Month: October 2021

Number 99 (Shark River)

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Date played: 7/12/2020

A month after playing the South course at Charleston Springs, I met up with Walt again at Shark River. Located out in Neptune, the course is a couple miles from the ocean on the eastern edge of Monmouth County. Walt set us up with an early tee time, so I knew the drive would mean an early alarm, but I didn’t think anything of it.

Some people shy away from early morning tee times, but I have no trouble setting an alarm for 4:00 am and making a 2+ hour drive to make the first tee time of the day (like I did at Cape May National). I’ve played 5:30 am and 6:00 am rounds before a day at work. While it’s gotten difficult as I’ve gotten older, I enjoy being out with the dew-sweepers and still having the day ahead of me after a round of golf. So, when it comes to being on time for a round, I’m pretty reliably at the course before I need to be.

At Shark River, I was anything but on time for our 6:18 am. I would arrive at the course pretty much right at our tee time. I rushed to get the clubs and push cart out of the trunk as fast as I could. I threw on my shoes, and basically ran to the first tee. By the time I got there, everyone else in the group had teed off. I quickly got my driver, ball, and tee out of the bag.

I meant that quite literally.

This was as cold as you could be for the opening tee shot of a round. Nevertheless, not wanting to hold everyone up, I teed the ball up and swung. Somehow, the golf gods spared me embarrassment, and sent a low-flighted ball off the face of my driver and onto the fairway. Most of the round went generally smoothly as well.

Shark River would be my 12th public course played in Monmouth County, which has the most of any county with 19 total. The course is another example of quality golf in the area. I’ve often thought about which county should be deemed to have the best public golf courses, and while I have yet to submit a vote, I can tell you that Monmouth is definitely in the running.

Here are a few shots from our early morning round.

Number 99 (Shark River)

Number 98 (Charleston Springs – South)

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Date played: 6/7/2020

It took almost four years, but after playing the North course at Charleston Springs in November 2016, I finally made it back to play the South course. I was invited back by my Twitter golf buddy Walt Blasich who is quickly becoming my tour guide for the best public courses in Monmouth County!

Conditions were beautiful at the North, and the South is no departure. Both layouts are some of the most finely maintained public courses you’ll find in the state. You immediately get a sense of that as you walk off the back steps from the pro shop and look onto the flawless (and massive) putting green.

The putting green is big enough to accommodate all golfers waiting to tee off on both courses

If you love a good golf bridge, you’ll cross one on the long walk to the first tee, a great way opportunity to get your mind in the right place before the round. A short uphill walk through the woods after the bridge, and golfers are emptied out into the clearing that is the South course. Where the North is laid out in links style, forcing golfers to contend with many fescue-lined holes, the South is a sprawling parkland course. Although there are trees to deal with, the fairways are quite generous and there are a number of very open holes.

A walk across the bridge on the way to the 1st tee on the South course

From a design standpoint, the way the 6,377 yards (from the Gold tees) are spread across the 18 holes is done really well. The par 3s play as long as 195, but also as short as 115 on the 11th, something most courses shy away from. Of the twelve par 4s, there are four that play over 400 yards, but then there are also a couple that are drivable for long hitters, like the 294-yd 10th. You might be able to lodge a complaint about the par 5s as three of them are between 499 and 505 yards. But whether it’s differences in the way elevation or direction changes from tee to green, they are each truly unique.

A front pin location on the 11th, with the drivable, par-4 10th in the background

As I mentioned when writing about my time at the North course, Charleston Springs is definitely held in high regard. I don’t know that the South measures up to public resort-type courses (e.g. Ballyowen and Crystal Springs), but I think it would be unfair to put either of the two layouts in that category. Nonetheless, it certainly ranks highly in the very next tier and should be considered a great option for public golfers.

A look back at 18
Number 98 (Charleston Springs – South)

Number 97 (High Point Golf Club)

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Date played: 5/15/2020

Golf has a way of presenting you with moments which remind you that you never really have it all figured out. My round at High Point Golf Club would be that moment. While there is no way any of us can see such reminders coming, mine would happen at a time when the world was turned upside-down by something it couldn’t see either.

It was May 2020. The invisible terror that was the COVID-19 pandemic had spent the better part of six months tearing through the world. In New Jersey, the spread seemed to have peaked in early April. After the positive case average remained steady for the month, the numbers were finally dropping in May. Restrictions started to ease, and golf courses in the state began to re-open.

High Point Golf Club was a late addition to my list of courses. Though I started compiling the list in late 2015, I didn’t know High Point existed until sometime in 2019. Though it was surely online somewhere, I forget at this point where exactly I heard about it. Nevertheless, after a bit of research, I confirmed that it was in fact public and made sure to keep track of it. As we came out of the lockdown, it was one of the first courses to make tee times available, and I decided to book a round with my good friend Ed.

Protocols had changed. Out of caution, everything a golf course needed to facilitate public rounds of golf was still being managed outdoors. Golfers checked in with the starter to confirm their tee time and then needed to return to their cars until they were called. After a short wait, we got word that we could head to the first tee.

Hole 1 from the tee. Just waiting for the fairway to clear so I can overdraw one into the water.

The course is situated around a grouping of small lakes, and water features immediately on the opening tee shot. It’s a par 5 where you must land in a fairway area that runs out at about 260 yards. The largest of the lakes runs up the left side, and your approach must cross it to reach the second landing area or the green.

The routing continues from there to wind around and cross over the lakes, and water will realistically be a hazard on holes 4 through 8 on the front, and 10, 14, and 16 through 18 on the back.

The 16th is great drivable par 4. The view from the tee is deceptive, making it seem as though you must go for the green or bust. While the landing area looks perpendicular to the route from tee to green, it actually runs diagonally to provide some room, albeit narrow.

Hole 16, where you decide whether to drive the green, or pump one OB at that house on the right. I know what I’m picking.

The course finishes on two unusual notes and has a couple noteworthy distinctions. The 18th is a par 3 and the course plays to a total par of 73. Both are qualities I don’t remember having seen in other NJ publics to this point in my journey. High Point is also the northernmost public golf course in NJ. Tucked away in the northwest corner of the state in Sussex County, it’s just a couple miles east of the Delaware River and about five miles from the northern border to New York. It is also situated at the highest elevation of any golf course in the state.

As mentioned, my round at High Point would remind me that despite what I thought up to that point, I had not figured out golf. I would enter the round as a 10 handicap, and yet I would post a 106. I put five balls out of bounds, three in the water, and five times, I found a way to three-putt. It would be my highest score since 9/14/2014. “Golf is hard” is not just a hashtag. At times on this quest, it is a sobering slap in the mouth.

Number 97 (High Point Golf Club)