golf

Numbers 10 through 13 (Quail Brook, Emerson, and two nines at Neshanic Valley)

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Number 13 – Quail Brook Golf Course

Date played: 6/20/2013

Scorecard from my first round at Quail Brook.

Looking back on the chronology of public courses I played in New Jersey, it’s crazy to think that I lived in Somerset County for a number of years before playing an in-county course. But in June 2013, I finally made it out to Quail Brook Golf Course.

Located relatively close to exit 10 on Route 287 and not far from downtown New Brunswick and Rutgers University, Quail Brook is a 6,600-yard 18-hole par 72. It’s second only to Gambler Ridge for number of times played, with a total of twelve 18-hole rounds played over a couple years.

Though I hadn’t played all that many different courses at the time, that first hole remains one of the most intimidating opening tee shots I’ve encountered in the state. It’s a slight dog-leg right par-5, but it always seemed so narrow, with trees going up pretty much the entire way on both sides. Apart from that I remember a handful of holes, which tells me it’s high time to go back and pay the course a visit.

I wish I had pictures of it to share, but alas, this was before I was obsessed with taking pictures of golf courses. You’ll have to settle for this 2015 shot of the course rates behind the desk in the pro shop, which remarkably, is the only photo I could find. I will say that the discount for county residents (after a $50/year registration) was definitely one of the best deals in New Jersey public golf.

Golf was a bit cheaper in 2015, but surprisingly, the rates haven’t jumped much in 2024. The website shows that weekend rates for non-registered golfers is just $60.

Number 11 – Emerson Golf Club

Date played: 7/7/2013

One of a number of courses that has changed names since I started playing, the 11th public course played on my journey was known at the time as Emerson Golf Club.

The front and back cover of the Emerson Golf Club scorecard from my July 2013 round.

Today, it’s known as Soldier Hill Golf Course, which, along with nearby Soldier Hill Road, are both named for the historical Soldier Hill, an area where the Continental Army settled in August and September of 1780 during the Revolutionary War.

Having grown up in Bergen County, I remember being struck by how the course was nestled just off of Kinderkamack Road – a road I had traveled quite often – and yet I had never seen it until 2013. Today, as I pull up that information on Google Maps, I see that there are also three private courses – White Beeches, Haworth, and Hackensack – all within a couple miles, none of which I knew existed when I played Emerson. I hope I can play those as well one day!

Hackensack GC, Soldier Hill Golf Course, Haworth CC, and White Beeches GCC, all within close proximity of each other.

Numbers 12 and 13 – Neshanic Valley, Meadow and Lake nines

Date played: 7/14/2013

My second stop in Somerset County would be one of New Jersey’s best: Neshanic Valley. Not since High Bridge Hills or Heron Glen had I seen a course of this caliber. The drive from the road to the clubhouse alone is something you won’t see at many public courses. With the Academy Course to the left and the driving range to the right, it dips into a valley and then gently winds back uphill towards the main parking lot.

Paired up with a young woman who was preparing for a tournament at Neshanic Valley and her mom – who was caddying for her – I was thoroughly out of my depth when they asked me to play the mixed tees they would be playing in competition. In truth, the overall yardage probably wasn’t too much further than I would’ve played – and they assured me of that – but the few times we teed off from a box behind my normal set, I couldn’t help feeling out of place.

Scorecard from my first round at the Meadow and Lake nines at Neshanic Valley.

My occasional trepidation aside, Neshanic Valley cemented itself as a fast favorite. Between the two nines of the Meadow and Lake, I preferred the Meadow. It’s a picturesque inland course, with subtle rolling contours and water only featuring on the par-5 9th. A dearth of trees provides views across in both directions, something I was finding that’s relatively rare in public golf.

The first hole at the Meadow nine.

The Lake was a very close second. While the titular water feature only really comes into play on two holes (7 and 8) and possibly the 5th if you’re playing from far enough back, it’s a nice signature that separates the feel of the Lake nine from the Meadow. The opening hole is also a bit different as it plays downhill from an elevated tee box, something that you don’t really see on the Meadow, perhaps arguably on its 5th hole. Lastly, the finishing hole on the Lake is perhaps one of the best in the state. A long par 5 that plays uphill back towards the clubhouse is sure to provide pictures that are instantly recognizable to golfers who’ve been there.

The 9th hole at the Lake.

I left Neshanic Valley thoroughly impressed, and definitely looking forward to when I could come back to play the Ridge and Academy nines. Little did I know at the time that it would be another three years before seeing either one of them. But, there was so much other golf to see as well.

Numbers 10 through 13 (Quail Brook, Emerson, and two nines at Neshanic Valley)

Numbers 6 through 9 (Heron Glen, Cream Ridge, Gambler Ridge, and Stonybrook)

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The next four courses on my journey were all played with friends I met at work. Most of us were not serious golfers at the time, but we were all more than happy to find a course to play and socialize outside of the workplace. It’s interesting now to think about how today – outside of my family relationships – golf defines a large part of who I am. At the time I played these courses, though, it was just something I wanted to do occasionally.

