Date played: 12/26/2018

Not one to waste a two-hour drive, after playing Cape May National in the morning, I decided to try to play another course in the Cape May area before heading home. After a quick search online and a couple phone calls, I was on my way to Avalon Golf Club.

Set in a residential community, and playing at only 6,300 yards from the back tees, Avalon is a nice option for locals. Much like Cape May National, I was very impressed by the condition of the greens for a round in December. But where Cape May seems to do more with the flat, sea-level landscape, Avalon does very little.

As an everyman golfer, a flat layout is something I personally don’t have a problem with. Between executing a planned tee shot, hitting greens in regulation and putting well, the game itself can be hard enough for most. But for those that are looking for a course to put their game to the test, you may not find it here. There are a number of holes at Avalon that play dead flat and straight away.

That’s not to say there aren’t some relatively challenging holes. There are two par 3s – the fifth and seventeenth – that play almost entirely across water. And while straight and flat, a number of the par 4s and par 5s are narrow enough where trees will cause trouble for higher handicap golfers.

After finishing up at Avalon, I decided to make the most of my time in the area. I had never been to Cape May and not knowing when I’d be back, I got in the car and headed to the beach as the light faded. Yes, it was December and nothing like it would’ve been at 5:00 on a summer night, but it was great to explore the area.

I was able to see the lighthouse and walked out to what a quick Google Maps search seemed to suggest was the southernmost point in NJ (though I’d later find out I was wrong). I capped off a great 36-hole day with a walk out onto one of the stone jetties at this point and caught a view of everything off the coast of the tail-end of the state.

It’s experiences like that that make me glad to have set out on this journey, and I know there will be plenty more like it to come.