Ryan Montgomery
Derek Duncan
Ryan Montgomery
Ryan Montgomery
Ryan Montgomery
Ryan Montgomery
Ryan Montgomery
The International: Pines Course
The International: Pines Course
159 Ballville Rd
Bolton, MA 01740-1227
United States
Overview
The Pines Course at this complex west of Boston was a novelty when it opened in the late 1950s because it measured over 8,000 yards, the longest course in the country. As part of their reconstruction in 2024 under new ownership, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw whittled over 1,000 yards off the scorecard and completely rerouted the design. What’s novel about the Pines now is a set of intensely contoured greens, some of the most severe in the Coore/Crenshaw portfolio, a few of them borderline outrageous. The 12th hole, by contrast, is refined. The wide dogleg pivots right through pines and drives that don’t hug the inside line will scamper left off a hogsback out of position. The hole feels as British (London, that is) as anything you’ll find in New England with the fairway sliding smoothly into a low green rippled at the edges and set in a heathland-like clearing of short grass, a lone fescue-covered hummock providing a light touch of strategic intrigue. Like a good links, the hole can be played in different ways and is unlikely to inflict serious damage to the score, but a four here requires strong driving and short game finesse. Bold and brash can be fun, but the confidence to be calm and speak softly is sometimes a golf hole’s most appealing quality.
About
Awards
100 Greatest: Ranked from 1969-'74. The course was also part of Golf Digest's original 200 Toughest Courses list from 1966-'68.
Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“Amazing Core Crenshaw total reconstruction. Only one of the original 18 holes were kept with modifications. The green conditions were near perfect with the new 007 hybrid grass used. The design variety and use of the land was awesome. Built in an old quarry the land was left very natural with areas that resembled sand bow outs."
Read More2026
Review
“The International - Pines Course, Bolton, Massachusetts For decades the Pines was a novelty act - a Geoffrey Cornish design that carried the marketing hook of being the longest course in the country, measuring somewhere around 8,000-plus yards from the tips. None of that is relevant anymore. Escalante Golf, which bought the club out of bankruptcy in 2021, brought in Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw not to renovate the old course but to bury it - every hole corridor and green site changed except possibly one, No. 6. In fact, as someone who saw the old version before it was demolished, I was turned around almost immediately. What's on the ground now is a shorter, smarter, and far more interesting golf course, and the Character and Aesthetics show it: pitch pines framing the corridors, sandy waste areas doing the work bunkers used to do, and a dramatic quarry-like sand feature bordering the 2nd, 3rd, and 13th that gives the property a rawness closer to Pine Valley or the quarry hole at Garden City than anything typically associated with New England golf. Coore and Crenshaw's Shot Options show up most clearly in how the fairways and greens are built. The corridors are wide and generally forgiving off the tee, but the correct side of the fairway matters enormously for the approach, and the greens - unusually canted front-to-back rather than the more common back-to-front - reward players willing to bounce the ball in rather than fly it at the flag. Green sizes vary enormously, from a tidy 4,200 square feet at the short par-3 16th to a sprawling 10,800 square feet at the long par-3 3rd and that range alone does a lot of work for Layout Variety, backed up by a drivable par-4 8th, a reachable par-5 4th, and three long par 3s spread across the round. The 13th stands out for Challenge, with green contours on the severe end even by Coore/Crenshaw standards, while the 12th is the most refined hole on the course - a wide dogleg right through the pines where anything hugging the inside line is rewarded and anything drifting away from it gets kicked further offline by a hogsback, feeding into a low, rippled green set in a heathland-style clearing that feels more British than New England. The closing stretch is where Fun and Character peak. The 16th is a short, elevated par 3 into a small, heavily bunkered green; the 17th climbs uphill to a two-tiered green on a dogleg right that demands real precision; and the 18th is a genuine risk-reward par 5 that gives players a real look at making a closing birdie rather than just surviving. The long par-3 10th, meanwhile, is one of the more intimidating single holes on the course - a big bunker guarding the right side of a green that runs front-to-back, tucked just behind the sand in a way that punishes anything short. Conditioning is firm and fast by design, with fescue rough and waste areas and bentgrass greens meant to reward a ground game rather than a target one, and it all adds up to a course that already looks and plays like it's been on this ground for decades rather than having opened for member play only recently. Massachusetts's official rankings haven't caught up to the new Pines yet, but I'd place it firmly in the state's top 15 once they do - ahead of Hidden Creek in New Jersey, and just a notch below Old Sandwich, the other Coore/Crenshaw design in the state and the clear standard this course is chasing. It's hard to walk this property and not come away convinced it belongs in that conversation."