Heron Glen

Date: Undated, sometime in 2010

I switched jobs in 2008, and my wife and I moved to Somerset County shortly thereafter. Having made friends with a few coworkers a couple years into the new job, we eventually began to chat golf and planned to get out for a round together. Someone suggested that we play Heron Glen after work one day.

Located in Ringoes – which features some of the “wine country” of New Jersey – Heron Glen plays over 7,000 yards from the tips (but not from the tees we played) and is typically in pristine condition in season. While I have a soft spot for High Bridge Hills, Heron Glen is touted by many as the best public course of the three in Hunterdon County, and one of the best in the state. These posts from Erik Matuszewski show why.

Cream Ridge

Date: Undated, also sometime in 2010

Moving from wine country to horse country, Cream Ridge is your average public course, situated in western Monmouth County. The final minutes of the drive to Cream Ridge will likely feature multiple plots of farmland and stables, regardless of which direction you’re coming from. My first round there was with one of said coworkers who, despite having left the company and the area, remains one of my very best friends to this day.

The course features water in a few places, a few interesting tee shots, but overall is relatively run-of-the-mill. I like the approaches into the greens at 3 (across a widened area of a creek at the bottom of this downhill par-4), 4 (really the par-3 tee shot), 8 (a well-mounded green), and 18, which is a par-5 that is reachable in two, but very dangerous as water guards the right side of the last leg of the hole.

A shot from a 2016 round of the green at 18, looking back at the fairway.

Gambler Ridge

Date: 3/29/2013 (finally, a dated scorecard)

Three years later, a coworker was getting the word out about a Good Friday golf outing he was hosting at Gambler Ridge. Needless to say, I was excited to join.

Just down the road from Cream Ridge Golf Course – and still in the town of Cream Ridge, NJ – Gambler Ridge is your everyman’s golf course. This is not a place you play to be wowed by layout or conditions. You play Gambler Ridge to knock it around with friends, have a few beers (if that’s your thing), and get a hot dog at the turn (which a friend of mine affectionately refers to as a Gambler Dog). Noteworthy features at Gambler Ridge are three drivable par-4 holes in 5, 6, and 13 (though attempting it at 6 and 13 is treacherous as water is significantly in play) and a double green for holes 15 and 17.

That first round at the outing was one of 16 to date (May 9, 2024) making Gambler Ridge far and away the course I’ve played the most. I’ve broken 80 a handful of times there, though the course does play easier than most and the tees are rated and sloped accordingly. My best round there – a 75 from the 6,294-yard “tips” for a differential of 6.2 – featured one of the craziest things that’s happened to me.

Coming up to the tee box at 10, with the group ahead of us very visibly still in the fairway, the starter asked why we weren’t teeing off. Pointing to the very visible group of people in the fairway, I said, “I don’t want to hit them.” The starter replies, “you’re not gonna hit them,” but he said it in a tone that said, “Given where THEY are in the fairway – and [possibly] considering the caliber of players I watch here on a daily basis – I don’t think YOU are capable of hitting it far enough to hit them.”

So, I indulged the starter.

I muttered something about waiving any potential liability to him (that’s not how it works, for anyone interested), teed my ball up, addressed it, and hit my drive. It was well struck, and we all watched as it drew off the right-side of the fairway, dangerously on a path towards the cart in the fairway. The ball came down, thankfully missing the group, but landing 5-10 yards left of the cart (well within the range of possibly hitting them) and bounded off into the left rough. They looked back at us, we looked back at the starter, and he was silent. Since he was concerned about pace of play, I put my driver back in my push cart, and jogged off to my ball.

It’s probably the one of the dumber things I’ve done on the golf course. It’s also probably one of the more irresponsible things that starter has done. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

The 10th at Gambler Ridge. 385 yards from our tees, I had about 105 into the green from the left rough.

Stonybrook Golf Club

Date: 4/15/2013

Finally, the 9th course played on my journey is the now-defunct Stonybrook Golf Club. A 3,514-yard par-62 executive course with four par-4s and two par-5s, it had the interesting scorecard feature of having the same sequence of par for both the front and back nines (4,3,3,4,3,5,3,3,3).

A satellite image showing the ghost of Stonybrook.

I barely have a recollection of the course. I remember almost being able to reach the green at the “par-4” 1st hole with a 3-iron (only 226 from the back tees). I’m relatively certain that the par-5 15th finished with a hard left into the green. Other than that, I see a few moments here and there from my round with my coworkers, one of which would be with me at Hyatt Hills later that year when I discovered I would be taking on this quest to play all the publics. But I would only play Stonybrook three times, and much like the course, any other recollection is now gone.

Numbers 6 through 9 (Heron Glen, Cream Ridge, Gambler Ridge, and Stonybrook)

Numbers 4, 5, and… 152 and 14?

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Continuing the theme of my last post, I’ve got more, out-of-order courses to tell you about. As I mentioned, the first three courses I played were all at points before and up to June 2006. Very shortly after that, my wife and I had just gotten an apartment together in Middlesex County. From there, I would play an additional four courses over the next few years.

