For these wishing to stick closer to Cambridge, several mediocre courses are within fifteen minutes of the Square. Nearest is Fresh Pond Golf Course, a nine hole Cambridge Municipal affair. Short, in poor condition, and fairly uninteresting, Fresh Pond's only advantage is the fact that it can be reached by driving 2 1/2 miles along Concord Avenue.
Other courses in the area that are heavily used by Harvard and Radcliffe include Franklin Park Golf Links, 7 1/2 miles away in Forest Hills, Brookline Municipal Golf Course, eight miles from the Square and 1 mile off Route 9, Albemarle Golf Course, five miles from Harvard along Route 16, Minute Man golf Course, six miles away along route 2 in Lexington, and Mt. Hood Memorial Park Golf Course, eight miles to the North along the Newburyport Turnpike. All these are 18 hole layouts.
Interesting Holes
By far the most interesting set of holes for the average golfer is to be found at the Leo Jerome Martin Memorial Golf Course. The first nine is a generally easy par 35 layout, but the last nine will provide trouble for even the expert. Most of the back nine fairways are no wider than a four-lane highway. To either side lie woods, rough and water. Several of the holes are dog-legs to the left, but none are very long. Scores on the front nine are low, but the back nine makes up for this.
Leo J. Martin can be reached by traveling along Route 16 and turning up Commonwealth Avenue for about three miles. The total distance is less than 10 miles.
Greens fees on most of these courses are $1.25 on weekdays and slightly higher on weekends. the lowest daily rate is $.75, charged by Fresh Pond. The highest fee is the $2.00 charged by Ponkapoag.
For those that enjoy just driving, but have neither the time nor the energy for uselessly walking around a golf course, a multitude of driving ranges operate both day and night along the Worcester Turnpike and other main highways. The closing of Ted Madden's range which was next to the Business School has caused some inconvenience, but the Harvard man can locate a driving range or pitch and putt course by driving for ten minutes along any of the Hub's great spokes.
Aside from golf shoes, no special sportswear is necessary to play golf. The accent in golf fashions is placed upon comfortable clothes which allow free arm movement and protect the golfer from head and the sun.
If the distance involved in reaching golf layouts does not deter you and if you have the capital to buy golf equipment, you too can be a golfer this spring