The International’s new course will still be called the Pines, but almost everything else about it will be different than the original.
The new design will be about 1,200 yards shorter than the 8,325-yard layout in Bolton that once laid claim to being the world’s longest golf course. Fifteen of the 18 holes will follow different corridors. There are many waste areas with fescue.
No. 5 is a 430-yard par 4 which cuts across the former fourth green, the fifth tee, the third fairway, the 12th fairway and back up to the former Tiger tee on 13.
The new green is located just short of the former 13th tee. Most of No. 5 used to be trees, except for where the third and 12th fairways were.
The fairway of the 525-yard, par-5 seventh hole on the new Pines course runs along where the eighth and ninth holes were at Twin Springs GC, a nine-hole public course which has closed. About 1,500 trees were removed from behind the old ninth tee and eighth green of Twin Springs.
The green used to be 105 yards long by 42 yards wide on the 715-yard, par-5 fifth hole. No. 16 on the new course will play 145 yards from the back tees, but can play as short as 85 yards, shorter than the green was on the former No. 5.
Director of golf Paul Celano jokingly referred to No. 16 as the shortest par 5 in New England because the bunker to the left of the green is 15 feet deep, there’s a pot bunker to the right, and the green is small. So there could be a lot of double-bogey 5s.
There will be three par 3s of at least 225 yards. No. 10 will be 245.
“It’s a completely new design,” Celano said. “It’s not a renovation, it’s not a reimagination, it’s a new design.”
Celano said Escalante Golf will spend about $50 million on the International, including the $10 million it paid to purchase the club out of bankruptcy in February 2021.
Escalante, based in Fort Worth, Texas, owns 24 golf clubs in all.
The Pines will be different, but Coore & Crenshaw of Austin, Texas, have carved out an interesting, challenging layout that should be more enjoyable to play.
Bill Coore formed his own design firm in 1982, and Ben Crenshaw joined him later. Crenshaw is a two-time Masters champion who made his pro debut by finishing tied for 35th at Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton at the USI Classic. They’ve designed more than three dozen courses, but this is only their second in New England. They also designed Old Sandwich GC in Plymouth in 2004.
Celano said a change to the Pines was necessary.
“It wasn’t that it was too hard,” Celano said, “because players today can play almost anything. It just didn’t play the way it was designed.”
Trees that were once 10 feet high had grown to 50 feet high. So the course didn’t play the way it was intended to play.
The hope was that the new course would open this fall, but Celano said it probably won’t open next May or June. Construction is finished, but the grass needs to grow.
The first golf course on the site was a nine-hole, public course called Runaway Brook that opened in 1901. Albert Surprenant purchased the club in 1953 and hired Geoffrey Cornish to build the world’s longest 18-hole course. Worcester native Paul Harney and Francis Ouimet assisted him. The Pines opened two years later at 8,040 yards from the back Tiger tees. No, the tees weren’t named after Tiger Woods. He hadn’t even been born yet.
International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) bought the club in 1961 and changed the name to the International six years later. In 1972, Robert Trent Jones oversaw a renovation, and the course was lengthened to 8,325 yards.
Dan and Florence Weadock acquired the International in 1999 and hired Tom Fazio to design his first golf course in New England. The Oaks opened in 2001, making the International one of the few private, 18-hole clubs in New England.
Dustin Johnson won a LIV Golf event at the Oaks in 2022.
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman was the best man at Celano’s wedding.
Celano said Coore uses the word “natural” to describe his golf courses and the word “bounce” to describe the playability. He wants the ball to roll.
“So our new golf course,” Celano said, “is totally different from the Oaks in that the fairways and rough are all fescue, and the greens have this new 007 XL bent, a creeping bentgrass.”
The greens will play firmer because they’re less susceptible to disease and poa annua intrusion. Most greens in New England slope from back to front, but seven of the greens on the new Pines slope from front to back.
The Pines has fescue fairways and tees, while the Oaks has all bent grass. The Oaks is more tree lined. The Pines is more open with more native areas. The Pines will have 84 bunkers, and the Oaks has 48.
The Oaks covers 8.22 miles, and the Pines covers 5.5.
Michael Galvin, 43, became director of agronomy in 2020 after working for four years at Red Tail GC in Devens, for two at Wedgewood Pines in Stow and for 15 on Long Island. He oversees a grounds crew of 40 people.
“Walking around with Bill Coore is an honor,” Galvin said. “Just his vision. Watching him walk and put this all together, it was just amazing how he fit the property to the land.”
Galvin was also impressed with Crenshaw’s photographic memory.
“He remembers every hole he’s played on tour and around the world, it’s amazing,” Galvin said.
Brian Marfione, 36, has been superintendent of the Oaks since March 2022. Before that, he was superintendent for three years at Sterling National CC and was an assistant at Winchester CC. He has helped on the new Pines.
Jim DeMallie, 57, is in his third season as head pro at the International. Previously, he was the head pro at Cherokee Town and CC in Atlanta and in Naples, Florida, but he returned to Massachusetts to be close to his mother, who lives in West Boylston. He grew up playing at Tatnuck CC when Jack Gale was the head pro and graduated from Worcester Academy.
He’s impressed with the new course.
“I love the feel. You kind of feel like you’re over in Scotland,” DeMallie said. “That’s where I had my best times with my dad.”
Every building on the International campus has been or will be torn down. The old clubhouse was demolished in June and July. Demolition of the lodge and conference center followed.
The current clubhouse, including the pro shop, fireplace room and locker rooms, will be torn down after the new clubhouse is built.
Construction of that new clubhouse between the current clubhouse and where the old clubhouse was is expected to begin next year, and it could open in 2026.
Cottages will be built for members coming from out of town.
Celano said the International will remain a private golf club for members and their guests. The International is all about golf, not tennis, pickleball or swimming.
Celano said the International has close to 270 members and that full capacity would be around 500. Celano said 40 percent of members live in the Boston area, but some come from the Worcester area as well. Initiation fee is $65,000, and annual dues is $14,500, but Celano said those costs will increase incrementally.
During the winter, Celano is director of instruction at Bay Colony GC in North Naples, Florida, where initiation fee is more than $300,000. He used to teach at Red Tail and Sterling National CC.
Crenshaw, who played junior and college golf against Celano, was at the International during the British Open last summer and again last fall. Coore visited more often and as recently as in June. He is scheduled to return this fall.
Tom Barnard is the new general manager. He worked at East Hampton Golf Club in East Hampton, New York, for 24 years.
A short course, golf academy and fitness center are on the list of potential plans. The short course may be built on the site of the closed Twin Springs GC.
To become a member, contact the membership director Ana Orlov at ana.orlov@theinternational.com.
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—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @BillDoyle15.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Golf: Pines at International will have totally new look
