Granite Links was built over 450 acres of quarries and two former landfills.
Waste Not, Want Not
More and more landfills are being remade into scenic courses, like this Boston beauty
Waste Not, Want Not
More and more landfills are being remade into scenic courses, like this Boston beauty
They say one man's trash is another man's treasure. Case in point: the earth-friendly movement to turn unsightly landfills into golf courses that are prettier than a high draw. The redevelopment of waste sites is a growing golf trend, with more than 70 such tracks in the United States.
Perhaps the most dramatic transformation is Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy, Mass., a 27-hole links-style layout designed by John Sanford. Completed last year after more than six years of construction, the multimillion-dollar project needed 900,000 truckloads of dirt from Boston's "Big Dig" highway project to fill 450 acres of old quarries and two former landfills. After the space was capped by sand, dirt and fertilizer, course officials analyzed the groundwater daily for signs of toxic leakage. (None was found.)
The result is golf's answer to the ugly duckling that becomes a swan.
Greens fee: $125. Contact: 617-689-1900, granitelinksgolfclub.com