A Sherborn-based developer is pitching a nine-hole, par-3 golf course for a 31-acre site near the 9/90 Corporate Center business park, home of Staples’ world headquarters in Framingham.
WedgeLinks LLC, a company specializing in short golf courses, proposed the project called WedgeLinks Framingham in front of the City of Framingham Planning Board on Jan. 16.
Plans for the site call for the construction of a 39-space parking lot, a 1,500-square-foot maintenance building, and the eventual construction of a 2,500-square-foot clubhouse featuring a 100-seat restaurant. The site will be accessed via Staples Drive and is adjacent to Southborough Golf Center, an unaffiliated driving range and golf club repair shop.
In addition to being the home of Staples, 9/90 Corporate Center is the site of the U.S. headquarters of software firm Workhuman and the location of The Goddard School of Framingham.
Speaking at the Jan. 16 hearing, WedgeLinks CEO and Framingham native Michael Mahoney said the course looks to capitalize on the renewed interest in golf spawned by golf simulators and high-tech driving ranges like Topgolf, as the next generation of players seek short courses that are more accessible and take less time to play.
“It’s accessible and interesting to both the serious player and someone who may be new to the game,” Mahoney said of courses like the one WedgeLinks is proposing.
The 10.1-acre course is designed to be walkable and will not include golf carts. The specific length of holes and other course features have not yet been revealed.
When opened, the new course will join Framingham Country Club as the only two golf courses in the city; Millwood Farms Golf Course, a former 14-hole public golf course at 175 Millwood St., closed in 2017, according to the newsletter for the Golf Course Superintendent Association of New England, with the site being converted to senior housing.
The proposed site for the course is about a seven-minute drive from 70 Valley Road in Southborough, the former home of the 9-hole, par-3 Stonybrook Golf Course. Stonybrook closed in 2016, according to WickedLocal, with the site being turned into an organic farm.
Katherine Garrahan of Worcester-headquartered law firm Bowditch & Dewey is representing WedgeLinks for this project, while Worcester-based firm VHB is handling engineering.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
