Olde Scotland Links — Local services in Bridgewater

I had a really unfortunate experience at Olde Scotland Links. I was running about five minutes late due to a car accident, but since I was the last group of the day, I called ahead to give them a heads-up, thinking it wouldn’t be a big deal. I was immediately told this was "unacceptable." We had booked in advance, paid a deposit, and drove 45 minutes to play this round, but when we arrived—just 4 minutes late—we were turned away by an incredibly rude man at the pro shop.

He insisted that it would be "unfair" to charge us for 9 holes since we’d only have time to play 7 due to being the last tee time of the day. We explained that we understood the risk of playing a twilight round and were okay with that. Instead of being reasonable, he became agitated, flustered, and extremely rude. He outright kicked us out of the pro shop (even though it was still open for another two hours) and refused to refund our deposit.

To make matters worse, when we contacted the booking and payment processor, they told us we had to resolve it with the pro shop, who clearly had no interest in being fair. Thankfully, we drove about 15 minutes down the road to another course that graciously let us play, and we managed to finish all 9 holes before dark (shot a 38 on 9 holes, personal best).

I would strongly recommend avoiding Olde Scotland links at all costs. Not only will they treat you horribly, but they’ll also take your money—even if you're just 4 minutes late with no one else...

OLDE SCOTLAND LINKS AT BRIDGEWATER Bridgewater, Ma.

Terrain: Linksy Price: $$$ Municipal Driving Range: Yes Opened: 1997 Architect: Brian Silva, Mark Mungeam Lodging: No

SCORECARD Par 72 Black 6790 Yards, Slope 126, Rating 72.6 Blue 6306 Yards, Slope 124, Rating 70.3 White 6015 Yards, Slope 116, Rating 68.7 Green 5396 Yards, Slope 110, Rating 65.9 Gold 4949 Yards, Slope 111, Rating 68.4

SNAPSHOTS Flat course with lots of links features, not the least of which is wind

Strategy trumps brute force here

After a couple of visits to the rough and fescue, you might want to warm your 3-wood up in the bullpen

Back 9 boasts a great diversity of holes

Make sure you match the tees to your ability, or you’ll be in for a long and punishing day

Off-putting trailer “clubhouse” now gone and replaced by a structure reflective of the quality of the course

BEYOND THE WHITE STAKES Brewskies: Barrette’s Ale House (3.2 miles)

Sundae Golfer: Sugar Hill Dairy (2.4 miles)

Post-round Meal: Chatta Box Thai, Japanese (2.7 miles)

Pack an Overnight Bag: Providence, R.I. (25 miles)

Splash! Lake Rico – Massasoit State Park, East Taunton (5.7 miles)

Native: Mickey Cochrane, All-time great...

Racist. I don’t often use this word. However, it became apparent to be that I (a hispanic woman) was being single out by the bar tenders.

Context: I went here for a wedding. On the drive over I saw about 5 trump signs. Typically, when I come across a neighborhood like this I’m more observant and do my best to blend. However, on this day I had my natural Latina hair, so I stuck out. As I went to the bar I notice everyone was able to get drinks without a problem. There were about 100 other people there. However, when I got to the bar with my partner we were ID’d. At first I was confused because this was a wedding that didn’t include under the drinking age. After asking around I found other people at that wedding that were white and younger than me were not ID’d. It’s unfortunate that biases like this exist. No one here knew the bar tenders.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. Please do not spend any money on a place with illegal and antiquated...