Haunted Hayride at Braintree Golf Course Cancelled This Year

The Haunted Hayride at the Braintree Municipal Golf Course is taking a one-year hiatus because of a lack of personnel and severe summer weather that left acres of dead grass.

Superintendent Daryn Brown said the hayride, which has been featured at the course the past five years, will not happen this year, but he plans to bring it back next October.

"This was a tough season with the record rains in June which in turn lead to historic flooding and severe damage to the golf course," Brown said in an email. "All that coupled with the multiple heat waves in July left us with acres of dead grass."

In addition, Brown's six-person crew was downsized by one-third after losing an employee to injury and another to starting his own business. The latter was the course's "creative carpenter that spent weeks building all the new props and exhibits for the hayride each year," Brown said.

Rather than hosting the hayride, the staff will focus on planting grass seed – Brown said fall is the best season for that – to restore those acres of grass before winter.

"Our golfers know the battle we’ve had all summer and hopefully the community will understand as well," Brown said.