Oak Hill’s original course opened as nine holes on July 4, 1921, laid out and built under the on-site supervision of Boston architect Wayne Stiles in 1919–20. Contemporary accounts praised the layout’s sophistication; a rediscovered November 1920 general plan—now displayed in the clubhouse—confirms Stiles’ detailed routing and bunker scheme for that first nine.
The club soon acquired additional land across Oak Hill Road and, in 1925, engaged Donald Ross to design and supervise construction of a second nine there. Those back-nine holes were built across 1926–27 and formally opened on July 30, 1927, inaugurated by a 36-hole exhibition match between Tommy Armour and Johnny Farrell, with Farrell setting the early course record (70).
After the back nine came into play, Ross returned to rework the earlier Stiles holes, specifically 1, 2, 4, 6, and 9. The club holds Ross back-nine hole cards from the Tufts Archives, including a detailed sketch of the 18th green; correspondence indicates drawings were sent to club leader Fred Dillon. Taken together, those artifacts document Ross’s direct authorship of the back-nine features and his active hand on portions of the front. Precise completion dates for the front-nine remodeling are not given in publicly available club materials; secondary summaries place that work in the late 1920s following the 1927 opening of the back side.
By the mid-1930s, with Ross’s additions and remodeling established, Oak Hill was hosting major regional competitions, beginning with the 1935 Massachusetts Open, won by Gene Sarazen. The club’s own historical summary lists numerous subsequent Mass Golf championships and other significant events across the decades.
Unique Design Characteristics
Ross’s back nine across Oak Hill Road presents a distinct change in scale and setting from the front side. Club and association accounts emphasize that the back nine plays longer and narrower, with heavy woods bracketing several corridors—an identity consistent with Ross’s work here as the architect of that entire side. The difference in character is a defining, original feature of Oak Hill as it matured into 18 holes.
Within that back nine, several holes still express details traceable to Ross documentation or long-standing descriptions:
No. 18 (446 yards, par 4) rises entirely uphill to an elevated green with a pronounced swale/false front that repels under-struck approaches. A MassGolfer feature identified 18 as “the epitome of a Donald Ross long par 4,” reproducing Ross’s hole card and a green sketch for the hole from the Tufts Archives—primary-source evidence that the present-day test aligns with Ross’s original intentions for the finish.
No. 11 (416 yards, par 4) demands a precise approach to a very narrow green with a deep bunker left and a sharp drop-off right, producing one of the course’s most exacting second shots. The features cited in the club’s current hole description mirror the kind of tight, defensive green complexes Ross drew for Oak Hill’s back side.
No. 12 (434 yards, par 4) presents a green bisected by a ridge and protected by a deep-faced bunker—a persistent theme in Oak Hill’s shot values today on the back side. No. 13 (194 yards, par 3) also features a central ridge within the putting surface and three surrounding bunkers, creating a severe target that has long been recognized as the sternest one-shotter on the course. While detailed Ross drawings for these two greens are not reproduced publicly, the club’s own descriptions capture long-standing green interior contours that fit the back nine’s vintage profile.
On the front nine, the specific holes Ross is documented to have remodeled—1, 2, 4, 6, and 9—today exhibit prominent two-tiered or multi-level greens and intermediate bunkering that influence run-up play (for example, the two fairway bunkers ~40 yards short of No. 4’s narrow, back-to-front sloping target, and the central ridge on No. 6’s green). These present-day characteristics align with the club’s acknowledgement of Ross’s surgical front-nine work, though fresh comparison against any surviving Ross sketches for these holes would clarify how much of the contouring is original versus later alteration.
As for No. 17 (150 yards, par 3)—a short carry over a pond to a large green guarded by deep fronting bunkers—the water hazard is a evident modern feature in the club’s current description. Without a publicly available Ross-era drawing for this hole, it should not be presumed a Ross water carry; confirmation would require inspection of original plans or early aerials.
The clearest surviving exemplar of Ross’s Oak Hill work is No. 18, thanks to the direct link to his hole card and green drawing. Holes 11–13 on the back also read as strong candidates for high-integrity Ross strategy because published renovation accounts focus elsewhere (front-nine green rebuilds and general bunker work), though definitive judgments await plan-level comparison.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s Massachusetts portfolio, Oak Hill is notable for its two-author evolution—a Stiles opening nine, followed by a Ross-designed back nine and a Ross remodeling of select front-nine holes. That sequence created the club’s signature “two tales of golf”: an approachable but exacting front side and a longer, tighter back, a contrast described in both club and Mass Golf publications. The course quickly established competitive credibility, beginning with the 1935 Massachusetts Open won by Gene Sarazen, with many subsequent Mass Golf championships and qualifiers staged at Oak Hill. Today, Mass Golf continues to select Oak Hill as a championship site, including the 2026 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur and the 2031 Massachusetts Open.