Number 4 (Raritan Landing)

Date played: 7/22/2006

While he’s better known for his design at Scotland Run, Stephen Kay also helmed the creation of the par-58 Raritan Landing Golf Course in Piscataway, NJ. Though I have an undated scorecard that likely preceded it, this Middlesex County executive course counts officially as the 4th NJ public I played based on a July 2006 round.

As a Rutgers alumnus, this is another place I wish I had visited more while I was on campus, literally just minutes away from the course. With four par-4s and 14 par-3s, this would’ve been a perfect place to play while I was still in my novice-golfer shell.

The greens at Raritan Landing have enough undulation in them to set them apart from most other executive or par-3 courses and they are bunkered enough to challenge the beginner. However, in my experience, the greens are usually kept at a speed that might be a bit slow for those looking to be challenged on the putting surface. (I’m not one of those people, so win-win for me.)

It’s only $40 to walk on the weekend, but an additional $20 if you want to ride. Given the course is a par-58, $60 to play a short course is a bit steep. I would recommend the very manageable walk if you made your way out there.

Number 5 (Tara Greens – 9-hole)

Date played: 5/16/2009

The nine-hole course at Tara Greens Golf Center was my first Somerset County course played. Closed sometime between 2014 and 2020, the first time I played it was in a round with one of my cousins in May 2009. The course featured two par-3s (one long, one short), five par-4s, and two of the wildest par-5s in the state of New Jersey.

Scores of 6 and 10 on the 6th, and 9 and 8 on the 7th… yikes.

Hole 6 was a 465-yard par 5 that presented itself as a 90-degree dog-leg-left from the tee box. You could cut the corner over some trees, but your landing area was narrow and it was completely blind. For all intents and purposes, it was a three-shot hole. That was immediately followed by the 7th, which was listed on the scorecard as 615 yards. I don’t know if actually stretched that long, but I can tell you that in the few times I played it, I never even came close to making par.

Looking at the scorecard map, the shape of the 6th is portrayed accurately, but my recollection of the 7th is that it was much more of a dog-leg-right. Either way, you can see that image below, alongside a satellite image of the course. A majority of the acreage for those two holes sat where the large, white-roofed distribution center is now, and you can actually see remnants of the 7th green, bit left of center, north of the building marked “WA Cleary Corporation”.

(Side note: roughly 15 years later, almost none of the businesses that advertised on the back of that scorecard are still around today!)

Number 152 (Tara Greens – Pitch-n-putt)

Date played: 7/3/2022

The rates at Tara Greens on 7/3/2022.

As part of the “golf center” experience of Tara Greens, in addition to the nine-hole course and driving range, the facility also offered a nine-hole pitch-n-putt course. I say “offered” in the past tense, because I recently discovered that in May 2023, Tara Greens announced that it would “not be opening for the 2023 season.”

It wasn’t me, but I feel that deflated teary emoji.

While that language leaves open the possibility of opening for the 2024 season (or any future season) it is probably highly unlikely. Given the sale of land to the distribution center years ago and the current real estate market (land isn’t cheap) the facility owners would have done well for themselves selling the remainder of the land to the highest bidder.

While I have one undated scorecard that I believe is from the time I lived in Middlesex County, and a few others from 2016 to 2020, I did not originally include the pitch-n-putt course in my list of NJ publics. After realizing that it met my criteria – it’s open to the public and offers a scorecard with yardages for each hole – I decided to avoid renumbering my entire journey and just slot the course in as my 152nd played.

If it doesn’t return – and again, it probably won’t – it will be sad to see it go. Here are a few pics from that day.

Number 14 (Rolling Greens Golf Club)

Date played: 8/31/2013

My final, out-of-order course for this post is a trip to Sussex County.

While I have an undated scorecard of a round with someone I worked with from 2006 to 2008, I counted Rolling Greens Golf Club in Newton as the 14th I had played based on a round played with two of my best friends in August 2013.

A par 65 from just under 5,200 yards, Rolling Greens was a tight test on a number of holes, particularly the par-4s. I can’t quite remember if it was the par-5 13th or par-4 15th, but even though they offered a bit of space on the approach, one of those extreme dog-leg-left holes also had a very difficult tee shot to navigate into a narrow landing area in the elbow of the hole.

Holes packed together like a microscope image of reproducing bacteria.

In 2021, I learned that Rolling Greens had closed sometime in 2019. Over time, a number of courses have been removed from my list, some of which I played, others which I hadn’t. There’s a bit of a missed-opportunity sting to learn about a course that I never played which no longer exists. But like many of the courses gone from the early part of my journey, there’s a deeper pain of an erased personal history when I see a course I played get relegated out of reality and into history books.

Here is a satellite image of Rolling Greens which still shows much of the shape of the layout.

Another one bites the dust 😔
Numbers 4, 5, and… 152 and 14?