Read More2026
Review
“If Bandon Trails and Hidden Creek had a baby and sent it off to New England for some refining it would look like The Pines. Bold, natural, intriguing, intimidating and yet somehow charming the Pines is a tour de force. It looks like it has been there for 75 years. Weathered. The walk is sublime. Tees close to proceeding greens. The land slowly revealed as the routing weaves the player through the property. Until the closing stretch trees cocoon many of the holes so all you see is what is at hand. The bunkering is big and aggressive starting with the left green side bunker on the opener. Other notables include the right green side bunker on 9 and the left green side bunker on 18. There are many others. Greens generally are defined by large slopes not small contouring. A few greens are on the edge and have surely elicited some choice words from angry golfers these being the 9th and 17th where seemingly fine shots would be sent back to player. Great variety of par 3s of both distance and form. There are five on the course with standouts being the long third, the amusing 14th and the tease at 16 which will make many a greedy golfer wish they had been less bold."
Read More2026
Review
“Coore-Crenshaw renovation/transformation restores the character of this former PGA tour site to a Top 100 candidate. Excellent holes throughout build up to a crescendo of challenging and unique finishing holes 14 through 18. The par 3 14th plays across a valley to a sloped green. The long par 4 15th begins with a difficult drive to a largely hidden fairway. The short par 3 16th requires a precise wedge or short iron. Par 4 17th requires a precision uphill shot to a green perched up on a hill. 18 is a risk reward dogleg right par 5. If the player takes on the dogleg, the green can be reached in two. The green is again perched on the side of a hill with enough slope to bring 3 putts into play."
Read More2026
Review
“Coore-Crenshaw renovation/transformation restores the character of this former PGA tour site to a Top 100 candidate. Excellent holes throughout build up to a crescendo of challenging and unique finishing holes 14 through 18. The par 3 14th plays across a valley to a sloped green. The long par 4 15th begins with a difficult drive to a largely hidden fairway. The short par 3 16th requires a precise wedge or short iron. Par 4 17th requires a precision uphill shot to a green perched up on a hill. 18 is a risk reward dogleg right par 5. If the player takes on the dogleg, the green can be reached in two. The green is again perched on the side of a hill with enough slope to bring 3 putts into play."
Read More2026
Review
“Coore and Crenshaw did a masterful job reimagining this property. Great variety of holes, interesting strategies, all tied together well. Fescue is coming in wonderfully; course will only get better!"
Read More2026
Review
“Coore and Crenshaw did a masterful job reimagining this property. Great variety of holes, interesting strategies, all tied together well. Fescue is coming in wonderfully; course will only get better!"
Read More2026
Review
“what a great walk Superb set of par 3 holes. short- middle- long. the par 3 16 is a blast. Once this matures, it will only get better! a really fun golf course to play!"
Read More2026
Review
“Fully reimagined Coore Crenshaw redesign of the longest routed course in the US. Holes were reconfigured and yardage was reduced so the majority of the course and routing has been reshaped in a very thought provoking way. Coore Crenshaw opened up corridors through the New England forests - fariways are generally large and receptive but finding the right side of the fariways are imperative to hit second shots requiring precision, Some greens have subtle movements and some like the formidable par 4 13th have severe undulations to conquer. The Par 3 10th is long and imposing with a large bunker fronting the right side. The green sits tuck behind it and runs from front to back which adds to the intimadating nature of the hole. The closing stretch is incredible. Beautiful elevated short par 3 hole with a small heavily bunkered green, solid uphill dogleg right par 4 17th to a two-tiered green and a nice risk reward par 5 18th with an opportunity to score. A must visit in the Boston area."
Read More2025
Review
“The Pines Course at The International is a newly (2025 opening) designed course from the tandem of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. The course is a completely new course set on the site of the old Pines Course. The new Pines Course takes advantage of the mature landscape the prior course sat on to not feel new or forced, including adding new features such as the quarry left of #2 that feel as though the course had been there for decades. The course itself has very solid, if not spectacular, shot options that you would expect from a C&C design. Interestingly, though the fairways themselves are wide, some of the playing corridors (#2, #4, #7, etc.) are narrow to the extent that the placement of the tee and existing trees dictates only one shot shape for the tee ball. The conditioning of the course is outstanding and really highlights the severity of a number of greens, which adds to the challenge of the course. Candidly, I'm surprised that C&C built another original design so close to their highly regarded Old Sandwich course. The Pines and OS share many similarities in their design in places and their relative proximity to one another highlights the (relatively) minor shortcomings of each as well as the Pines Course having noticeably fewer world class holes than OS."
Read More2025