Current Condition / Integrity
The routing framework—front nine west of the road, Ross back nine east of it—remains fundamental. However, post-war renovation cycles altered a number of targets, primarily on the Stiles front: in 1968, Geoffrey Cornish & William Robinson rebuilt the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th greens; in 1989, Brian Silva replaced the then-204-yard 8th hole; and in 1995, Bruce Hepner (working with Renaissance Golf Design) executed a bunker renovation and green-site work. A MassGolfer feature also notes that “most of the remaining Stiles holes” were remodeled over time, crediting Cornish, Robinson and Silva for that later work. Collectively, these interventions mean that while Ross’s back-nine corridors and many green sites still express his original scheme, the front side—including several non-Ross Stiles holes—has seen broader alteration.
At the master-planning level, club communications in the late 2000s reported the engagement of Ron Pritchard/Prichard, a noted Ross specialist, to develop a long-range restoration plan focused on returning Ross features and strategy where feasible. Public reporting identified that planning effort but did not publish the full scope or an as-built completion record, and subsequent work by other consultants (e.g., later bunker projects) suggests the club has proceeded incrementally. The present scorecard (par 70, 6,619 yards) and the club’s hole-by-hole guide capture the course as it plays today—fast, back-to-front sloping greens, some with internal ridges; intermediate bunkers that influence lay-up and run-up plays; and a demanding, uphill finishing hole that retains the essential Ross character documented in the Tufts materials.
Tree management and corridor width—especially on the back nine—are recurring themes in descriptions of Oak Hill’s play. The club’s history page and MassGolf’s profile both stress the contrast in scale and tightness between the nines, a condition that synchronizes with Ross’s role on the back and with decades of vegetative maturation on that side of the property. Verification of what portion of today’s tree lines reflect Ross’s original clearings versus later growth would require historic aerials (late-1920s/1930s) and comparison to the Ross hole cards.
Sources & Notes
Oak Hill Country Club — History (club website, accessed 2025). Documents 1921 opening; 1925 hiring of Ross; 1927 exhibition by Tommy Armour and Johnny Farrell; long record of Mass Golf events.
MassGolfer (reprint on club site): “Two Tales of Golf” (Maxwell M. Carey, MassGolfer, Summer 2011). Provides primary detail that Ross’s back nine was built 1925–27 and opened July 30, 1927; identifies Ross’s subsequent remodeling of front-nine holes 1, 2, 4, 6, 9; notes discovery of Stiles’s 1920 general plan; reproduces Ross’s hole card and green sketch for No. 18 from the Tufts Archives; summarizes later remodeling by Cornish, Robinson and Silva.
Mass Golf news release: “Oak Hill Country Club To Host Three Events…” (May 17, 2023). Confirms Stiles’s 1921 front nine; Ross’s 1925 back-nine commission across the road; Ross’s later redesign of the front nine; and the ongoing championship pedigree, including 2026 Mass. Women’s Amateur and 2031 Mass. Open.
Oak Hill Country Club — Course Tour & Scorecard (club website, accessed 2025). Current hole-by-hole descriptions; scorecard showing par 70, 6,619 yards from the Black tees; specific green contours, bunkering and playing notes by hole.
Top100GolfCourses.com: Oak Hill CC (Fitchburg) (accessed 2025). Secondary compilation noting 1968 Cornish & Robinson green rebuilds (3, 5, 7, 8), 1989 Silva’s replacement of No. 8, and 1995 bunker/green-site work by Bruce Hepner. Use as corroborative context pending verification from club files or architect records.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Upgrade in works for Ross-designed Oak Hill” (July 15, 2007). Reports Ron Pritchard/Prichard preparing a master plan for Oak Hill; confirms Ross authorship of the 1927 back nine.
Uncertainties / Items Requiring Verification
Front-nine remodel completion date: Publicly available materials confirm Ross reworked holes 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 after the 1927 back-nine opening, but do not provide a precise completion/opening date for the remodeled front. Some secondary compilations place this in 1928–29.
Extent of back-nine alterations beyond 1995: The Top100 summary lists 1995 bunker/green-site work and earlier front-side green rebuilds.
Water at No. 17: The club’s current description cites a pond carry on this short par 3; without a Ross drawing published for No. 17, its originality is unproven.