I've played all three of the ones you've mentioned (made it my quest to play the nicest publics around Boston last year) and can say that they're all great, though I think I'd probably put my order at: Pinehills, Shaker Hills, and Granite Links. Pinehills is awesome and has two great courses. Either would be fantastic. Shaker Hills is a really solid layout, but I actually think that if you're going over there, Red Tail is a better and slightly more interesting course (though both are pretty great). I would actually put Red Tail as my favorite around the 495 area ahead of any of the others. I wasn't a huge fan of Granite Links probably due to the ridiculous elevation changes that you get because you basically start at the top of a mountain and work your way down on each of the nines. Great views of Boston but a somewhat gimmicky (in my opinion) course. I'm glad I played it once but I would take any of the other three I've mentioned over it. Of course, the drive to all the others is worse, but, there's a trade-off for most things right?
