BOLTON, MASSACHUSETTS | Opened in 1955, The International featured as its centerpiece a course designed by Geoffrey Cornish with assistance from amateur golf icon Francis Ouimet. The layout was dubbed the Pines and known for being the longest course in the country, measuring 8,040 yards from the back tees. That was an astounding number, especially when one considers the persimmon woods and two-piece, rubber-cored balls everyone was playing at the time. And the owners of this private club in farm country some 30 miles west of Boston touted that length as a point of difference in the golf course universe and promoted it as a reason to play the layout.
Another selling point in their view was the overall toughness of a track that also boasted cavernous bunkers and steeply pitched greens.
But most golfers did not regard those features as great attractions. As a result, the Pines never found its way onto the most reputable top-100 lists, even after the club hired Robert Trent Jones in 1972 to add nearly 300 yards of length to the course.
Fast forward to 2025, and suddenly the Pines is surrounded by buzz. That is thanks to a recent revamping by architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw that has made it among the most interesting places to play in New England.
It starts with a completely different routing, which Coore created after walking the well-contoured property time and time again. Not one hole corridor or green site is the same, with the exception of No. 6.
As is often their wont, the architects also produced a pleasing mix of holes on the par-71 layout that test one’s skills with a variety of clubs.
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