Mass Golf’s Club Partner Program Will Now Provide Matching Grants To Supplement Municipal Course Renovations
By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
BROOKLINE, Massachusetts (November 21, 2025) – “Let’s go check out a green,” suggested Elliott Dowling wanting to keep things moving on a sun-splashed but bone-chilling Thursday morning earlier this month.
Climbing from a stretch spongey fairway under repair for the remainder of the season, he made his way toward the elevated 4th green at Brookline Golf Course. There, three bundled-up figures stood over a patchwork of scattered leaves and weather-hardened grass, the wind cutting sideways through the trees.
In the center, Dowling, Regional Director for the USGA Green Section’s Course Consulting Service, knelt with a soil profiler in hand, extracting a plug from green layered with almost a century of history. On either side stood head golf course superintendent Michael Murphy and assistant superintendent Dean, who shifted their weight around while sharing their observations of the landscape over the years.
From a distance, the scene could’ve been mistaken for an official USGA site visit, the kind reserved for championship contenders. But Brookline, more often called ‘Putterham’ after its surrounding neighborhood, wasn’t prepping for elite tournament scrutiny.” That’s a task more fitting for its neighbor, the one with the squirrel crest and U.S. Open legacy.
Instead, Dowling was there to support a bustling community facility, an affordable 18-hole municipal course with a full driving range, lively clubhouse, and popular patio dining options.
This marked the first municipal site visit under the new “Muni Links” initiative, an extension of Mass Golf’s Club Partner Program and the beginning of long-overdue investment at one of the state’s most underappreciated public golf courses.
“I’ve worked with courses all around here, but it certainly has that old New England feel,” Dowling said. “In a market flooded with some of the best private clubs in the world, it’s great to see a municipal, town-run golf course operating at such a high level.”
Launched this year, the Club Partner Program is Mass Golf’s most comprehensive effort to date to strengthen relationships with Member Clubs, connect facilities with expert resources, and invest in long-term success. In its first year, Mass Golf issued $23,000 in funding to support USGA services at participating clubs.
Elliott Dowling, left, met with the Brookline Golf Course staff on November 6 as part of a USGA Course Consulting Service (CCS) visit. (Mass Golf)
Mass Golf supported this official USGA Course Consulting Service (CCS) visit, which includes a site inspection and written recommendations from agronomists like Dowling. Beginning in 2026, clubs that complete a CCS visit will be eligible for up to $50,000 in matching grants to act on those recommendations, critical funding for municipalities navigating tight budgets for course projects.
“We want to serve as a resource to support our member clubs and connect them with the expertise and tools offered by the USGA Green Section,” said Mark Gagne, Mass Golf’s Senior Director of Member Services. “Elliott brings not only his agronomic expertise, but the perspective of having visited hundreds of courses throughout the Northeast each season.”
“This kind of support helps validate the work our team has already been doing,” added Brookline Golf Course general manager Justin Lawson. “It gives us a new level of confidence and credibility as we take on a major course improvement project.”
Brookline Golf Course has deep roots in Massachusetts golf history. In the early 1900s, Brookline was home to the legendary Francis Ouimet. His historic 1913 U.S. Open win at The Country Club next door remains one of the most iconic moments in American golf. Today, a statue of Ouimet and his 10-year-old caddie, Eddie Lowery, stands outside the Brookline clubhouse as a tribute to that legacy.
The course itself was designed in 1933 by noted architects Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek as part of a WPA-era development. While it has evolved over time, much of the original routing remains intact. Land acquisitions in the 1950s and 1970s allowed for extended holes, redesigned greens, and an increase in par from 70 to 71. The nines were also flipped to improve pace of play, a philosophy that continues with a proposed future routing that would, among many changes, put the first tee alongside the 18th green to better connect start and finish near the clubhouse.
Just steps away, a crisp cut around the practice green hints at a modern touch: autonomous mowers. These GPS-guided machines quietly maintain turf without the weight or compaction of traditional equipment. “But those robots can’t go through a puddle,” joked Lawson, acknowledging the technology’s limits on a course still battling drainage issues.
As part of its Master Plan instituted in 2021, Brookline is embarking on long-overdue irrigation improvements, or as the staff describes it “fixing the golf course from the drainage up.” The property sits on a natural peat bog, and decades of compaction, sinking soil, and outdated piping have created persistent flooding issues.
“It’s like a flower pot,” Murphy said. “Once it’s wet, it stays wet.”
Drainage work is a top priority in Brookline Golf Course’s Master Plan. (Mass Golf)
Compounding the challenge is the sheer volume of water flowing onto the course from surrounding neighborhoods, including The Country Club and areas above Hammond Street, which eventually drains through a single narrow exit point.
To address these issues, Brookline is planning to elevate sunken fairways, reopen and expand long-covered stream beds, and widen the main creek that cuts through the course to allow better water movement. These improvements are designed to restore natural drainage patterns and prevent long seasonal closures that have plagued the course in years past. In particularly wet years, Brookline has had to close its full 18-hole layout for over a month and operate as a nine-hole course for most of the season.
“It’s a lot of bucket of balls to fix drainage. Lots of rounds of golf that you need people coming here to support us,” Lawson said.
While drainage is the first phase, Dowling’s report will cover multiple areas of the course. Dowling, who visits roughly 100 courses a year, also emphasized the importance of sustainability, not just for turf, but for operations.
“For muni and daily-fee courses, the focus is often pace of play and golfer satisfaction,” he said. “Repeat play is how these places survive. So the goal is always the same: maintain the golf course as efficiently as possible while keeping it healthy, attractive, and fun to play.”
Dowling poses for a photo with the Francis Ouimet & Eddie Lowery statue just outside the clubhouse at Brookline Golf Course. (Mass Golf)
About Mass Golf
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.
