"Friends of Putterham exists to promote, improve and sustain the course for everyone: golfers, dog walkers, families, and neighbors who simply value having beautiful public green space in their town." That is the mission of Friends of Putterham, the nonprofit formed last fall around Brookline's municipal golf course.
This is the first fall since the drainage work began that all 18 holes at the Robert T. Lynch Municipal Golf Course are open, and the project behind that reopening was planned and described as golf course work. Its effects in South Brookline go further. The Brookline Golf Course said its free groomed cross-country ski trails would grow from about 2 kilometers to more than 7 kilometers "once the construction on the golf course is complete." That construction finished this summer.
The front nine was closed from November to July
The course closed its front nine on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, the expected groundbreaking date, and golfers played only the back nine for the rest of that season. In its September 16, 2026 announcement, the course said all 18 holes reopened on July 4. It described the nine months of work as the largest improvement to the course's drainage since it opened in 1933. Golf course architects Mark Mungeam and Tim Gerrish led the project team, which followed the course's Landscape Master Plan. The Boston Business Journal put the cost at $1.4 million and reported that crews dredged a creek and reshaped low-lying areas across the front nine.
The course's own construction updates show where the work happened:
| Where on the property | Status reported by the course | When the course reported it |
|---|---|---|
| Holes 3, 4 and 6 | Much of the excavation finished | February 2026 |
| Hole 8 | Old culvert on the right side being removed, with the section crossing the approach saved for last; cart path moved from the right side of the hole to the left | February 2026 |
| Main Channel, behind the driving range from the 3rd green to the forward tee on hole 7 | The main focus of the project; the area by the 3rd green to be widened so it can hold and process more water | February 2026 |
| 4th fairway | Being fully rebuilt so water sheds off it, with new sod needing time to take hold | April 2026 |
| 9th fairway | Being raised, to be reseeded | April 2026 |
| Between holes 7 and 8 | New water feature and new habitat areas | September 2026 |
In his April letter, general manager Justin Lawson called the 9th fairway "an infamously wet spot on the course for decades." The finished work redesigned, expanded and dredged the existing creeks, opened up 1,500 feet of culverts into daylight, and laid another 1,000 feet of underground pipe to process and store stormwater on the property.
The skiing was waiting on the dig
The winter program shows how far the project reaches past golf. The course bought a groomer and rental skis three years before it could use them. After three winters without snow, the 2025–26 season finally brought a lasting base, starting with the first December storm. The course reported in February that more than 800 skiers from Brookline and nearby towns had used its two kilometers of groomed trails. The trails are free to the public, and ski and snowshoe packages can be rented at the pro shop.
All of that happened on a property whose front nine was closed for construction. In the same February post, the course said it would expand to more than seven kilometers of groomed trails the next year, once the golf course construction was complete. That plan was announced last winter. The actual trail network for 2026–27 depends on what the course announces and on how much snow falls.
The construction also benefited from the cold. The February update said the frozen ground had been "a blessing" for the excavation, and that the crew didn't think the project "could have been done in any other weather." The same winter that made the digging possible was the first one in years to support the ski program, on the same property.
Putterham Woods, the part with no tee times
Snowshoeing last winter went beyond the fairways onto marked trails in what the course called "our new Putterham Woods area." Friends of Putterham describes the Woods as a path through woods "worthy of a poem by Robert Frost," open for walking from dawn to dusk.
The town is investing in this part of the property separately from the golf work. Brookline's FY26 Community Preservation Act appropriations, prepared for the May 27, 2025 Annual Town Meeting, list $50,000 for Putterham Woods trail improvements. In April, Lawson described the upcoming trailhead project. Each entrance is to get signage, a trail map and information board, bike racks, trash cans and landscaping. Bike racks at the trailheads will be useful to anyone who rides there.
A clubhouse that serves more than golfers
The same CPA schedule includes $19,000 to preserve the clubhouse windows. According to the course, all of the dining room windows have now been restored and the dining room woodwork refinished. Through its partnership with Hemlock Grill, the kitchen also got major equipment upgrades to keep up with demand.
The course's community calendar shows who it serves. Summer Sessions brought live music to the Hemlock Grill patio on Friday evenings from 5:30 to 7:30, with the September lineup including Ken Freeman and TIMKO. Over the summer, Free Lesson Friday made its Massachusetts debut at Putterham as part of National Links Trust's national expansion to select municipal courses, teaching putting, chipping and full swing. This year's free family Harvest Fest is set for Sunday, October 25. In past years the festival has included live music, a trick-or-treat trail, local artisans and a children's costume contest.
Friends of Putterham plans to add to that list. The group says it will host fairs, concerts, movie nights and other events open to the whole community, with the goal of making Putterham "a destination for golfers, as well as non-golfers."
A slower road to the course
Getting to the course has changed this fall too. During routine repaving, the Department of Conservation and Recreation converted 0.7 miles of Hammond Pond Parkway, from Heath Street near the Chestnut Hill malls to Horace James Circle, from four lanes to three. The work added buffered bike lanes on both sides and lowered the speed limit from 40 to 30 mph. StreetsblogMASS reported the change on October 12, and Brookline.News republished the story the next day.
The article notes that southbound, the parkway leads into a low-density residential neighborhood next to Brookline's municipal golf course. That is the direction where the lane was removed. DCR's Director of Green Transportation, Dan Driscoll, told StreetsblogMASS, "Our data showed that we could eliminate that (southbound) lane and not create traffic issues."
North of Route 9 there is still a gap. A shared-use path completed in 2025 runs along the parkway up to the Route 9 overpass. Between Route 9 and Heath Street, about a quarter mile past mid-rise apartment buildings, the road still has four lanes and no bike lanes. DCR added green paint at driveway crossings to make the sidewalks more visible. The state's Parkways Master Plan recommends extending the path through that stretch, but that construction was outside the scope of this fall's paving.
Putterham between now and the first snow
- Twilight golf: $24 on weekdays and $29 on weekends after 5 p.m., under the course's posted 2026 rates.
- November and December: the course lists hours for these months as weather dependent, so check before you go.
- Putterham Woods: open for walking from dawn to dusk.
- Last winter's routine: the pro shop opened daily from 9 to 4, and the last ski and snowshoe rentals went out at 3.
- Questions: Justin Lawson, PGA, General Manager, at 617-879-5683 or [email protected].
The course has not yet posted a 2026–27 winter schedule. The next update from the pro shop will show whether the seven-kilometer trail network is ready when the snow comes.
If you own a home near Putterham and want to know how the course, the Woods and the quieter parkway figure into its value, Debby Belt can walk you through it house by house, starting with a home valuation.
