Mount Hood is a WPA-built 18 inside a 300-acre wooded park in Melrose, and a non-resident plays it for $54 on a weekday. It sits about seven miles from downtown Boston. The course is short, par 69 at 5,633 yards, but nearly half the tees are dramatically elevated and several greens sit in exposed granite. On a clear day you can see the Boston skyline and the Atlantic from the high points. Here's what it plays like, the verified 2026 rates, and how the tee sheet works.
What Mount Hood is
Mount Hood Golf Club is Melrose's public course at 100 Slayton Road. The Works Progress Administration built the park and course in the 1930s. The clubhouse went up in 1936 and the property was finished in 1937. The club calls the layout a prime example of the Classic Era of design. The routing follows the natural topography instead of fighting it, and granite outcroppings frame several of the undulating greens.
From the blue tees it plays 5,633 yards, par 69, with a 67.1 rating and a 117 slope per GolfLink. The white tees are 5,312 and the reds 4,424. The card is unusual: the front nine is par 35 with two par 5s, and the back is par 32 with five par 3s. Long hitters will pull driver maybe six times. Everyone else gets a wedge-and-putter exam on elevation changes all day.
2026 rates, from the club's own rate page
| Round | Resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| 18 holes, Mon–Thu | $46 | $54 |
| 18 holes, Fri–Sun & holidays | $55 | $64 |
| 9 holes, Mon–Thu | $29 | $34 |
| 9 holes, Fri–Sun & holidays | $33 | $38 |
Carts are $17 for nine and $26 for 18 per person. Resident seniors and veterans walk 18 midweek for $43, juniors for $34. Non-resident senior rates were discontinued for 2026, so an out-of-town senior pays the full $54. One rule to know: 18-hole play is required before 1pm on Fridays, weekends, and holidays. A quick weekend morning nine is not an option, the same restriction Sagamore Spring runs up the road in Lynnfield.
Season passes exist at real prices. A Melrose resident weekday pass is $1,690 and a 7-day pass is $2,364. Non-residents pay $1,988 and $2,781. A resident junior weekday pass is $464, which is one of the cheapest unlimited-golf deals in Greater Boston for a kid who will actually use it.
What it plays like
Elevated tees are the signature. Soaring downhill tee shots, then uphill or sidehill approaches into greens with real movement. The five back-nine par 3s range from 140 to 219 yards off the blues, and the 219-yard 15th is the number 2 handicap hole. Reviews are mixed on conditioning: recent GolfPass write-ups cite thin tees, rocky bunkers, and fairways that need attention. You're paying muni prices for a dramatic piece of land, not for country club turf.
Booking and the simulators
Tee times book online 24/7 through the Tenfore portal linked from mthoodgolfclub.com, or by phone at (781) 665-6656 between 8am and 6pm. The course typically runs early April to mid-December, weather permitting. Off-season there are four indoor simulator bays: $40 an hour before 11am, $55 weekdays, and $60 on weekends, covered in more depth in the indoor golf guide.
Where it fits
Mount Hood slots between Unicorn in Stoneham, a nine-holer five minutes away, and Gannon in Lynn, the Wayne Stiles 18 with similar pricing and a tougher booking window. Against Gannon, Mount Hood is a few dollars more for a non-resident, shorter on the card, and easier to book online. Against the Boston munis, it costs about the same as George Wright without the 4-day 7am booking sprint. For a full list of options this close in, see the closest courses guide.
Mount Hood's catch is the fine print: 18-hole play required before 1pm on weekends, no non-resident senior rate anymore, and a Tenfore portal that's separate from every other booking system north of Boston. Text Carl when you want to play and who's coming. He checks Mount Hood alongside Gannon, Unicorn, and the rest of the North Shore sheets at once, and hands you the time and rate that actually fits, restrictions already accounted for.
