Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Butter Brook GC

My friends C-mo, Baggy, a new character Andy Pants and myself decided to go out and play 18 at Butter Brook in Westford, MA.  The day was perfect and filled with our usual activities.

The Course:

It isnt Butter Nut, it isnt Brook Meadow, its Butter Brook.  A great 18 hole track located in Westford, MA (http://www.butterbrookgc.com/).  It opened its first 9 holes in 2004 and then opened the final 9 holes to the public in 2007.  It is located on a former pig farm (I think) and it can definitely smell that way if the weather is warm enough and the wind is blowing in the right direction.  It is very well maintained though so dont get the wrong idea. 

I think that the front nine are carved well through the surrounding trees and the Butter Brook, hence the name.


The back nine gives you a wide open meadow feeling with well placed waste bunkers and water features.


I really liked the course.  I have played it before and was happy to return.  The course provides a lot of good challenges.  I think that it can play a little to much like driver - wedge (which I dont like).  You do have to be accurate though, otherwise you are going to get a close up look at the green from behind a big ass tree (I know from personal experience).  It can get a little pricey on the weekends, 78 beans with a cart which they require.  Not a great value, but not overly priced either. 
 
The Round:

I had an awesome time playing with these guys!  Andy was a great addition to the foursome.  He is not a good golfer at all but he is okay with that.  He is very understanding though and doesnt try to slow anyone down.  Plus it gave me a buddy to smoke cigars with (CAO's delicious).  He was also a great cart partner and kept me laughing throughout the whole round.

Baggy and C-mo played well.  C-mo was getting a little frustrated at the beginning of the round due to a case of the lefts.  He was able to straighten it out though along with his attitude.  I didnt play that well due to the fact that I wasnt really paying attention, due to the fact that I was just straight chillin with Andy and having a blast doing it.  I did find a pink ball in the woods though and decided to play 2 holes with it (not kidding, I have proof).


C-Mo did put me back on track though and I was able to have a couple of pars and a birdie (almost eagle) before the drinks and laughter got the better of me.  I did play the 9th hole in a different fashion than most.  Here is a re-cap.  It was a long par 5


I blocked my drive into the adjacent fairway (not out of the ordinary yet).  I didnt have a good shot to go back into the 9th fairway so I decided to go through the trees back up to the 3rd tee box.  The 3rd was such a nice hole I decided to play over that way again.  My 3rd shot was about 175yds through another set of trees and over a small waste area.  I was nervous as hell though because there was a group on the tee box so I had a little gallery.  I tried to wait for them to hit to be polite but they wanted to see if I could pull it off.  So I closed my eyes and swung and it landed right on the green.  I felt like a professional, I even got a little golf clap from the gallery.  Ended up with a par.  Easily the best hole of the day.

The Beers:

Andy Pants brought some delicious craft beers from 21st Amendment.  One was called "Back in Black" (http://21st-amendment.com/beer/back-in-black). 


It is like a mix between an IPA and a Guinness and all delicious.  It was surprisingly good on the golf course.  Smooth flavor with a nice mix of hops.  The other one was called "Hop Crisis" (http://21st-amendment.com/beer/hop-crisis).  It is ofcourse an IPA but not an overly hoppy IPA.  I was very timid when taking my first sip, expecting the hops to come out like a group of green army men and punch me in the face.  To my surprise it wasnt that way.  The hops were mixed well and the beer had a GREAT flavor without too much kick in the pants.  Usually I wouldnt think that such full bodied beers would be appropriate but if I were given the chance to drink them again in the same situation I wouldnt say no.  Good job 21st Amendment.

I also drank it out of my coffee cup (no Panera does not serve beer now) because I didnt want to break any rules.  Butter Brook does have a cart girl but I didnt need her because I had my cart Andy.  After the round we went to the club house for a drink.  Since we had beers on the course I decided on a John Daly.  The shack did have your regular mix of domestics and imported.  Nothing out of the ordinary which is always a little dissapointing to me. 

Final Tally:

1 Birdie, 3 Beers.  It was a beautiful day with new beers and new friends to play with.  What more could you ask for.  Until the next round stay out of the bunkers and keep getting drunkers.