Let The Good Times Roll

By Barry Scanlon

With a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face, Gerry Cheevers delights in telling stories of his experiences at the Sheraton Colonial Hotel & Golf Club. Many of the stories go back more than 30 years, when Cheevers was the star goaltender for those infamous, swashbuckling, championship Boston Bruins teams of the early 1970s. 

“That’s where a lot of guys learned to play golf,” Cheevers says. “That’s where Bobby (Orr) learned to play golf. Teddy Green played there all the time. The Colonial always treated us well.” 

It’s mid-winter, and Cheevers is in Manchester, N.H., scouting an American Hockey League game between Manchester and Lowell for the Bruins. But the mere mention of The Colonial warms his blood.  

He remembers the day Derek Sanderson showed up to play there and mentioned he hoped he was on top of his game because he only brought 12 balls. Cheevers, who was in the group ahead of Sanderson’s, watched in amazement as Sanderson hit ball after ball into the water on what was then the par-3 eighth hole. Soon he was down to one ball. 

So what happened? 

Sanderson hit a gorgeous shot that rolled to within inches of the cup. Beaming like he had just won the Stanley Cup, Sanderson walked up to the green with his entourage and tapped in. 

“Hey Derek, what did you have?” a member of Cheevers’ foursome yelled out. 

“Two! What did you think I had?” Sanderson responded with a sly grin on his face. 

Ah, the good old days. 

Richard Nagle, the second-year director of golf at the par-70 layout off Route 128, has heard many of these types of stories and he enjoys them as much as anyone. He vividly remembers paying more attention to the swing of former Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans than his own during a round years ago at The Colonial. 

His job, however, is to inject new life into the public course, which, like many local courses has seen a drop-off in rounds played during the last few years. 

“We’re trying to breathe some new life into it,” Nagle says. “This place has a ton of potential.” 

To that end, Nagle convinced the owners of the course, Starwood Hotel and Resort Corp., to accept a radical course of action, slashing greens fees in order to attract new golfers and more golfers. 

“We want to align ourselves with the competition in the area,” Nagle explains. “We’re trying to make it competitive. We’re looking to get people back in here. We’ve had a pretty good response so far. We’re just starting to get the word out. Once word gets out there, a lot of people are going to be excited. I don’t see anybody else cutting prices.” 

Last year, weekend greens fees for 18 holes were $68 and weekday fees were $58; those prices have been slashed to $59 and $49, respectively, this year. The Colonial is even offering free golf. That’s right, free golf to seniors on Tuesday mornings during the month of May. 

“We’re showing how much we want their business,” Nagle says. “I think it’s going to be crazy on Tuesday mornings. They can’t get any less than free.” 

Nagle believes the course has a lot to offer, especially with several recent improvements, which includes several trees being removed and eight bunkers being totally rebuilt, while other bunkers were resurfaced. 

Still, one of his jobs is to create more of a buzz about The Colonial as last year’s number of total rounds (23,000) was far too low. The goal this year, Nagle says, is for an increase of 25 percent rounds, a goal he feels is realistic. 

Two years ago, there was talk of The Colonial developing a five-year plan, in which the course would become semi-private and then, ultimately, a private course. Those plans are up in the air, according to Alan Swerdloff, the Colonial’s director of sales and marketing, due to the recent news that the property is up for sale. 

“There’s a lot of unknowns right now. We’ve got some great stuff happening. I think it certainly depends on who the actual buyer is,” Swerdloff says. “I think a lot of things could change.” 

The Colonial will remain open to the public for the foreseeable future, though Nagle expects 100 to 125 annual memberships to be sold at a cost of $2,700 for unlimited golf. One of the annual members, Frank Aiello, a 50-year-old Peabody resident, is excited about the new direction in which Nagle is taking the course. 

“I enjoy the layout. Every hole has its own little feature, its own little quirk,” Aiello says. “I’ve been very happy at The Colonial. I’d love to see them get it back to where it was a couple of years ago because I think it could be a spectacular complex.” 

In the past, The Colonial was swamped with private outings. The course hosted 80 last year, but that number figures to be cut in half this season. Nagle said The Colonial draws from the Greater Boston area, but hasn’t drawn enough golfers from the core towns of Lynnfield, Wakefield and Melrose. 

“I don’t think were getting the regulars out of those towns,” he says. “The biggest thing we have in the golf industry is word of mouth. They see the hotel and think it’s private golf. We need to reach out to new people. A lot of people who come here fall in love with it because it’s a traditional, New England-style course. You have trees, you have water, you have a little bit of everything.” 

For too long, Nagle admitted, the course also had too much of something else: goose droppings left by packs of geese that made The Colonial their second home. Today, Nagle proudly notes that the geese are history thanks to the diligent work of Chris Rooney and his three border collies that have earned the name “The Geese Police.” The Colonial even placed a “The Geese Are Gone” ad in one of the Boston newspapers. 

The course, which carries a 130 slope from all three tees, consists of 6,467 yards from the blues, 6,075 from the whites and 5,230 for the ladies.  

“It’s not a tremendously difficult course, but it’s challenging enough,” Nagle says. “It can be a walker’s course. There’s not a lot of elevation changes. The greens have always been a strong point.” 

The first nine holes were built in 1925; it would be another 36 years until the second nine was constructed. On Sept. 1, 1961, the 18-hole course, then known as Colonial Country Club, officially opened. Today, The Colonial resort consists of the golf course, lodging, a health spa and dining. Through the years, The Colonial has produced scores of outstanding amateurs, including Burt Page and Barrie Bruce, who represented the course when he won the 1967 Massachusetts Amateur. 

In 1964, The Colonial became the nation’s first championship course to equip nine of its holes for night golf. At a cost of $55,000, 42 poles and 204 floodlights were erected, but the concept was short-lived because of the proliferation of insects drawn to the lights. 

The Colonial has certainly had an interesting history. By slashing prices and improving the conditions, however, current course officials are more interested in producing future memories.