Numbers 1 through 3

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The first three courses I have listed as being played on my journey were all completed when I was still based in the town I grew up in: Wallington. As with most small towns, you can be forgiven for never having heard of Wallington. It’s a one-square-mile, heart-shaped borough in southern Bergen County, located 3.5 miles from MetLife Stadium, and about 12 miles from Times Square across the Hudson River. It’s most known for its concentration of people with Polish heritage (about half of the town’s population at the turn of the century) and the urban legend that it may have at one point held a record for having the most bars in a square mile (or something like that).

From Wallington, my first three trips around the state would be to courses in Morris, Middlesex, and Hunterdon Counties.

Wallington, NJ, my hometown.

Now, when I eventually started to chronicle my quest around New Jersey, I was meticulous in documenting when I had visited a new course. However, I officially began my journey after having already played a number of different public courses in the state. Among those, there are a few where I unfortunately did not maintain an exact date of when I visited them for the first time.

Number 3 (Rutgers University Golf Course)

Date played: 6/4/2006

The third course I played was (sort of) one of them. On June 4, 2006, I played Rutgers University Golf Course. Rutgers is my alma mater, and on that day, I convinced three friends – who I had actually met while at Rutgers – to play the course with me. None of us were playing golf regularly, and two in the group didn’t really keep score. At this point, I don’t have any specific recollection of the day, but the meta-data of the memory (if I can call it that) is that 1) I was just glad to have convinced some friends to get out to a golf course with me, and 2) we had a good time.

The front nine of our round. I have no idea why I circled a 7 and three 8s.
Some more random circling on the back nine. In other news, 43 coming in was probably about the very best I could do at the time. That’s just above an average nine-hole score for me today.

But I had actually been to the Rutgers course previously – almost a year earlier, in fact, in September of 2005. However, it was only to play the front nine, and by the time I was trying to determine how to catalog all of the courses I played, I felt it was only fair to count an 18-hole course if I played all 18 holes.

It’s interesting to think about how different my life was at the time. Originally having gone to Rutgers in the fall of 1998, I eventually took time off to help my family, which involved moving to North Carolina for a while. I returned to New Jersey in 2004 and decided to finish my degree in 2005. While I can’t remember for certain, I’m guessing I played that original 9-hole round with a student discount. It’s crazy to think that I didn’t take advantage of that benefit when I had been on campus 6-7 years earlier, something I really regret. The truth, though, is that – having only played pitch-n-putt golf – I was just scared to get on a par-70+ course.

I would graduate after the 2005 fall semester, but not before a big (non-golf) life-changing event: I met the woman that would become my wife!

The first time I played at the Rutgers course, though not the round that would count towards my journey. It’s also probably around the time I first locked eyes with the future Mrs. Rosas.

Number 2 (Twin Willows Par 3)

Date played: 5/13/2006

From a scorecard I have dated 5/13/2006 – with the friends who joined me at Rutgers – the Twin Willows Par 3 course is listed as the second course I played on my quest. I only have one other scorecard saved, and while it’s not dated, it may be within a year of either side of that 5/13/2006 round. But I’m certain that I played this course much earlier.

After my high school friends and I started playing pitch-n-putt golf at Hillman’s Golf Land, too timid to play bigger courses, we went searching all over the place for other par 3 venues. Our travels would even take us into New York, to the Executive Golf Course at Rockland Lake State Park and all the way up to Orange County to play a par-57 called Winding Hills. So, without a doubt, I was playing at Twin Willows with that same group of friends likely as early as 2000 or even 1999.

But when chronicling my list, I wanted to avoid guessing a date wherever I could. (Though, spoiler alert, I did end up having to do that.) Therefore, even though Twin Willows would have slotted in at the number one spot if I had dated (and kept) all of my earliest scorecards, it goes into the order officially at Number 2 with the May 2006 round.

The only dated scorecard I kept from Twin Willows.

I am definitely long overdue a trip back to this par-3 course, especially because the course now has a 10th hole available to play!

The “10th” hole that was added since I played last is the one with the waste area at the bottom of the frame and plays as the 1st. What I knew as holes 1-9 are now actually holes 2-10.

Number 1 (High Bridge Hills Golf Club)

Date played: 8/13/2005

Given my lack of accurate documentation for Twin Willows, Hunterdon County’s High Bridge Hills Golf Club slots in as the first public course I played in New Jersey. Back in August of 2005, my friends and I used a website called “EZLinks” (which later became the current TeeOff.com) to book a round at High Bridge Hills. Only, we didn’t just book a tee time: we used a “Name Your Price” feature, much like Priceline.com offered (until 2016).

You would effectively bid on a tee time and the service would let you know if your bid was accepted. You could potentially get significantly discounted rates on your round, and we were fortunate enough to do just that. At a time when rates for a Saturday tee time were likely above $60 to ride – a guess, given that at the time of writing, an off-season January 2024 weekend round is $86 – we only paid $25 per person.

Another internet glitch! A remnant of the old EZLinks site is still findable on Google. The look and feel were a bit more modern by the time we used it in 2005, but it’s cool to see relics of golf history like this.

It’s difficult for me to describe the impression that this course instantly made. The context, as I’ve been writing about in this post and the last, is that I had really only played par-3 holes up to that point. This was my first foray into what others would probably describe as “real” golf. I had only played three different par-4 holes before stepping onto the first tee at High Bridge Hills, which happens to be a par-5, something I had never seen.

