The 150-yard bridge connecting the seventh and eighth holes gives golfers
a nice diversion from the demanding test that awaits them.

The Meadow at Peabody
has grown into one of
the top public courses in the area

You might have noticed a lot has changed on the Boston sports scene in the eight years since 2001 – the same time that The Meadow at Peabody opened its first nine holes.

The Red Sox were looking at an 83-year drought without a World Series title. The Patriots had just turned to a handsome new second-year quarterback to replace perhaps the team’s most popular signal caller and just one year removed from a 5-11 season. The Celtics and the Bruins were in limbo stuck in mediocrity, and The Meadow was the popular new kid on the block that everyone in Peabody was bragging about, but outsiders were unsure.

Everyone knows the rest of the story with the Red Sox and Patriots becoming the teams of the decade in their respective sports with five combined championships. The Celtics followed suit in 2008, winning their first championship in over 20 years, and the Bruins finally returned to Stanley Cup contender form for the first time since the beginning of the Ray Bourque era in the late ‘80s.

And what about The Meadow? Well, its journey most closely paralleled Tom Brady’s brilliant rise from sixth round draft pick question mark to a two-time Super Bowl MVP.

Drilled and smashed out of granite stone and molded around a marshy and undulating terrain, people often wondered what might become of the $6.75 million project.

Just ask Peabody resident Jon Gagnon. The former Seattle assistant golf pro, golf photographer extraordinaire, and two-handicap who retained his amateur status back in 1998, would often trek the course as it was being built and could feel the rumblings of the granite blasting sessions in his nearby home on Christina Drive.

“They did a pretty good job with what they had to deal with in the marsh and granite that surround the layout,” said Gagnon, who shot a 70 off the championship tees in the 2005 club championship – then a club record.

“I remember when the course was being built and they had stakes marking off what was what,” recalled Gagnon, who also has a background in golf course architecture. “The fourth tee box post was in the ground and I couldn’t figure out where it was going. They wound the fairway through the trees and around up the hill, which works. It was the same thing on No. 5 because it was tough to see where the hole was going when it was first being built, but that now has to be one of the toughest shots to fairway around and from the view off the back tee you can see Salem in one direction and Middleton off in the other direction.”

As the course matured, superintendent Dick Duggan and his crew have cut back areas throughout the course to make it easier for players to find their blind drives, yet The Meadow has still retained its wild natural look.

In fact, the only real addition the grounds keeping crew has done in eight years is put in fescue grass around the greens to help keep approach shots from going way past the holes. The thick grass grows in green and turns light brown by summer’s end. Combined with the blustery conditions that exist on almost a daily basis all over the course, it gives golfers a British Open-like feel with a New England rugged and rolling terrain, according to Cronan.

“The fescue grass is real wispy and light, growing in green before turning brown and wavy similar to the British Open,” Cronan described. “Unfortunately with all the rain this summer it has grown in a little thicker than we would have liked, but that has also saved us money on maintenance.”

Showing promise upon its arrival, The Meadow quickly gained a top-flight reputation and has now established itself as perhaps the most brilliant public and municipal golf course on the North Shore.

For players like Salem resident Chris Vannah, who has played the course extensively for all eight years of its existence, the views and natural essence were an instant hook.

“The main reasons I love the course are the views and the nature of it; they didn’t take out the trees and the marshes,” stated Vannah, who said the gorgeous finishing No. 18 looking out into downtown Peabody with a tall white steeple just peering over the treetops was his favorite view. “The views at Peabody, that is what is so nice. That is what golf is all about for me, enjoying Mother Nature.”

Top golfers want to play The Meadow because of its challenging character and expansive views. At 6,708 yards from the blacks and 6,215 from the blues, The Meadow not only forces players to be accurate out of the tee box, but also long. According to Gagnon, no other course on the North Shore offers the same degree of ascent and descent going out off the tee box or up to the green.

“With the elevation changes, there is really no other course with the length of The Meadow and with the severity of elevation changes,” said Gagnon, who points to the par-4 418-yard fifth hole where the tee box sits at least 100 feet above the fairway as a prime example. “That’s why I think The Meadow has a ton of low handicaps playing there. Lots of good players want to play there because better golfers shine on harder courses.

”The greens are always in good condition, which is a big seller,” continued Gagnon, while mentioning that the course reminded him of the prestigious Newport Country Club in Rhode Island during the windier days during the summer because of the fescue grass. “If you don’t have good greens, you are not going to have a lot of people play.”

Cronan said one of the best pieces of advice he offers new golfers is to be aware of those distances, trust the markers on the course for where to hit blind shots, and to make sure they play the right tee boxes. Used each year as one of the qualifiers for the Mass Public Links, the championship tees are really not appropriate for the average golfer.

“I have people out here and they want to play the tips all the time, and most of them probably don’t want to do that here because it’s not a little difference,” said Cronan, who also added the second most important tip he tells newbies is to keep the ball in front of the hole. “On some holes it’s 80 to 90 yards difference (out of the tee box), and there is 500 yards difference between the black and the blues.

“Selecting the proper tees is the first bit of advice I give, and making sure you don’t hit over the greens is second because you can get in some serious trouble over the greens,” Cronan said.

The USGA rating of 73.7 from the black versus the par for the course, which is 71, backs up Cronan’s sentiment. A nearly three-shot difference should clue golfers in that the championship tees are not to be taken lightly. Playing from the blues at a USGA rating of 71.1 is also no walk in the park, but more closely resembles the type of course the average to above average player can play, and enjoy themselves.

“It’s a very challenging course. To someone new it can sometimes frustrate them and they might say they’re never going to come back,” said Cronan candidly, adding that the numerous blind tee shots are the most common complaint he hears from first time golfers.

“Then they’ll get home, have time to think about the course, say the backside was really beautiful and intriguing, and most of them are repeat customers.”

“I think this is one of those courses that grows on you,” Cronan added. “Either you love it or you hate it. Those are the two emotions you are going to have here for sure.”

Around the Bend

Founded: 2001

Architect Firm: Cornish, Silva & Mungeam

Par/Distance/Slope/PGA Rating: From the black tees: 71/6,708/135/73.7

Course Record: Peter Cunningham 68 in men’s club championship 2007

Rates for 18: Weekdays (non-resident) $40 (18) $21 (9); Weekends $42 (18), $22 (9)

Fun fact: The Meadow was named after the pond and marsh area just off holes seven and eight where most of the young aspiring hockey players who later became Peabody High standouts first laced up their skates.