January 2023 – Orson Rosas Golf

Date Played: 12/3/2021

With the temperature projected to be right around 50 degrees F on an early December Friday, I decided to take the day off to continue the journey in Gloucester County.

White Oaks Country Club, set in the (presumably White Oak) woods of Newfield, NJ, would be the 127th stop on my quest. The wind was up a bit and leaves were all over the place. However, being a weekday morning in the very late fall, it was beautiful to have the course almost entirely to myself. While I failed to play anything remotely resembling my best golf, I had a good time knocking another course off the list.

I typically prefer to play tees that are anywhere between 6,000 and 6,300 yards, and the white tees at White Oaks are perfectly in that range at 6,130. For some reason though, I thought it would be fun to play from the back (blue) tees at 6,532 yards. I have the length to make it manageable, but I was reminded that golf is more than distance off the tee. There is, of course, accuracy, and then everything else that follows in the game (approach play, skill around the green, and putting).

White Oaks has a nice mix of the challenge of some narrow holes, but it does offer width off the tee on others. Built in 2000, it is among the newest golf courses in the state that are available for play to the public. The green complexes offer somewhat lenient protection by bunkers, but the surfaces have great contour to them. The layout is almost entirely flat, so it is extremely walkable. The most memorable hole on the property is without a doubt the 17th, a 240-yard par 3 from the back tees!

Playing golf courses in the off-season – as my journey has often demanded – always makes me wonder what conditions are like in prime season, but I’m confident that White Oaks offers good value for its price. My weekday December round was only $24, which included a cart. Very difficult to beat that for public golf in New Jersey.

Finishing up at White Oaks meant that I completed five of the seven Gloucester County courses (not including Beckett Golf Club, which had closed since I played it). Here’s a look at some of the holes.

View from the tee on 2. Roughly 260 yards to run out of fairway at the dog-leg, there is also a pond to the left of the fairway at the corner. You will need at least 220 yards to get into the corner in order to see the green without being blocked by the trees on the right.

My look at the green on the par-5 3rd hole. Having hit one of my longest drives, I stretched this dog-leg left almost to the limit of the corner. However, I failed to capitalize on this 205-yard approach and would only manage to make par.

*The second of two par-3 holes on the front nine, the 8th plays long from the back but to a very large green with little protection.*

Looking back from 8 green, you can appreciate the size of the target. While difficult to see in this photo, you can just make out that the green is tiered, with the hole location here on the lower level.

A look at my play on the 11th hole at White Oaks.

*If you’re riding and playing the blue tees, you’ll have to park your cart* *here on 12 and cross the entrance road to get to the tee box.*

The view from the blue tees on 12. Already a moderately difficult par-3 at 175 yards, your trajectory – especially if playing a left-to-right ball flight – will be obstructed by the trees on the left.

*Looking back at 13. While a straightaway par-4, it does play 401 yards from the back tees, with a bit of water to navigate on the approach on the right side of the fairway.* *Long is the safer play, with quite a few yards beyond the green to be able to play back on.*

*17. While it plays downhill, hitting a par-3 green from 240 yards is always a challenge. Add to that the waste area on the left, a bunker right, and it’s an absolute beast.*

Date: 11/18/2021

How are a men’s lifestyle/entertainment multimedia empire and public golf in New Jersey related? The answer lies on a piece of land in the northwest corner of the state in Sussex County.

Before there was OnlyFans, there was Playboy, and in 1970 the Great Gorge Golf Club was built in Vernon and opened as the Playboy Club. While most of the appeal lied in the Playboy-branded hotel with numerous activities and amenities, the club also featured 27 holes of championship golf designed by George Fazio.

*The clubhouse at Great Gorge has a bar and restaurant, as well as a deck overlooking the course and the Mountain Creek ski area in the background.*

Great Gorge comprises three nine-hole courses, each named for a prominent feature. The Quarryside nine has multiple holes that play through an area carved out of the mountainous rock forms. The Lakeside nine will feature the most water hazards of the three nines. Lastly, the Railside nine plays on either side of the still-active railroad track. I headed up to Great Gorge in the late fall where I would play the Quarry and Rail nines.

While there are distinctions between the nines that can be noticed in the holes that feature their signature namesakes, there is also enough consistency that made playing both the Quarry and Rail sides feel as one continuous, 18-hole course. The green complexes offer mostly simple bunkering, but the surfaces they protect are well-contoured and can roll at relatively serious speeds for public golf.

Number 125 – Quarryside

The only starting hole of the three nines that is not a downhill par 4, the 1st at the Quarry is a relatively straightforward, mid-length par 3. From there, it carves its way through a few elevation changes.

*The signs at Great Gorge are a nice touch.*

The silo on 2. The tees are back towards where the silo’s shadow points. Golfers must hit to the landing area in the bottom right of the frame before turning their attention leftwards toward the green in the distance on this par 5.

*A wide-angle look at the green at 4, with some of the rock formations behind it.*

The approach at 5. This picture isn’t quite wide enough to show it, but your shot into the green will be through an area pinched by flanking rock walls. You can just see the beveled areas on either side where the foot of these walls meets ground level.

*Hole 6, par 3. A challenging all-water carry from the tees.*

*Hole 7, par 4. A straightaway hole whose defense lies in the water hazard running the entire length on the left, as well as OB right.*

*Hole 9, par 4. The approach plays significantly uphill into this two-tiered green.*

Number 126 – Railside

After returning up the hill from hole 9 on the Quarryside, the Railside 9 starts with a beautiful downhill tee shot into a very wide landing area. Once you’ve holed out on the first, the course then crosses the railroad tracks for which its named.