The Back Nine Club

Par 60 layouts often get filed under "warm-up round," but The Back Nine Club in Lakeville earns a different kind of respect — the kind that comes from a course built entirely around short-game precision rather than power. With no traditional par 5s and an emphasis on accurate iron play and putting, it asks questions that a driver-dominated game simply can't answer.

Lakeville sits in Plymouth County, in the heart of southeastern Massachusetts, where the landscape is shaped by glacial ponds, pitch pine, and scrub oak — the same sandy, well-drained terrain that makes this corner of the state naturally hospitable to golf. The region lies roughly between the South Shore and the beginning of Cape Cod country, a part of New England where golf culture runs deep and accessible, community-rooted courses have long been a fixture.

A round here is likely to reward the patient shotmaker over the long hitter, making it a sharp test for players sharpening their scoring game — or a genuinely enjoyable outing for anyone who'd rather think their way around a course than overpower it.