communities turn much-needed improvements into projects golfers will enjoy for years to come,” said Mark Gagne, Mass Golf’s Senior Director of Member Services. “With projects now underway, completed or planned at Braintree, Westborough, Chicopee, and Bayberry Hills, Muni Links is already making a visible difference at municipal courses across the state. We look forward to working with more of our Member Clubs on what comes next.”
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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.
With a community made up of over 150,000 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.
