Letter To The Editor: 120 Acres of Open Space In Brookline

BROOKLINE, MA — The following letter to the editor was submitted by Brookline Town Meeting member Len Wholey.

Dear reader,

On January 26, 1924 - roughly 10 years before the Brookline municipal golf course was born - the Brookline Chronicle noted in an article about a proposed golf course “[the land] was acquired for the purpose of providing a large recreation centre when that part of the town was developed, but has lain idle so far, and it is doubtful if it will be needed for such purpose for some time to come... even should the reservation be later required for playground purposes there would be sufficient area outside the course.” Over the last 100 years, many changes have occurred at what is now the Robert T. Lynch Municipal Golf Course - how the 120 acres of land is used and who is allowed to use it.

Stepping into the Philip Griggs Bowker Memorial Clubhouse is like traveling back in time. A plaque in memory of Hon. Philip Griggs Bowker commemorates him as a leader in the establishment of the then named Putterham Meadows Golf Course, an accomplishment he credited as “[paving] the way to a seat in the House of Representatives”

On a second plaque in the clubhouse, you will find the names Paul Hubbard, Richard Floyd, Francis Oakes, and Edward Sheehan - all of whom are mentioned in the Boston Globe as being present for the initial golf course opening on Saturday, July 8, 1933. Park Commissioner Oakes was given the “honor of driving the first ball from the first tee.”

In the clubhouse, however, there is no mention of Lotta Bradburn Schick. You must instead go to Schick Park, located about four miles from the golf course, to find a plaque that credits Mrs. Schick as a sponsor of the Brookline Municipal Golf Course. In fact, a Boston Globe article states that she was the original sponsor. In a 1928 Brookline Chronicle letter to the editor, she makes an argument for the creation of a municipal golf course asking that golf be made available to all - especially those who cannot afford to join a private club. In 1928, Mrs. Schick, along with Mr. Bowker, submitted a petition with over 3,500 signatures to the Town asking for the creation of a municipal golf course.

Mrs. Schick was apparently not present at the opening ceremony in 1933, but when the course was open to the public the following Monday, she drove the first ball and played nine holes. Despite her important role in creating the golf course, it was not enough to propel Mrs. Schick - the first woman from Brookline to run for State Rep - to victory over Mr. Bowker and two other male candidates in the Republican primary of 1932.

There is also no mention of Mrs. Rae Forman in the clubhouse or at any other park in Brookline. In March of 1964 (roughly 10 years after Mrs. Schick’s death), the Brookline Park Commission disallowed women to play at the golf course before noon on certain weekends. The Boston Globe reported Brookline town council Philip Cowan as stating “the women played like children and were slow and unsafe.” Mrs. Forman along with 149 other women lost their initial court battle but then filed an appeal stating the rule “restricts and abdriges the rights of women solely on the grounds of sex.” Roughly one year later on March 8, 1965, the Brookline Park Commission relented, voting to provide equal playing time opportunities to women at the golf course.

Today the Town has another opportunity to reassess the use of these 120 acres of public land. The Golf Course Landscape Master Plan Design Review Committee is currently in the preliminary phases of creating a site wide plan. Their goals and objectives are to improve the functionality of the course, in particular during wet conditions that flood parts of the course, and to increase community use. In March of 2022, the Committee conducted a survey, in which the 576 respondents skewed towards male and golf player.

Additional stakeholders such as Mothers Out Front, the Brookline High School Environmental Action Club, Brookline school PTOs, the Charles River Watershed Association, and Climate Action Brookline were not invited to participate in the March 2022 survey. Future survey distributions should include these groups and others to contribute a broader spectrum of voices
and ideas to the Master Plan.

On Monday mornings, anyone can walk the nearly spotless 120 acres of the Brookline Robert T.
Lynch Municipal Golf Course. In the winter, anyone can cross country ski there. There are four community events planned for 2022 that will take place primarily on the driving range. The preliminary Master Plan mentions adding foot trails within Putterham Woods with a connection to Dane Park. What other community uses should be considered? What uses now best fit a Brookline that has grown and changed over the past 100 years? Let’s hear more about what changes people and the community have in mind for a land that covers 2.7% of all of Brookline. Would you please complete my one minute survey?

Len Wholey
Town Meeting Member, Precinct 11
(Sources can be found here)