The most striking thing about the course – relative to other publics around the state – is the land movement. Situated on the southern outskirts of the New Jersey Highlands, I’m pretty confident that no matter how often you play High Bridge Hills, the number of uneven lies you have in a round will outnumber the level ones. While I don’t enjoy being punched in the face by a course, I think this is a challenge I welcome, and its rarity makes me hold HBH in high regard because of it.

The 1st tee at High Bridge Hills.

There is a tremendous variety of shots you’ll have to play, from forced carries to semi-blind, to completely blind. The elevation changes only rest for brief moments, like holes 6 and 17. The rest of the course is a roller coaster, and I mean that in the best way. Ultimately, when I started this site almost 11 years after playing at High Bridge Hills, I would create a page for courses that I consider “must-play” publics in NJ, and I included HBH in that list.

Most of that decision was based on the nostalgia of how incredible that round felt, but I recently went back in December 2023, and I can say that I still hold it in the company of the best public courses in the state. It was difficult to tell if the December conditions were indicative of what conditions would be in prime season, but it didn’t matter – the layout, the green complexes, the views, all make High Bridge Hills a place that all New Jersey golfers should visit at least once in their playing lives.

The scorecard from the first official round on my journey. A 56.5-foot birdie followed by a five-putt triple bogey. That’s how you close out a round!

Here are some photos from my December 2023 round, as well as some drone shots I quickly took before heading back home.

High Bridge Hills from above. With the cart barn and maintenance shed in the center of the frame, the 9th and 1st holes straddle the pond to the right. To the left and above it is most of the back nine.
The one-shot 4th hole, with a view almost (in the smallest way) reminiscent of 16 at Sleepy Hollow with the reservoir in the background.
Above the 4th hole, a look back most of the first six holes.
The par-3 8th hole, with elevated, terraced tee boxes on the right and the green near the lower left.
Behind the 8th green, looking up at the tees.
Over the back nine, looking at 12 and 13.
The forced carry on 13 tee.
18 green, with 10 playing alongside it on the right into the distance.
Numbers 1 through 3

Number 0 (Where it all started)

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When I started this blog, I let you know that you would be joining me “in medias res“. At the time, I had already played 34 courses that I would count against my journey to play all the public golf courses in New Jersey. Before I continue on writing about the remainder of my journey, I figured having wrapped up 2021 was as good a place as any to go all the way back to the beginning. Sort of like a Christopher Nolan movie… only way slower.

Date: Exact date unknown, but either summer of 1997 or summer of 1998 (we’ll go with summer of 1998)

It’s the summer of 1998. It’s been just over a year since Tiger Woods recorded his first major victory at the 1997 Masters and golf was becoming a bit more mainstream. The Broncos won the Super Bowl, the Yankees are about to become unstoppable for a few years, and Michael Jordan just led the Chicago Bulls to his 6th and final NBA Championship. On the radio, bands like The Offspring, Third Eye Blind, and Our Lady Peace are in heavy rotation. The one hit wonders of the era include Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”, “Your Woman” by White Town, and The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony”.

Here are some other songs you may have been hearing at the time, the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, June 13, 1998. I can’t say I remember all of these.

My friends and I have just graduated high school and are gainfully employed (at least part-time). We can’t stand the heat of our newfound income burning holes in our pockets, so we search for ways to get rid of it. Movie theaters, billiards halls, Dave & Busters, diners, and fast-food restaurants are all adequate outlets that would help unburden us of our money. Then my friend Eddie suggests a new way to spend it.

The driving range.

Hillman's Golf Land. Professional instructor John Falat Sr. with understudy Tony Fiore Jr. Elmwood Park - East Paterson, New Jersey. Photo by Jack Falat 1978
This was the place, but in 1978, not 1998. From the Flickr page of Jack Falat.

In the 18 years of my life that preceded that summer, I had never swung a golf club. The closest I had been to the game was likely miniature golf, and I genuinely have no memories of even doing that. I had almost zero contact with golf, and that includes seeing it on television. I have one vague memory of a golf broadcast being on at a family friend’s house, and I don’t think they were all that interested in it either.

Nevertheless, I instantly loved hitting golf balls at the range. Mainly, it was a cheap way to spend time with friends. We could all pool a few dollars, get the largest bucket of balls on offer, and all slice balls into the right-side netting for the next hour or two. Golfers talk about the one shot that hooked them for life. The shot the contact of which was so pure, and the flight of which was so perfect, that it caused them to vow never to leave the game, in sickness and in health, till death do them part.

I don’t think I ever had such a moment. If I did, that memory was quickly forgotten and is now long gone. But hitting golf balls at the range was such a great way to hang out with friends that I had no intention of ever leaving the game. Perfect shot or no perfect shot, I was hooked. Twenty-five years later, that still holds true.

All of this took place some 17 years before I knew I would go about my quest, at a facility called Hillman’s Golf Land, what I’m calling my course “Number 0”. While it no longer exists, Hillman’s was located along the Passaic River in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, featuring a driving range, miniature golf, and a pitch-n-putt course.

