Photo/submitted
Southborough – People driving by the busy construction site for the new Public Facility building on Route 85 in Southborough would be hard pressed to associate the area with a fully functioning and operational golf course. However, Southborough Golf Club, formerly known as St. Mark’s golf course, has been open for business this year since the end of March.
The historically significant course, founded by George Peabody Gardner in 1896, is one of the very first public golf courses established in Massachusetts. It was the intent of the residents, voiced at the 2017 Special Town Meeting, to preserve and operate this historic course as part of the collaborative effort to build the new Public Safety Facility and place the remaining land under a conservation restriction.
Work on the Public Safety building is now being completed and is slated for occupancy by Thursday, Aug. 1. The course will soon be undergoing renovations in order to restore its full nine-hole layout. These will consist mostly of relocating the tees and a portion of the fairway for the first hole, and creating a new green for the ninth. The remainder of the course remains unchanged and true to its storied roots.
A new architect was recently recruited for the job, one who has also in the past worked closely with New England Golf, the management company currently under contract to run golf operations and who has so ably and professionally managed the course for the last 10 years.
During this current construction phase, a temporary set of tees and new green, on holes one and nine, respectively, have been set up in order to allow play to continue without interruption. Access to the golf course and clubhouse is through the same entrance on Route 85, and follows a marked path around the new Public Facility building onto the new parking area close to the clubhouse. Soon, the entire roadway will be paved, with new landscaping for the entire complex to follow.
The clubhouse itself is open and fully operating, and will also be undergoing some noteworthy renovations. Improvements will include an elevated deck off of the “front” of the clubhouse, including a stair egress to the ground level, as well as new siding and a new roof.
In addition, Southborough Golf Club will undergo a certification program to achieve designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, and join approximately 1,000 other golf courses in the U.S. that have demonstrated their commitment to environmental stewardship by completing Audubon’s multifaceted certification process, allowing them to reduce water and chemical herbicide usage in the process to enhance wildlife habitat areas and preserve native plant, animal and insect species.
Southborough Golf Club is located at 32 Cordaville Road. For more information, visit www.southboroughgolfclub.com.
