Leo J. Martin Memorial Golf Club

Leo J. Martin is an unpretentious municipal course. Leo J. Martin is a convenient place to practice based on its location and proximity to Routes 128 and 16. The driving range is more than adequate and the management added some new mats this year that accept wooden tees for more realistic hitting conditions with a direver or fairway wood. The clubhouse staff is friendly and the pro provides good instruction. As an old Metropolitan District Commission course, it has not been well maintained during the past 25 years and the overall condition has suffered as a consequence. Many of the fiarways are wide and offer an excellent venue for beginners as well as for the first time out after a long winter. The fairways do dry out in the summer. The greens are only average and oft times a bit slow.

But let's be real. This is a municipal course that does not pretned to be more than that. You would not golf here everyday, but...I have golfed at Triggs Memorial in Providence (another muni) and although thr course was designed by Donald Ross, it suffersfrom the same affliction as Leo J; lack of attention. Franklin Park and Wayland Country Club are in the same shape. But people still golf at these courses as a form of social interaction and recreation. Better golfers will choose to go elsewhere. Leo J remains a good place to take your kid for some basic instruction and to share the game of golf. After all, isn't that what its all about? And where else can you golf with your kid without a ranger barking at you for slow play and where the 2 of you can play 18 for under $50?…

It's just sad.. Hands down the worst golf course I have ever played. It is a shame that this is course has fallen into such disrepair. The tee boxes are literally dirt and rocks, many tee boxes have simply been placed in the middle of the fairway. The fairways look like they haven't been watered in years, and this is a course that follows the banks of the Charles River! Even the club house is in horrible condition. The state apparently cut off all funding for this place awhile ago. If they spent a few more bucks on this place it could be a really great course. I understand that this is just a public course, but I have never seen a muni look like this. Golf courses can be both cheap and in decent condition. Well maybe not in Massachusetts! It is truly sad to see a golf course look as bad as this.…

An MDC course that everybody eventually plays.. The Scene
The driving range, which sits in front of the clubhouse on the main road through the course, sometimes seems like golf's equivalent of the "Star Wars" bar. Noblemen who step out of black Mercedes Benzes on their way to Weston smack balls beside guys who hope their rusted autos will get them home from whichever Allston bar they plan to patronize that night.

The Greens
The course begins as a well-worn amble along MDC waterways before shifting across the street to the somewhat lush, more upland fairways of the back side. Any local 15-year-old who hasn't sweated his way through these last five holes on a hot summer evening with just one golf ball left hasn't lived. For a course that sometimes seems randomly routed, Leo J. Martin offers a wide variety of contours and challenges.…