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I got to play Pawtucket Country Club earlier this week with my dad as part of the Rhode Island Golf Association’s Family Day event. 

This used to be the Father-Son Tournament, but the name has been changed over the years to accommodate families. 

RIGA got a beautiful day for the event and it was fun to play with my dad, though we were both exhausted from a long weekend of golf at Kirkbrae. 

Pawtucket CC was home to the 2020 Rhode Island Amateur Championship, the 2024 and 2025 RI Junior Amateur Championship. 

It was also home to the legendary Jim Tanner, who passed away in 2023 and there is a very nice memorial at Pawtucket CC for him right across from the bag room. 

Tanner was fixture at Pawtucket since 1952 working his way up from Caddy to Caddy Master. 

Anyway, onto the course. 

The Course 

The format of the tournament was select drive and then alternate shot from there. 

So If we used my drive, my dad would hit the next shot etc… meaning, we didn’t play every shot on the course. 

Overall, I found Pawtucket was in great shape, tees, fairways and greens. 

We found the greens to be on the slow side, but in fairness, it was a Monday and a family event, so I’m sure they didn’t want people out there for six hours. 

Throughout the day, we had a bunch of putts that we thought were in the hole and just stayed out for one reason or the other. 

It was a shotgun start and our starting hole was the 16th, which is one of the harder holes on the course. 

We used my dad’s tee shot that crawled just into the left rough and then I blasted a four-iron toward the green to what I thought was going to be a great shot. 

Turns out, the ball landed 20 something yards short and then rolled all the way off the uphill sloped green and down the back. 

Making an impossible chip. 

We couldn’t believe it. 

Needless to say, we made a mess of the first hole and it was a bit of a bad omen for the rest of the day. 

I think the 18th hole at Pawtucket is among the best finishing holes in the state. 

The second shot is a bit down hill with the green in a bowl type set up, bunkers all over and the clubhouse overlooking it with a relatively brand new deck. 

Must be a cool spot to watch a club championship match or State Amateur match come down the stretch. 

We actually played this hole pretty well. We used my dad’s drive and I put the next shot on the green. 

From 18, we went to the first hole. 

I think the opening tee shot at Pawtucket is among the coolest in the state. 

You are pretty much teeing up from inside the clubhouse and I can only imagine the nerves of that shot if there is a big crowd around in the clubhouse. 

I put my tee shot way right into the trees, but I hit it solid. 

The holes that gave us some of the most trouble throughout the day were the par-3s. 

Tough par-3s at Pawtucket, unless your Jay Barrow and get a hole-in-one. 

We just could not hit good tee shots and put ourselves in bad spots. 

One of the unique things about Pawtucket is that when you come off nine, you drive (or walk) back across the 18th fairway to go to the tenth tee. 

It is an interesting set up for sure. 

Overall, it was great to play Pawtucket CC and a great morning with my dad.