The Meadow at Peabody plays to a slope of 135 from the back tees and costs $51 for a non-resident to walk 18 on a weekday. That is the same slope as Wachusett Country Club at $34 less. It is a city-owned 18 on 259 acres of old Eastman Gelatine land, 20 miles north of Boston, and it has the best public greens on the North Shore according to nearly every review written about it. It also has no driving range, no alcohol anywhere on the property, and a five-day booking window that makes Saturday mornings a race. Here's the full 2026 rate card, what the layout does to first-timers, and how the tee sheet works.
What The Meadow is
The course is at 80 Granite Street in Peabody, owned and operated by the City of Peabody through its Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department. It opened as nine holes on September 20, 2001 and the full 18 opened in May 2002. Mark Mungeam designed it out of the Cornish, Silva and Mungeam office, the same shop behind Cyprian Keyesand Highfields. Most of the land came from Eastman Gelatine, the Kodak gelatin plant next door, and in December 2023 the city moved to buy 135 more acres from the plant's successor because 11 of the 18 holes still sat on that property.
The course's own card lists five tee sets. The black tees play 6,708 yards to a 73.7 rating and a slope of 135. The blues are 6,215 at 71.1 and 128, the whites 5,795 at 68.7 and 124, and the golds 5,252 at 67.0 and 121. The city's hole-by-hole adds up to par 72. Most directory sites list it as par 71 because they show the 18th as a par 4. Trust the card. Bent grass tee to green.
How it plays
Hilly, wooded, and blind. GolfPass reviewers tag it for elevation changes more than any other feature, and the phrase that shows up again and again is some version of “you need to play it twice.” Granite ledges frame several holes, fairways run out into thick brush, and a handful of tee shots on the back nine ask you to hit over a hill at a target you cannot see. Birdhouses mark 150 yards. Reviewers who did not know that lost balls and time.
The greens are the reason to come. They are large, quick, and true, and one longtime reviewer compared them to the Oaks at The International. On 18Birdies, where the sample runs to 556 reviews and includes rounds from this month, green speed is rated Fast and difficulty is rated Hard. The par 3s carry the round: 198 yards at the 6th, 187 at the 8th, 181 at the 12th, and 193 at the 16th from the blacks. Four holes-in-one were logged on those four holes between August and October of 2025, so they are fair as well as long.
The stroke-index-1 hole is the 4th, a 393-yard par 4. The 13th, a 419-yard par 4 and the second hardest hole, tops out at the highest point on the property, and from there you can see Marblehead Neck and the ocean. Front nine is the friendlier side. The back is where the hills and the blind shots stack up, and it is where most of the “not a walker's course” comments come from.
2026 rates
The city publishes a flat card and it is the same online or in person. Walking is allowed any day and carts are a separate add-on. There is no twilight rate, no season pass, and no membership of any kind.
| Rate | Resident | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| 18 holes, Mon to Fri | $46 | $51 |
| 18 holes, weekend and holiday | $54 | $59 |
| 9 holes, Mon to Fri | $26 | $28 |
| 9 holes, weekend and holiday | $30 | $33 |
| Senior 60+, Mon to Fri, 18 / 9 | $40 / $22 | |
| Junior 17 and under, any day, 18 / 9 | $20 / $11 | |
| Cart per player, 18 / 9 | $20 / $11 | |
So a non-resident riding 18 on a Saturday is $79 all in. A Peabody senior walking on a Tuesday is $40. The senior rate is weekday only and the card does not split it by residency. Reviewers on GolfPass say it could charge $20 more and still be fair, and the value score of 4.3 is the second highest category on the course.
One date to know: the course closes for aerification on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, reopens Wednesday afternoon, and discounts rates for the following week. The amount is not published. If you are chasing the deal, call.
The rules
No alcohol on the property, including the parking lot. A 2014 reviewer claimed that was the condition the city set for building the course at all. There is no beverage cart and no bar. There is also no outdoor driving range. The warm-up is a $5 virtual bucket in the indoor simulator bays, or the practice green, which is good.
Pace policy is 2 hours 10 minutes for nine and 4 hours 20 for 18. Pace still scores 3.4 on GolfPass, the lowest category on the course, and the blind shots are why. No caddies, no spectators. Collared shirt, no jeans. Cart drivers must be 18 with a license. Cancel inside 12 hours and the card on file gets hit for $15 per player for nine or $30 for 18.
How booking works
The Meadow runs on Club Prophet Systems, the same CPS Golf platform as the Boston munis. The Book Tee Times button on peabodymeadowgolf.com sends you to peabody.cps.golf. Tee times open five days in advance, and that is the whole window. Residents do not get an earlier crack at the sheet. A credit card holds the time and you can change or cancel up to 12 hours out. Phone is (978) 532-9390. Older GolfPass reviews mention GolfNow hot deals at this course, but the current GolfNow listing showed no live inventory when we checked.
Five days is short. Gannon in Lynn did 20,659 rounds in 2025, third most of any course in Massachusetts, and The Meadow pulls from the same North Shore pool. Weekend mornings go the day the window opens.
2026 changes
This is a transition year. Director of Golf Peter Cronan retired on March 31 after 24 years. Dan Cronin, his assistant for three years, took over. Superintendent Eric Still retired too, and Gerry Dunklee came across from Sagamore Spring, where he ran the grounds for 26 years. New pro, new superintendent, same rates. Recent Google reviews say the tee boxes could use work, and one 2025 reviewer found the greens slower than usual. Worth watching how the new crew handles the fall.
Where it fits
On the North Shore, The Meadow is the hard one. Beverly Golf and Tennis is $45 for a non-resident and plays 6,237 yards as a par 70. Far Corner in Boxford is $56 to walk 18 on a weekday. Gannon is the crowded one. The Meadow at $51 with a 135 slope is the most golf per dollar in the group if your game is ready for it. If it is not, the brush will eat a sleeve. The rest of the region is in the North Shore guide.
The Meadow gives you five days to grab a tee time, no resident priority, no twilight fallback, and a sheet that empties on the first morning. Text Carl the day you want and whether you are walking. He watches the CPS sheet the moment the window opens, checks Beverly and Far Corner if Peabody is gone, and sends back a time and the exact total so you are not refreshing a booking page at 6am.