A 2023 satellite view of the land where Hillman’s was located. It would’ve been situated in the lower half of the land west of River Drive, closer to Route 46.

The scorecard said it was an “18 hole par 3 short course,” but in 1998, there were only nine holes ranging from 35 to 55 yards. However, it only cost $10 to go around twice for an 18-hole round, and wedges and golf balls were provided to anyone who paid the fee and needed them. The course was lit for night play, something that is a rare find today, and that’s when my friends and I played most of the time. In fact, I can’t recall a round that we played in daylight.

The front and back cover of the scorecard of the pitch-n-putt course at Hillman’s from one of my rounds there, dated 8/29/1998. You gotta love the e-mail being listed simply as the “HILLMANS.COM” domain. An early internet-era mistake.

I have 12 scorecards saved, with the names of ten different friends and family members written in them, but unfortunately, no pictures of the course itself. Unlike today, where everyone always has a camera with them in their cell phones, in 1998, the only technology my friends and I were carrying were our pagers. Even if we were to have cell phones – which did exist at the time – they wouldn’t have had cameras.

The lack of pictures has left me with very faint memories of how the course was actually laid out. There are some things I am relatively certain about. The first hole played towards the river, with your back to River Drive, to a flat green. The tees for the second hole were separated from the first green by a tall section of chain link fence, like the backstop of a baseball field in a public park. The second hole was situated at roughly a 90-degree angle to the right (relative to the first hole) and played to a green that was a bit raised and sloped away from players.

The only images I have of the course are scans of these 12 scorecards, seven of which unfortunately don’t have a date on them.

Beyond that, everything is kind of a blur. I want to say that the 3rd and 4th holes continued to play in the same direction as the 2nd, and that the 4th green was the furthest point from the start. I have a faded picture in my mind of what the parking lot looked like under the night lights while standing on the course.

Scouring the internet for pictures yielded the same couple over and over again, and both were also from an era well before I had played it.

In the top half of this split image, the grounds of the pitch-n-putt course can be seen, with the driving range and Route 46 in the distance at the top border of the frame.
Another shot of the course, this time in the bottom half of the image. Between the mention of an “18 hole par 3 short course” on the scorecard cover, and the number 13 on the flag in the foreground of this shot, it leads me to believe that perhaps there were in fact 18 greens on the property at one time, perhaps further north on the land, closer to Route 80.

Whether I have pictures or not, it doesn’t change the fact that Hillman’s is indeed gone. And though the memories are faint, faded, and blurry, it will always be the place that spawned my love for golf. After that summer, my friends and I would soon go on to search for any other pitch-n-putt or short courses in our area, and eventually, I’d make my way onto rated and sloped courses. And some years after that, I’d run into a man named Kermit at the course Hyatt Hills Golf Complex, sending me on the quest that I blog about here.

Bonus time-travel content!

GOOGLE MAPS TIME MACHINE! This is a video screen capture of the Google Maps Street View of River Drive, where Hillman’s was located. It starts at roughly where the end of the driving range would have been and works north up the street towards where the pitch-n-putt course would have been in view. At 42 seconds, you can see that for whatever reason, the picture used in that frame of the Street View is from a date much earlier than the rest, and you can see the undeveloped land on the left side of the frame. That was the pitch-n-putt course. That photo was likely taken at a point after Hillman’s was closed, but before all of the land was developed. Eerie, right?
Number 0 (Where it all started)

Entering the final year of the journey

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Date: 1/1/2022

It’s not lost on me that it’s 2023 (December, to boot) and I’m nearly a full two years behind in blogging about my journey to play all of the public golf courses in New Jersey. It’s also not lost on me that blogs really aren’t a thing anymore.

Nevertheless, I committed to chronicling my quest here on this site, and though many of you likely landed here by way of my social media accounts – and therefore, have already seen how this plays out – I’m doing my best impression of a writer trying to tell a story to the broadest potential audience.

Wrapping up 2021, I felt something I hadn’t felt the entire time I’ve tracked this quest around the state. As I recounted in my first blog post, the man that inspired my journey said that he was doing it with “no timeline” in mind. I felt the same way for the next six years as I trekked around New Jersey. I was in no rush to finish. But in December of 2021, I felt differently.

I wanted to complete the mission as soon as possible.

In some ways, I could describe it as “wanting to get it over with,” but that has far too negative a connotation. This wasn’t something I hated. It’s been a passion project. However, there was one element of it that I was no longer crazy about: being committed to a list of courses to play meant that playing golf with friends became something of a scheduling nightmare, especially if you usually decide to play golf on a whim like I do.

I wanted to get back to playing golf any and everywhere. I wanted to be able to check with friends throughout the week by sending a text message that says something like, “golf this weekend?” and then sorting out the details of where to play and not worry about my being beholden to the remaining courses on the list.

Therefore, as 2021 closed out, I decided to commit to finishing the journey in 2022. Much in the same way I made that commitment, I am also committing to finishing this blog in 2024. Well, at least the journey part of it. Where I go from there with this site is anyone’s guess, but I leave open all possibilities.

