Blackstone National Golf Club

Blackstone National Golf Club winds through the rolling hills of Worcester County, Massachusetts, with each of its 18 holes carved from the natural contours of the land by Rees Jones.

Blackstone National Golf Club opened in 1999 in Sutton, Massachusetts, the product of a design by Rees Jones — son of legendary architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. — who personally selected the property. The site, a sprawling tract in Worcester County, offered Jones an unusually diverse canvas of ridgelines, valleys, and dense woodland, and he embraced its natural topography rather than fighting it. Jones described his guiding philosophy for the project in a single sentence: "the style of Blackstone is dictated by the contours of the land," a statement that captures both the humility and ambition of the design. The course stretches 6,909 yards from its back tees to a par of 72, earning a course rating of 74.6 and a slope of 139 — numbers that reflect genuine challenge without artificiality. Jones offered five sets of tees — Black, Blue, White, Green, and Red — to accommodate the full range of players, and the graduated difficulty between tee sets is a hallmark of his work throughout the modern era. Each hole at Blackstone National is deliberately isolated from its neighbors by trees and terrain, giving the round the feel of a private dialogue between golfer and landscape. The Bent grass playing surfaces drain well and recover quickly through the New England seasons, and the greens complex designs — ranging from plateaued single-level surfaces to multi-tiered putting areas — demand careful attention to pin position. Jones began his career apprenticing under his father before launching his own firm, Rees Jones, Inc., in the early 1970s. He built a reputation for tackling high-profile renovation work at storied American venues — most famously at The Country Club in Brookline, which hosted the 1988 U.S. Open, and at Congressional Country Club, Bethpage Black, and Torrey Pines ahead of their own U.S. Open appearances. His new construction work carries the same thoughtfulness: respect for existing conditions, measured earthmoving, and an emphasis on strategic variety over pure length. At Blackstone National, that philosophy produced a course that has earned loyal followings among Massachusetts golfers and regular recognition from regional golf publications. The facility includes a full driving range, practice short game area, and a welcoming clubhouse overlooking the 18th green, all consistent with Jones's belief that a golf club should serve golfers at every level of ability. The course remains a point of pride for central Massachusetts golf, standing as a standout thoughtfully routed public-access course in the region. Its combination of natural beauty, strategic depth, and technical challenge — all shaped by one of the era's most accomplished architects — makes it a destination worth the drive from Boston or Providence for any golfer serious about experiencing fine course design.4 and slope of 136 on an Arthur Hills design that opened in 2000 in Sutton, Massachusetts. Hills's routing through the Blackstone Valley terrain used the natural topography of Worcester County's rolling landscape to create a public course of genuine championship caliber — a design worth the drive from Boston or Providence for any golfer serious about experiencing quality New England design. The Blackstone Valley setting, on the National Heritage Corridor that preserves the industrial archaeology of America's first industrial region along the Blackstone River, gives the course a historical context that extends well beyond golf. The Massachusetts Golf Association maintains Blackstone National Golf Club among its member facilities, and the course has hosted state and regional competitive events consistent with its championship credentials. Practice facilities including a full driving range support competitive development alongside the destination golf that the championship layout provides. The combination of Hills's design quality, the accessible daily-fee pricing, and the Blackstone Valley setting has sustained Blackstone National as one of central Massachusetts's more discussed public golf destinations since its opening.