14. Unicorn Golf Course

Location: Stoneham (0:13 N of Boston, 2:29 E of Pittsfield).

Architect: Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek, 1928.

Yardage: 3234 (blue) / 2902 (red).

Weekend Rates (9 holes): $20. Cart + $13.

Best Deal: $19 (weekday).

Unicorn's 5th hole adds woodsy flavor to the course.

Unicorn Golf Course. It would be the greatest-named course in almost every U.S. state... except Massachusetts! Massachusetts is lucky enough to house one of the best courses built this decade - located in Plymouth, it is the unfortunately named Old Sandwich Golf Club. I definitely think "Old Sandwich" is disgusting enough to beat out the magical "Unicorn" for best moniker in the state. Other than its name, Unicorn is a solid but unremarkable municipal golf course. It has some good qualities (two nice par threes and par fours ranging in length from 326 to 448 yards), but also some flaws (average conditioning and utterly pointless out of bounds stakes between parallel fairways).

Sparse treelines (and O.B stakes!) separate most of Unicorn's parallel holes.

Unicorn takes advantage of the moderately rolling land it sits on well, with most greens elevated from their surrounds and guarded by flash-faced sand bunkers. As a municipal course, the layout has lost much of its teeth since its inception in 1928 - the nine holes that remain from the original eighteen have had many bunkers reduced or eliminated to speed up play and lower scores. The two best holes on the course are the two par threes; these two holes, while still excellent, each have lost intimidating fronting bunkers which apparently frustrated local golfers one too many times. Most frustrating about Unicorn, however, are the white interior out of bounds stakes marching under the picket fences of trees that separate the many holes near the clubhouse. As there is no distance advantage or angle to be gained to hitting over trees into another fairway (Unicorn's par fours and fives are all virtually straight holes), I believe these stakes are completely superfluous. When my friend Danny and I played Unicorn, we ignored the stakes - wild shots into other fairways had enough trouble to deal with getting back over the trees and toward the correct green.

Unicorn's layout starts with three back-and-forth short par fours; the 1st green has a deep bunker defending the right side, the 2nd green is small and surrounded by trouble, and the 3rd green is located in a nice pocket of trees below fairway level.

The attractive target at the 179-yard 4th.

My favorite three holes at Unicorn all are laid out in the woods at the southern edge of the property. The 4th measures 179 yards but plays less down a slight slope. The green is wonderfully full of contour. Originally completely ringed by large bunkers, is now guarded by smaller sandtraps left and right that still penalize a pulled or pushed mid-iron. The 415-yard 5th hole steps into the woods, the fairway slowly spooling down an undulating hill to a natural greensite encased by trees left, right, and behind. After the long 6th and 7th run toward the clubhouse and back, the par three 8th's tee is again situated in the woods.

The raised green at the 178-yard 8th.

Unicorn's 178-yard 8th hole measures only 1 yard less than its other par three at the 4th. More importantly, however, the effective yardages are a couple clubs different as the 8th plays moderately uphill while the 4th drops from tee to green. For example, my 7-iron reached the 4th, but I needed a 5-iron to find the 8th green! The 8th's green complex is another victim of the course changing to accomodate the weaker golfer, as the front bunker in the picture above is gone. The green is still a demanding target, located on a high spot protected by deep bunkers on either side. Unicorn's nine holes ends with a brutal 447-yard par four that parallels the 1st hole and leads back to the parking lot.

In sum, Unicorn has lost luster since its Golden Age conception but still provides a good venue for a quick nine holes. One interesting fact about Unicorn is for many years it existed as a very unique 13-hole course! For many golfers, 13 holes might be the perfect compromise between the sometimes unsatisfactory nine and the sometimes exhausting eighteen. In 1994, the four "extra" Unicorn holes were remade into nine par threes ranging from 82 to 179 yards. The construction of this executive course, Stoneham Oaks, condensed Unicorn into its current, more conventional nine-hole layout in the process of providing a perfect playground for beginning golfers.

Course Rating: 4 stars out of 10

Bang for your $19 bucks: 5 stars out of 10