I’d like to start off by saying that I have a cousin who has part ownership share of this country club.  A few years back this country club was going to close.  My mother’s cousin, and a bunch of partners, raised the money and “bought” it so it wouldn’t close.  I will provide you with some shots of the course I took from the balcony of the restaurant we ate lunch at.  It’s interesting to note that one of the club members is former Boston Bruin Raymond Bourque, and the head of membership sales is another former Bruin, Reggie Lemelin.

What you many not know about this interesting little country club lies behind the door in the photo below.

In a room off the massive hallway lies a smaller room with this doorway.  You’d think that it was a closet, but after swiping a security card, pressing in a code, the door unlocks.

Behind the door is an old creaky set of stairs that turn left and then go straight downward to a room below.  You have to be careful because they are “ship stairs”.  Ship stairs being really vertical and not very wide.

Finishing my walk downstairs, I came to the pool table but beyond the pool table were two ancient bowling lanes!  It turns out that the Turner Hill country club has bowling lanes that are nearly 100 years old!  They have the same wooden lanes from when they were installed.  I was able throw three games on lanes and it was an interesting experience to say the least.

The approaches were really, really short.  If you’re a tall bowler, forget it, the approaches are probably two feet too short you.  I was able to manage by starting on the floor behind the approach, but I may have fouled once.  Good thing the Pro Series wasn’t there watching.

I should have taken a shot of the approach as it actually ended before the end of the ball return.  Almost the same action as Viking Recreation, this little alley had it’s share of interesting leaves.  Here are two, of them:

I guess the 2-4-5 isn’t that rare, but it’s just a surprise not to take out any of the pins behind the 2 or the 5 for that matter.  The other, I’ve never witness a pin resting on top of another like that – the bottom pin almost always rolls out from under the other.  I’ve had a couple of fellow bowlers say they witnessed a shot like mine at Metro bowl in Peabody, to which I responded “you left pins standing?” Side note – I picked up the spare.

There are bowling alleys all over New England and I think this was one of the coolest ones.  They even had rails for the kids installed.  It’s quite a hidden gem in New England.  Now if only the Pro Series could have an event there…