TPC Boston
In the Great Woods south of Boston, an Arnold Palmer course was reborn. The 2007 reimagining by Gil Hanse, with Brad Faxon at his side, turned TPC Boston into a more natural, strategic par 71 of around 7,300 yards, and for sixteen years it staged the PGA Tour's Labor Day playoff stop. It remains the Tour pedigree round of New England.
Photograph: TPC Boston, via Google
The verdict
TPC Boston is the rare modern Tour course that got better after the cameras arrived. It opened in 2002 to an Arnold Palmer design, but the version players and members know today is the work of Gil Hanse, who in 2007 reimagined the layout with the New England native and Tour star Brad Faxon. Hanse rerouted holes, softened the manufactured feel and rebuilt the course into something that looks as if it grew out of the sandy, wooded terrain of Norton, a strategic test with width, angles and clever short par 4s rather than a parade of long forced carries.
For the traveling golfer it is the championship round of greater Boston and one of Gil Hanse's earliest statements before he went on to design Olympic and Ryder Cup venues. From 2003 to 2018 it hosted the Deutsche Bank Championship and then the Dell Technologies Championship, a FedExCup playoff stop won by the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, so a round here walks the same ground as a generation of Tour drama. It is a private club, so access takes planning, but for a golfer building a New England trip it is the marquee parkland name.
TPC Boston at a glance
- Opened
- 2002
- Designer
- Palmer; Hanse 2007
- Type
- Wooded parkland
- Par
- 71
- Yardage
- Around 7,300 yds
- Access
- Private members
Designer, opening year, par and yardage verified June 2026 from course databases and club sources. TPC Boston opened in 2002 to an Arnold Palmer design and was reimagined by Gil Hanse with Brad Faxon in 2007. It plays as a par 71 of around 7,300 yards from the championship tees, with bentgrass greens and roughly 64 bunkers through the Great Woods. It is a private members club; there is no public daily fee, so access is by membership or invitation and should be arranged ahead.
The holes worth the trip
The genius of the Hanse remodel is that it asks you to think rather than simply hit. The course gives generous corridors off the tee, but the angles into the greens and the placement of the bunkers reward the player who picks a side and commits, and the bentgrass surfaces are firm and full of movement. Width with consequence is the theme: a wayward drive leaves a sideways look at a green tilted away from you, while the correct line opens the hole.
The short par 4s are the signature. Hanse built holes that tempt the long hitter to take on the green while leaving a fiendish recovery for the miss, the kind of risk and reward that produced so much late drama on the Tour. The closing stretch was reworked specifically to create finishes that swung tournaments, and the par 3s are varied and exacting, asking for control of trajectory in the swirling wind that the surrounding woods funnel across the holes.
What stays with you is how natural it all feels for a course that began life as a TV stage. Hanse and Faxon gave TPC Boston the look and the strategy of a much older club, and the result is a thinking golfer's parkland that holds up to repeated play. It is a course members never tire of and visitors remember, the closest thing New England has to a modern Tour classic.
How to get on
| What to know | Detail |
|---|---|
| Access | Private members club; play is normally for members and their accompanied guests, with no public daily fee |
| Green fee | As a private club, TPC Boston does not publish a public green fee; guest play is arranged through a member, so always confirm directly before planning a visit |
| Booking | Through a member host; the New England season runs late spring through autumn, with high summer and early fall the prime window |
| Walking and carts | Carts are common; the layout is walkable and caddies are part of the championship experience |
| Season | A seasonal northern course, roughly April to November; the course is closed through the New England winter |
| Getting there | In Norton, about forty minutes south of Boston and twenty minutes from Providence, an easy drive from either airport |
Access verified June 2026 from club sources; rules can change, so always confirm directly before planning a visit. Ask about a Boston golf trip.
Where to stay nearby
The natural base is Boston itself, around forty minutes north, with its full range of city hotels, history and dining, or Providence twenty minutes south for a smaller, easygoing alternative. Either puts a group within range of the course and within an easy drive of the wider golf of New England and the coast, with Cape Cod and the Rhode Island shore both close at hand for a few days off the championship layout.
Most golfers pair TPC Boston with the classic clubs of the region. Combine the modern Tour test in the Great Woods with the historic links inspired golf of Newport and Rhode Island and the great parkland tracks of Massachusetts: see our profiles of Newport Country Club, Boston Golf Club and Wannamoisett Country Club to build a complete New England golf trip.
Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around Boston.
Build a New England golf trip
TPC Boston is the Tour pedigree round of greater Boston, best played alongside the historic clubs of New England. We plan trips through Massachusetts and Rhode Island, arrange access and the order of play where we can, and handle the lodging and the logistics. Tell us roughly when and who is travelling and one concierge costs it to the head, with no obligation.
TPC Boston questions
Can visitors play TPC Boston?
TPC Boston is a private members club, so play is normally limited to members and their accompanied guests. Unlike some courses in the TPC network it does not sell daily public tee times, so access is by membership or invitation; always confirm directly.
Who designed TPC Boston?
TPC Boston opened in 2002 to an Arnold Palmer design and was extensively reimagined in 2007 by architect Gil Hanse with input from PGA Tour player Brad Faxon. The Hanse remodel rerouted holes and rebuilt the course into a more natural, strategic test and won Golf Digest's best private remodel award.
What is the par and yardage at TPC Boston?
TPC Boston plays as a par 71 of around 7,300 yards from the championship tees, with bentgrass greens and roughly 64 bunkers cut through the wooded terrain of Norton's Great Woods.
What tournaments has TPC Boston hosted?
TPC Boston hosted the PGA Tour's Labor Day weekend playoff event from 2003 to 2018, the Deutsche Bank Championship and later the Dell Technologies Championship, a FedExCup playoff stop won by stars including Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Related
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Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Designer, opening year, par, yardage, access and hosting history verified June 2026. Last reviewed June 2026.