So, here’s to 2022! (… in December of 2023)

A recap of where I traveled to in 2021
Entering the final year of the journey

Number 132 (Pomona Golf and Country Club)

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Date played: 12/31/2021

Why use one font when you can use three?

Somewhere around the 8th or 9th hole at Brigantine, I realized that I might still have enough daylight after my morning round to knock another one off the list before trekking back home. Over the next couple holes, I pulled up my list of public courses on my phone to see what I could make work.

By then, I knew that I would be able to finish around 1:30 pm. Given that the sun would set just before 5:00 pm, it was unlikely that I would be able to travel anywhere and finish an 18-hole round. That left Pomona Golf and Country Club as the only viable option in the area.

Located in Egg Harbor City, Pomona has a great small-town feel to the whole property and experience, which serves as a charming respite from the bright lights of Atlantic City, the Garden State’s casino mecca just 18 miles away.

The patio at the clubhouse.

Walking into the clubhouse, the starter was regaling patrons at the bar with his story of surviving a lightning strike (!!!). Though I was a bit early for my 2:00 pm tee time, he checked me in and sent me right out as a single.

Coming off the 2nd green, I pulled my cart up to the single ahead of me, who was also waiting for the group ahead of him to tee off on the 3rd. Pairing up made sense to me, and when I asked if I could join him, the single – who let me know his name was Alex – obliged.

Alex and I finished the round together, talking about some of the golf in the area as well as my journey. He asked about some of my favorites so far, and I did my best to rattle off my “must play” recommendations. He let me know that Vineyard National at the Renault Winery – less than 5 miles from Pomona – was definitely one to look forward to.

Like Brigantine, the course at Pomona is almost entirely level, but very tight in some places. Tee shots on 2, 5, and 9 will be affected either by overhanging branches, narrowing the target landing areas. Greens are small and will test your accuracy. Once you’re actually on the greens though, your putts will generally have level lies for straight lines to the hole. Fairways were quite muddy on the day, but Alex assured me that was likely due to an extended period of recent rain, and that they are dryer in peak season.

The 1st green at Pomona.

Compared to most of the other publics I’ve played on the journey, conditions at Pomona leave something to be desired. Having said that, there is still a worthy purpose to this short course. At $17 to walk and $23 to ride – for two trips around the 9-hole layout – it’s a great place to practice and bring family to play.

One last note: Pomona is a cash-only facility. So, if you’d like to avoid a $2.10 ATM fee – plus whatever your bank might charge you – make sure you have USD on hand!

Here are a few more shots from the day.

2nd hole. Par 3, 150 yards. The tee shot is very much obstructed by trees on the right side.
5th hole, 290-yard dog-leg-left, from the tees. The landing area is the center of the frame, past the flanking, pincering trees.
5th hole, from jail, after failing to cut the corner.
The par-3 7th, 126 yards.
The approach into the green at 8.
“Mudball! MUDBALL!” -Bubba Watson
Number 132 (Pomona Golf and Country Club)

Number 131 (Brigantine Golf Links)

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Date played: 12/31/2021

Coming up on very near 100 years at Brigantine.

Having been out earlier in the week at Spooky Brook on Tuesday, 12/28, I thought I had played my last round of the calendar year. When I posted about it on Twitter, fellow New Jersey native, John, let me know that I should check the weather for later in the week.

The forecast for New Year’s Eve was in the 50s. Some places were pushing almost 60 degrees.

Knowing that I’ve been overcome with a desire to wrap up this journey soon, and having the entire week off of work, I had to play again. I decided to head to Atlantic County, where I still had plenty to play. The choice would be an 8:27 tee time at Brigantine Golf Links.

Known formerly as The Links at Brigantine Beach, the course bills itself as New Jersey’s only authentic Scottish style links course. Located almost essentially on the Atlantic Ocean, the course sits on a narrow parcel of land on the bay-side of the beach-town community of Brigantine.

My tee time had me join up with father/daughter pairing Wayne and Megan, who I quickly found to be perfect golf company, which really just amounts to being pleasant and supportive of others in the group. Through our conversation during the round, we even had a “small world” moment when we found out that Megan and I actually work on the same campus (though, for different companies). To top it all off, I had my best round of the year: two birdies, each followed by a bogey, 13 pars, and one triple-bogey totaled a 75 (+3). I don’t break 80 often, and this – although an off-season round – was by far my best differential (3.8).

While I’ve never been to Scotland, from what little I know of its golf courses, I would say that calling Brigantine Golf Links “authentic Scottish style links” is quite a stretch. It’s a quaint, almost entirely level routing where you’ll see plenty of neighborhood homes around the course. I’m not sure how the course plays in the summer, but I don’t think it would play all that firm or fast. The best greens on the property are probably the ones on 11, 16, and 18. The remainder are typical public course greens.

Being on the very outskirts of Atlantic County, I don’t know that I would send anyone a great distance to see Brigantine. But, it’s a course whose greens fees won’t break the bank, and if you’re already spending the weekend in say, Atlantic City, then it’s a nice local option for a beach weekend.

