Date: 9/4/2021

As the summer closed out in 2021, my good friend Ed and I took a look at our schedules to see when we could meet up to play some golf. Everything lined up for us to get out on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. We chose Pebble Creek, a Monmouth County course I still hadn’t gotten to.

As I waited for Ed to arrive, I spent time chipping and putting at the practice green. Ed had a long drive and was set to get to the course just in time, so I moved all my stuff onto the cart and queued up. When I saw his car pull in, I drove out to the parking lot and helped him get his bag set up so we could get back to the first tee as soon as possible. Thankfully, we made it without issue.

We teed off at the first, and after I hit a sweet little pull-hook, we were off. Once I played my recovery shot, we both hit our final approaches and made our way to the green. As I stood over my ball to putt, I noticed that something looked off.

I was only wearing one golf shoe. On my right foot. My left foot still had my sneaker on it. We laughed about it and I rolled my 15-footer to save par. “I might wear one golf shoe all the time!” I joked.

As we continued the round, I was impressed by the value the course offered for the cost. It was $55 to ride for a weekend round. In retrospect, I’m not sure if September marked the end of peak summer pricing for the course, but that is incredible value relative to other public courses in New Jersey. The condition of the greens, in particular, was fantastic at that price point.

There are a number of memorable holes as well. 7 is a fun, drivable par 4 with a small but wonderfully shaped green. It’s guarded by a few small bunkers, though they’re relatively tame. 14 is a tough par 5, that starts to narrow out as the water encroaches onto the target landing area ahead of you. If you happen to hit a drive past this point, you can take a dangerous diagonal route over the water to reach the green in two. And 16 is another drivable par 4, albeit a 90-degree dog-leg right that would require an almost all-carry-over-water tee shot to get there.

While not my favorite way to finish, Pebble Creek closes out on a par 3. Not sure what it is about par-3 closers, but it almost feels like an unresolved melody. My feelings about them aside, much like most of the rest of the course, 18 is another quality hole.

Again, I was very impressed by what this Monmouth County course had to offer. I’d probably stop short of a phrase like “hidden gem”, but it’s absolutely a strong competitor in a list of value courses. Definitely worth it if you’re in the area, and it wouldn’t be a bad course to travel to if you’re looking to mix it up.

P.S. BIG shout-out to the group that held onto my 4-iron after I left it at 7. Much appreciated!