Last December the state held a virtual meeting to explain a renovation at a golf course. About 200 people logged on. According to Bay State Golf's account of the meeting, 18 of the 27 questions asked aloud were about skiing. The course was Leo J. Martin Memorial Golf Course at 190 Park Road. For about half the year, the people who use it most are on skis.
Ten months later the state has started two processes at the same address. The first is a golf renovation of about $5.47 million, now underway, built around the course's first real irrigation system. The second is a competitive bid for the business that runs the Weston Ski Track. They are separate contracts. Both deal with the water under the course, including who lays the pipe, who runs the snow guns and who pays when something breaks. Skiers have argued for years that this water work is the track's best chance to improve. This fall, the irrigation is going into the ground at the same time the state is deciding who will run the snowmaking for the next one to three winters.
A Golf Renovation That Starts Underground
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the state agency that owns the course, awarded contract P26-3636-C2A, "Leo J. Martin Golf Course Improvements," to C. Naughton Corp for $5,469,000 on March 31, 2026, according to DCR's contracts and procurement page. The bid listing describes the work. Most of it is about water. It includes new irrigation piping and sprinklers, upgraded piping and equipment in the pump house, a below-grade valve vault, and dredging of the lagoon, along with longer cart paths and resurfaced or rebuilt putting greens.
That focus on water reflects the course's history. Bay State Golf reported from the December meeting that the course had no irrigation at all, and that any water was put down by hose. The irrigation lines down each hole would be covered with gravel cart paths. The practice green and the 7th and 15th greens would be regrassed, and the 16th green would be moved and rebuilt. Shawn Cody, a former superintendent at Leo J. Martin, spoke at the meeting. Bay State Golf reported his view that his biggest struggle had always been a lack of water, or being unable to use it.
The schedule shown at that meeting called for work to start in April 2026 and finish by fall, so the grass could grow in over the off-season. No golf would be played on the course until it reopened in spring 2027, though the driving range would stay open for the 2026 season. In March, Bay State Golf's course roundup again listed Leo J. Martin as closed for all of 2026. The spring 2027 reopening is the plan as presented. It has not yet happened.
What Skiers Wanted the Trenches to Carry
The Friends of Leo J. Martin Skiing, or FOLJMS, is a nonprofit founded in 2014. It works with DCR on improvements and advocates for access to cross-country skiing. The group had a plan for this ground well before the golf contract was signed. Its water infrastructure initiative, dated April 18, 2022, describes a design that would provide four to five times the water capacity, irrigate holes 1 through 9, and extend snowmaking across holes 1 through 6, including the flats. Golf irrigation and snowmaking would run in separate pipes laid in shared ditches.
The idea is that once the course is dug up for irrigation, laying a second pipe for snowmaking in the same trench costs much less than digging again later. Bay State Golf reported that the December announcement surprised the FOLJMS members on the call. The group had raised money for snowmaking, grooming and lights, and a 2020 Leo J. Martin Improvement Plan had covered both golf and ski work.
The published scope for the renovation lists irrigation, pump-house work and the valve vault. It does not list new snowmaking construction. That is why the second contract matters.
Today, the Weston Ski Track describes 15 kilometers of natural-snow trails and 2.5 kilometers of snowmaking trails, and the snowmaking trails are lit for night skiing. In a thin or warm winter, that 2.5-kilometer loop may be all the skiing there is. How far it can grow depends on the water underneath it.
The Ski Permit Went Out to Bid the Same Fall
On September 11, 2026, DCR issued RFP DCR 2026-800. It seeks an operator to run the Nordic ski facility at Leo J. Martin, including trails, snowmaking, grooming, lessons, rentals, retail and events. An amendment followed on September 25. Bidders had to complete a site visit by October 14, and proposals were due October 15 at 4:00 p.m. The permit covers a season the state labels Winter Season 2027. DCR may extend it for 2028 and 2029.
The track's current operator is Charles River Recreation, which also runs Paddle Boston. On its own site, the company says it opened at the course in 1974. Who holds the next permit is up to the DCR evaluation panel and the DCR commissioner. The RFP says their decision is final.
The RFP spells out what winter at the track will include, whoever runs it. The season generally runs from mid-December through mid-March, conditions permitting. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays. DCR can approve changes for high school races and ski team sessions. The RFP also requires the operator to protect the golf turf, the underground irrigation, the drainage and the snowmaking equipment. Some of that irrigation will be new this winter.
The RFP also divides the snowmaking work between the operator and the state:
| Task | Operator | DCR |
|---|---|---|
| Making snow day to day | Staffs, runs, sets up, winterizes and takes down the system | Approves dates, system changes and major purchases |
| Snowmaking utilities and water | None | Pays |
| Hydrants, pipes, valves, pump house, snow guns | All routine labor, plus parts and outside repairs up to $20,000 per season | Parts and outside repairs above $20,000, plus capital replacement, subject to funding |
| Grooming | Runs the grooming and supplies its own snowmobile | Pays grooming fuel and repairs to the other grooming equipment |
| Lot plowing, utilities, outside trash | None | Handles |
Proposals are scored out of 100. Thirty points go to the services and vision category, which explicitly includes commitments to low-cost school and youth programs. Twenty points go to the money offered to the state.
Who Sells the Trail Pass
Skiers buying a pass this fall will see one detail of the RFP directly. The main RFP text says the operator collects all admissions and trail-access revenue through a point-of-sale system it can be audited on, and keeps that revenue unless the final pay structure says otherwise. The draft permit attached to the same document says DCR charges the park entrance fee through its own system, and that the operator's season passes cover only lessons, equipment rental and service fees. The executed permit will settle which version applies.
The draft permit matches how families already buy passes. EMXC's youth registration page tells parents that every skier needs a trail pass, which is not included in club registration. Passes are sold through the DCR Leo J. Martin Ski Track page starting in mid-November. EMXC says that in recent seasons a youth season pass has cost $80 and a family season pass $300. Rentals are sold separately. EMXC lists Ski Boston's seasonal rental packages starting at $255 at 2026 prices.
The Winter Already on the Calendar
The permit is not yet awarded and the greens are still growing in, but this winter's schedule at Leo J. Martin is already filling up:
- Now: EMXC opened 2026–27 youth registration to returning families. New families could register starting October 8, and seasonal ski rentals can be booked through Ski Boston, according to the club's October 4 update.
- Mid-November: Trail passes go on sale on the DCR page, based on past seasons.
- Sunday, November 22: EMXC holds its season opener on the Sunday before Thanksgiving at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School. The day includes dryland practice, an equipment talk, and a clothing and used-gear swap.
- December 5, 2026, through March 13, 2027: EMXC's youth season dates as listed on SkiReg.
- Saturday, January 9, 2027: The Race for Snow, an evening race at the track and the 10th annual edition, organized by high school students in Eastern Mass XC. Bill Koch League youth races start at 5:15 p.m. and adult races at 6:30 p.m. Distances depend on how much snow there is.
Skiers on the December call worried about losing access last winter and this one. Bay State Golf wrote that they would not lose it last winter, and that it seemed they would not lose it this winter either. If that holds, this will be the first season on new irrigation lines and possibly under a new permit holder. The 2.5 kilometers of lit snowmaking loop under the Park Road lights will show whether the water work has changed anything for skiers.
At Donahue | Maley | Burns Team, we follow state projects like the Leo J. Martin renovation and ski permit closely for the clients we advise in Weston. If you are weighing how projects on nearby state land, from this renovation to whatever comes next at Leo J. Martin, could affect your home's value, we would be glad to start with a complimentary home valuation.
