Wachusett Country Club

Only got through 12 holes due to pace of play. 3 groups backed up on 13 and we we already at the 4 hour mark. Clubhouse will send a guy out on the golf cart just to show face and not do anything. Worst experience I have had in the state. Shame because it is in great condition and a fun layout.

This course is sweet. I paid $50 to walk 18 holes and it was easily the best deal of any course I’ve played this summer. The conditions are at the level of a private course and they do justice to the Donald Ross design. Hole 4 and 5 are really fun holes. Hole 16 had a unique risk/reward opportunity. 18 is a par three finishing hole, part of the original Ross design according to my playing partners. The clubhouse is well appointed, with 3 indoor simulators, reception space, and a nice bar/grill. The do it right at this course. The view of the reservoir from the first tee makes it worth the trip before you even start. But the course delivers throughout. I will be back again and again. My only hesitation to write this review is that other people will find out about how good it is.

Here is the problem, front nine greens were aerated (not much sand), back nine greens aerated (a lot of sand). I understand this has to be done, but they should have told us when my buddy called to book time (two foursomes). We could have gone somewhere else or the fee should have been discounted down to $40.00 at the most. Greens were almost impossible to read and puts bounced all over the place! The pro shop could have told us about the greens, when we arrived. I would not recommend this course because they were not honest with us. Also, the limited menu is bull and no beverage cart. I thought this place was supposed to be topnotch. They should take lessons from their sister course, on how to run a golf club. Funny we ate inside at that course with a full menu, three months ago! We have played a lot of courses in Ma, Ct & Ri and they all have had a full menu available, with indoor and outdoor dinning.

Course is fine, but a bit overpriced for LATE October. We played 18 and decided to go around for another 9. Clubhouse tried to charge us an extra $30 for a threesome to take 1 additional cart (COVID) for 9 holes (the greens fee was $35). Both clubhouse and starter had bad attitude right from the get go. Not attentive. Had to "bug" him for basic information about when we were up, what cart to take, where is the key... all the while it was like I was really inconveniencing him. There are too many good courses in central MA to want to deal with this ever again.

I never leave reviews for anything, but I encourage you to read this before choosing to play here. (Also please note this review does not include the kitchen and bar staff who always provide a delightful experience.)

This course used to provide an all around great atmosphere; great golf, food, & a friendly staff. However, in the last year or so this has changed immensely. It takes 3 hours to play 9 holes due to the fact that they over book for the money and could care less about any of their customers. The staff specifically working in the pro shop could not care any less about their customers. To the point where I have witnessed them tell a customer to take his money elsewhere. I understand dealing with unhappy customers is never fun, but I have never heard a business say this unless the individual became physically or verbally violent.

I wouldn't leave a review like this if this was a one time bad experience as every business deserves a second chance. But after multiple bad experiences and a lot and I mean a lot of good friends who play here every week feeling the same way, there are too many great golf courses in the area to play at before here.

This is a beautiful Donald Ross design. Holes 1 - 3 warm you up, 4 - 6 gives you a chance to stretch holes 7 to 9 you better be ready off the tee because being in the fairway is crucial. The back 9 is magic with Donald Ross gems all over. Conditions are always outstanding and you will want to play more when you are done with 18.

As written in the past, other than the staff, this course has some great potential. We were there to enjoy and begin a bachelor party. There were eight of us. We spent close to $1,000 between greens fees, a new pair of shoes, hats, some refreshments, and misc. One of the guys brought a bottle go JW Blue. We had a toast on the 2nd hole - no issues. Our handicaps range from 8 - 18. The ranger was caught drinking a bud light on the third hole and warned us the course policy was to evict anyone drinking that did not purchase from the course. We politely complied and dumped the beer. (It was only Bud Light) I kindly said, we're here to have some fun and celebrating a bachelor. He didn't care. So we complied. Bought 22 beers. We were respectful, never disorderly, and never once was anyone being held up by our play. In fact, we had one to two holes empty behind us. This guy was on us every two holes to speed up play. Now everyone knows what it's like trying to play golf with this type on constant harassment. It's too bad, it's a nice course, but I'd have to agree with a previous review. It simply felt that we were not welcomed there. I felt like we were in a dictatorship country - you will not have any fun!

If it were not for the staff and members this could be a great place to play. Made us feel like we were intruding on their space.

Wachusett Country Club is an exceptional golf club with a fantastic Donald Ross layout. The layout is challenging and diverse. Holes 8-13 are pound for pound some of the most demanding stretches of golf in the New England area.

Conditions are always excellent and the clubhouse offers a great atmosphere for a few cold ones after a very enjoyable round. Less than an hour from Boston this is a course you could play every day and never become tired of it.

Lots of up and downs here, makes it interesting but nothing too challenging. They did a good job of mixing up tight fairways and target golf, never both on the same hole. Since the course is forgiving, players of all handicaps come here, which can sometimes result in slow pace of play, but mornings are usually all members, so depending on your tee time, it may not impact you at all.

Greens were very fast last I played here, much faster on the course vs the practice greens.

Driving range is across the street, bring $5 bills with you for it if you want to hit a few. Sometimes its grass only, but it's more often mats only, which is frustrating. But for a $5 bucket, it's not too bad.

No 9 hole rates available.

Took over 5 hours to play. The course was in great shape, but there seemed to be no effort by the course to keep play moving along at a reasonable pace.
Will never comeback on a Saturday afternoon and cannot at this time recommend playing there.

I finally got out to Wachusett to see this acclaimed Donald Ross course. It was quiet at 4 PM on a Saturday and I thought it would be a good summer afternoon to play a stress free round. We cruised around the first 7 holes in 1:20. Then we hit a brick wall on the 8th tee. It took us 2:40 to play the last 11 holes. It was us catching the tee sheet that was chock full from 6 to 3. I cannot fault this course for being busy. It is fun to play and in very good condition. You can see where they have been upgrading several tee boxes and how careful all of the mowing is. The par 5's are somewhat short, but they have nuances. The 2 on the front both have blind water hazards that you have to be aware of. There are several great par 4's of over 400 yards. The 13th is the only long par 3 and it features a treacherous green. In fact most of the greens have classic Ross traits. Large sweeping curves, hidden slopes, false fronts and crowns, that make it imperative that you avoid certain sides of the greens. The greens were slow for us, but if they had been faster, people who have been 4 or 5 putting frequently. They were a lot of weekend hackers out as one might expect. They may have been over matched, but they were having fun. I think. They rerouted the holes a few years back and the only drawback is that you end, we in the dark, on a bland par 3, which had a 2 group backup on it. I think the Marrone family which owns Wachusett knows what they are doing and will not hesitate to keep improving this masterpiece. I will come back soon and take another shot at it, but probably not a weekend afternoon.

This is a Donald Ross gem readily available for public play. It has a lot of the traditional Ross features, but in a moderately difficult rather than super challenging layout. It is Donald Ross for the masses!
The condition are good, leaning to very good.. They had air-rated the greens a few weeks ago. They should be in great shape in another week. Well worth the asking price.