History
The land currently used as a golf course has a rich history of uses from ice skating to bridle paths to bird watching.
It's also been repeatedly rented as a parking lot for international golf tournaments with proceeds from this revenue generating activity contributing to the golf course rather than town operations.
The course has faced serious drainage issues since it was built, making it less than ideally suited as a golf course from day one. Simply put, the long history of Putterham Meadows has been complicated and is in no way promised as a golf course in perpetuity. It is the people's land and our community deserves to know the past to plan the future.
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1899-1901 The land now used as the Putterham Golf course was originally bought by the Town of Brookline for playground purposes. The first purchase of 62 was made in 1899-1900. The next parcel of 62.6 acres was bought in 1901.
1911 - A bridle path that runs through the Putterham meadows was noted in Brookline Chronicle.
1924 - The Brookline Chronicle noted in an article about a proposed golf course "[the land] was acquired for the purpose of providing a large recreation centre when that part of the town was developed;” and a golf course was not specified.
1927 - Brookline Bird Club and Troop 4 of the Brookline Boy Scouts put up birdhouses and feeding shelves.
1927 - Town Meeting appropriates $3,000 for procuring plans for the proposed municipal golf course to be constructed on Putterham Meadows.
1927 - The president of the Brookline Birding Club writes a letter opposing the construction of a golf course at this site, entering an era of golf : The Country Club, Chestnut Hill Golf Club, Weld Golf Club, and soon… Brookline Municipal Golf Course.
July 1933 - Municipal golf course opens.
Dec 1933 - $3,500 requested by Park Commission to buy drainage pipe for course, the first of many investments in drainage required to maintain this land ill-suited as a golf course.
1942 - “All-out-scrap-drive” encourages people to stop playing golf (to save gas) and turn in metal items like golf clubs. At Town tournament, “War bonds and stamps and medals will be awarded as prizes this year instead of the usual trophies.”
1943 - “American golfers are urged by their national association to explore the possibilities of using parts of golf courses for Victory gardens, without digging up valuable turf of fairway greens, or tees.” At the Harvest Festival held at the Brookline Municipal Golf Course’s clubhouse, a golf course garden receives an award for mixed vegetables.
May 1951 - Brookline Citizen notes: “Because of the boggy nature of the land, the first golfers on the course… may have been tempted to wear boots, since many open, muddy and watery ditches across the fairways could sometimes be navigated only by walking on planks.”
1964 - Women banned from Putterham Golf Course Saturdays, Sundays and holidays mornings. Parks and Rec Superintendent Dan Warren says, "It's not discrimination, it's regulation."
1965 - Ruling discriminating against women reversed.
1967 - Clubhouse at Putterham Meadows named after Philip G. Bowker, activist in red bating. Despite Senator Joseph McCarthy’s censure by the U.S. Senate on December 2, 1954, State Senator Bowker doubled down on McCarthyism. In 1955, the Bowker Commission published the names and biographical details of 85 people suspected of being involved in the Community Party.
1988 - US Open held at the Country Club which agrees to pay Brookline $70,000 to use the municipal course as a parking lot.
$70,000 U.S. Open dollars go towards putting drainage into the 18th fairway.
1990s - Efforts to take a portion of Putterham Woods for a driving range were resisted by advocates led by Brookline GreenSpace Alliance.
1991 - Golf Course moved to Enterprise budget model.
Feb 1993 $650,000 allocated to improve drainage.
Nov 1994 $600,000 to improve drainage. The Boston Globe notes that “Golfers can’t get to some holes now because of flooding.”
Dec 1994 $20,000 spent to remove bulldozer that sunk and nearly submerged while crossing the ninth fairway.
1999 - Ryder Cup Golf Tournament held at the Country Club. Municipal course serves as a parking lot.
2004 - Recreation Director Robert Lynch sets marketing budget of $22,000 to increase awareness about golf course.
“I’ve had a lot of people say that they didn’t even know there’s a public golf course in Brookline.”
2008 - Golf course was renamed the Robert T. Lynch Golf Course at Putterham Meadows in honor of its long time champion and Director.
2010 - Clubhouse is under water after major flood.
2016 - Driving Range added at Golf Course markedly reducing tree cover.
Dec 2019 - Parks and Recreation Commission votes for a “Golf Course Master Plan” to include an analysis of a 9-hole course and a reconfigured 18-hole course to allow for other uses.
2020 - Open Space Master Plan recommends that Brookline aim to achieve a Town-wide canopy goal of 49.1% coverage over the coming decade by planting of 900 trees on public and private land each year for the next 10 years. Several Town properties show loss of canopy from 2014 to 2020 including Putterham Meadows Golf Course which engaged in tree clearing for driving range construction.
2022 - US Open held at the Country Club. Robert T. Lynch Golf Course serves as an entry point to the event and is paid $150,000 for use as a parking lot.
Jan 2022 - Golf Course Landscape Master Plan Design Review Committee Kickoff Meeting: No mention of a 9-hole course.
March 2022 - The Golf Course Landscape Master Plan Design Review March 2022 slides state that when considering other recreational activities, “THESE ACTIVITIES CAN NOT JEOPARDIZE THE ABILITY TO OFFER 18 HOLES OF GOLF."
March 2022 - Golf course flooding evaluation notes short term recommendations costing $391,560 and long term recommendations costing $1,784,900.
12 July 2022 - Park and Recreation Commissioner Wendy Sheridan Ames notes: “she is disappointed that there has been a lack of attention to the original intention of the Park and Recreation Commission regarding freeing up the perimeter land.”
August 2022 - Co-petitioners submit warrant article resolving that Master Plan must broaden the scope of the Golf Course Landscape Master Plan to consider what other uses are feasible within the 120 acres, taking into account the wants expressed in the Parks, Recreation and Open Space 2019 Strategic Master Plan Survey. The plan should include at least one option with a 9 hole golf course. The plan should include potential uses such as a perimeter path, wetland restoration, Miyawaki forest, tree nursery, community gardens, playing fields, tennis/pickleball courts, a community pool, a fenced in dog park, and/or other recreational needs identified and expressed by the Parks and Recreation Commission.