Myopia Hunt Club

Herbert Leeds's 1890s course on Boston's North Shore, host of four early U.S. Opens and known for steeply tilted greens and old-fashioned pit bunkers.

Myopia Hunt Club was founded in 1882 as a fox-hunting and polo club, and golf arrived in 1894 when member Herbert C. Leeds built the course. He kept refining it for more than three decades until his death in 1930. Myopia hosted the U.S. Open four times between 1898 and 1908; in 1901, no player broke 80 in any round.

At about 6,500 yards it is short by modern standards, but the greens are some of the most steeply pitched in American golf, and Leeds's small, deep pit bunkers sit where they catch slightly mis-hit shots. Gil Hanse has worked with the club since 2011 to remove trees and widen fairways back to the bunkers, and the course now plays firm and fast. John Updike called it his home course.

Holes to know

4

Par 4 · 390 yd

A dogleg left around a wetland to a green that falls hard from back right to front left.

9

Par 3

A short par 3 that often plays around 135 yards; Golf Magazine has listed it among America's top signature holes.

16

Par 3 · 192 yd

A downhill par 3 over fescue to a green that runs away from the player.

Championships

• U.S. Open 1898, 1901, 1905, 1908

Design history

• 1995–2005: New tees on seven holes and tree removal under club president Michael Greene
• 2011–present: Gil Hanse tree clearing, fairway expansion and reconnection to Leeds's pit bunkers