16. Agawam Municipal Golf Course

Location: Feeding Hills (1:44 W of Boston, 1:06 SE of Pittsfield).
Architect: Richard Leao, 1944.
Yardage: 6099 (white) / 5345 (red).
Weekend Rates: $20. Cart + $13.
Best Deal: $17 (weekday).

A towering tree stands sentry in front of Agawam's 12th green.

Agawam Municipal Golf Course is a tale of two nines. The front nine is laid out on a steady slope of land falling away from the clubhouse to the southeast; every non-par three hole on the front nine plays either directly north or directly south. The most positive thing about this routing is that most of these holes fight a sideslope and force you to constantly hit shots with the ball above or below your feet. In addition, the greens are built with few bunkers and only slight fill - they flow very gracefully with the natural grade of the land.

Single rows of trees divide holes on the front nine.

This very simple routing, however, means that the wind doesn't hit you from many different angles - on the March day I played, every hole going south was dead into the wind, and every hole going north was with the wind - not much variety. Also, the holes are separated by very straight lines of trees which act as very artificial barriers between playing corridors. Perhaps clumps of trees, or leaving the land devoid of these plantings would look more natural to the eye.

The 6th green cascades sharply from back left to front right.

My favorite holes on the front nine were two par fours: the 465-yard 4th and the 360-yard 6th. A par on the 4th hole is very hard earned, as even an excellent drive leaves a long iron approach downhill to a rolling green. The 6th hole is much shorter, but plays uphill. Many drives will die into the hill, resulting in a partially blind approach to the most challenging green on the course. I hit what I thought was a perfect approach just right of the flag, but found my ball skipped just a few paces too far to the back fringe. From there, it was an easy three putt. I can only imagine trying to putt this diabolical green at summer speeds - stay below the hole at all costs! The front nine closes out with a 155-yard par three that plays at least 180 yards up an extremely steep hill behind the clubhouse. Trying to flight a shot that carries the correct distance on a hole with such elevation change is a difficult way to end the first nine.

The back nine measures just over 3000 yards, similar to the front nine, but contains three par fives and many more interesting holes. Most of the back nine was cut through dense hilly forested land, and a meandering creek wanders through four of the holes. The 10th hole is a short dogleg left par five at 475 yards, but can extract a big number as out of bounds stares you in the face directly through the diagonal fairway. The extra hang time from the highly elevated tee only exacerbates the chance a sliced ball will fly into the trees on the right. The 11th measures 395 down and up yards, climbing sharply to a flat plateau green that's about halfway up a cliff behind the clubhouse. I can imagine hitting a club too much to this green and still having a birdie putt as the ball filters all the way back down the steep slope backing the green. The short 12th hole's defense is a unique one - a monstrous singular tree hangs over the entire right side of the green. As the hole is only 348 yards downhill, drives to the left leave a simple pitch... but any drives to the right require some sort of bump and run to stay under the branches.

The more exciting back nine rolls through a wooded setting.

Two easy par threes bracket the most strategic hole on the back nine at the 322-yard 14th. This short par four poses a classic risk-reward dilemma as it doglegs to the right: how far do you dare to carry the creek to shorten your approach shot? Long hitters could conceivably hit a high fade right at the green if they can carry the ball close to 300 yards; short hitters are still challenged by a 150-yard carry straight ahead over the water. This hole shows the importance and intrigue a simple angular hazard can add to what would otherwise be a humdrum dogleg design. Agawam closes with an unusual string of pars: 3, 5, 5, 3.

The par five 16th swoops up to a hilltop green.

The 16th hole features a blind landing area over the crest of a hill; a strong drive down the right side opens up a shot at the green, while a drive down the left is blocked out by a grove of trees at the late dogleg. Agawam ends relatively weakly with a medium length par three, which is preceded by a short par five that boomerangs to the right and is made difficult by the always atrocious interior out of bounds stakes. It's too bad the white stakes are made necessary by the poor C-shaped design of the 17th, because the green is a fun sidehill one, flowing steeply away from the clubhouse.

Agawam Municipal is an easy walk and a solid value, especially if you pay the 9 hole rate and sneak out on the back nine. The many elevated greens make for challenging targets on the inward nine, where the ever-present creek and well placed trees demand more accuracy than on the outward nine. The staff is extremely friendly, which just adds to my desire to give Agawam a shot when it's in summer condition.

Course Rating: 4 stars out of 10

Bang for your $17 bucks: 6 stars out of 10