Man About Canton: Milton-Hoosic

Did you know …

The Milton-Hoosic Golf Club, located off Greenlodge Street in Canton, was recently ranked the 26th best nine-hole course in the world by the Golf Magazine. A recent article in the Canton Citizen outlined the story about the Milton-Hoosic Golf Club receiving this prestigious award. MAC decided to add to the story of the club’s history dating back to when it was established in 1891. The Milton-Hoosic is one of the 100 oldest golf clubs in the United States. The original holes were on Houghton’s Farm in Milton, located at the foot of the Blue Hills. In 1895, it moved to its current location on Greenlodge Street (formerly the Shaller Farm). The club was elected to membership in the U.S. Golf Association in 1897. It also is one of the 42 founding member clubs of the Massachusetts Golf Association.

When first built, the club had only six holes, but in 1916, the club hired famed golf course architect Willie Park, Jr., who expanded the course to nine holes and enhanced the existing holes. Park, a native of Scotland, designed over 150 courses around the world. He was also an accomplished golfer, having won two British Open championships.

Chris Cyr, golf course superintendent at the Milton-Hoosic Club, said, “Having a golf course with this kind of history and design pedigree is an incredible asset to the town of Canton and its surrounding communities.” Mike Nemetz, president of the Hoosic board, added, “We were all celebrating our new clubhouse only to have this award add to that celebration. Our success as a club is due to the great team we have working together every day to make a positive difference for our members. Chris [Cyr] and the greens committee have worked very hard restoring the course, and we couldn’t be happier for them.”

Another interesting fact about the club is its name. In 1892, the Hoosic-Whisick Club merged with the Milton Club and became the Milton-Hoosic Club in Canton. Hoosic-Whisick is a Ponkapoag Indian name for “shallow waters,” making reference to its original site near Houghton’s Pond.

As one golf club enthusiast said, “A good nine-holer is intimate, local, welcoming, and avoids what it isn’t: “pretentious, punitive, grand. The Milton-Hoosic Golf Course in Canton is a nine-holer that fits the bill when you want less to be more, and it is a place where everybody knows your name.” And there you have the rest of the story on Canton’s Milton-Hoosic Golf Club.

The 2021 annual Canton town meeting will have a new starting day, as well as a new starting time. The meeting will start around 12:30 or 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 22, on the turf field at Canton High School. The rain date will be Saturday, June 5.

The Select Board set a deadline of Friday, January 8, at noon for submission of zoning and non-zoning articles for the 2021 annual town meeting.

Richard R. Staiti was sworn into the office of Norfolk County Commissioner on January 6 outside the Superior Court in Dedham. Due to the pandemic and ongoing restrictions imposed by COVID-19, invitations were limited to family members. Staiti won the November election and is the first Canton citizen to hold the office of county commissioner.

Aidan Maguire is the town of Canton’s representative to the Blue Hills Regional Technical School’s District School Committee. The District School Committee consists of nine representatives from each of the towns of Avon, Braintree, Canton, Dedham, Holbrook, Milton, Norwood, Randolph, and Westwood.

The Massachusetts Turnpike is in the process of converting all of its exit numbers to a milepost-based numbering system, per the Federal Highway Administration requirements. It is anticipated to be completed in the summer of 2021. MAC still cannot figure out why this is being done at this time and hopes that they will also install the old exit numbers beside the new exit signs.

Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.  –Walt Whitman

This is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=72189

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Jan 9 2021. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.