Here are some pictures from around the course!

2nd hole
3rd hole
4th hole
7th hole
11th hole
The path to 11 green
16th hole
16 green
17th hole
18th hole
Number 131 (Brigantine Golf Links)

Number 130 (Washington Township Municipal)

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Date played: 12/13/2021

After finishing our post-round meal at Valleybrook, Matt and I headed over to Washington Township Municipal.

Fun fact about New Jersey (and probably a few other states): There are multiple municipalities that share the name “Washington”. New Jersey has six (!!!) of them, all of which you can read about in this New Jersey 101.5 article.

The eponymous Washington Township that played host to the 130th course on my journey is the one in Gloucester County.

The gate at Washington Township Muni. Luckily, it was still open, so we didn’t have to hop it.

“Tipping out” at 1305 yards from the further back of two sets of tees, this little nine-hole course offers great value golf. At the time we played, it was only $18 for golfers to go around twice and play 18 holes. Even as a nine-hole rate, I found that to be well worth it.

The course par is 28, consisting of mostly par-3s with the exception of the par-4 9th hole. The par-3 holes average roughly 130 yards each. The 3rd is the longest on the card, marked as 170 yards, and the shortest is the 7th, a partial wedge at 74 yards.

Given its value for play, the municipal golf course in Washington Township is a wonderful option to either warm-up before play elsewhere or – as we did – cool down after coming from another course. For gamblers, seeing who can make the most of these short holes could be a fun way to settle bets. Other courses in close proximity include Scotland Run (6 minutes away), Wedgwood CC (9 minutes), Valleybrook CC (12 minutes), and Pitman (17 minutes).

I know I’ve said it before about these short courses, but having learned to play the game on a pitch-n-putt course, these places will always feel nostalgic and special to me. I genuinely wish there were more of them so others could stumble upon the game the way I did.

Enjoy these looks from around the course!

1st hole.
The green at 2.
The 4th, into the sun.
6th hole.
The par-4 finishing hole.
Number 130 (Washington Township Municipal)

Number 129 (Valleybrook Country Club)

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Date Played: 12/13/2021

After talking on a Friday about our available time off for the remainder of December 2021, my friend Matt and I decided to take Monday off and play a couple courses left on my journey. Late that evening, we confirmed our schedules and booked a tee time for the first course we would play, Valleybrook Country Club.

A few interesting notes about tracking this course on my list of New Jersey publics. First, for the longest time, I incorrectly had Valleybrook listed as a Gloucester County course. It is located in Blackwood, which is an unincorporated community in Gloucester Township… which is actually in Camden County, not Gloucester County. Second, it is not to be confused with Valley Brook Golf Course, which is about 110 miles to the northeast in Bergen County. Finally, it is a Ron Jaworski property, and it would be third I’ve visited after Ramblewood and Running Deer.

We were joined by locals Brian and Vaughn, who were able to help us navigate some of the course strategy, though most of it is right in front of you. The first five holes make their way around a neighborhood that is enveloped by the course. After that, you reach one of my least favorite layout design choices a golf course architect can make.

The stretch of holes from 6 through 11 are a series of par 4s and 5s that run parallel to each other, one going in one direction, the next one coming back in the other.

The middle third at Valleybrook CC.

I don’t know what it is about that pattern that bothers me so much, but it definitely sticks in my memory. For example, the same design choice can be found in holes 4, 6, 7, and 8 (with 5 being a short par 3 that breaks the pattern) at Harkers Hollow in Phillipsburg, NJ, the 32nd course played on my journey. Coincidentally, both Harkers Hollow and Valley Brook also have a body of water that runs perpendicular to these sets of holes (Lopatcong Creek and Pines Run respectively).

Similar back-and-forth in this section at Harkers Hollow.

In its defense, the water crossings in the set at Valleybrook are far more interesting. While Lopatcong Creek is a very narrow hazard with land that is level on either side of it, the Pines Run plays like a much wider ravine, coming into play for tee shots on the even-numbered holes and approach shots on the odd-numbered. Also, 9 is a par 5 that plays as a dog-leg with the hole crossing the water at an angle.

The middle section finishes with what might be considered the signature hole, the par-3 12th. It also plays across the same body of water, which by the 10th hole approach has widened significantly. It is slightly downhill and should play roughly 170 yards from the white tees we played. However, it was around 130 yards on the day, making it a very different hole than on the card.

The 12th hole from our unusually short tees.

The final third of the course has a much nicer flow to it. The 16th is indexed as the most difficult on the course and it is a great risk-reward par-4. From the tee to the landing area, the Pines Run flows along the left side of the hole. Long hitters who can move the ball from left to right may be tempted to bypass the main section of fairway and cross the creek for a short-wedge approach. Depending on your tee box, anyone laying up will only have 200-220 yards of runway that eventually ends up in a pond. While the smart play is somewhere safely in the middle of the landing area, you’re still left with 150-yard shot uphill into the green.

17 and 18 play around the driving range, and that takes us back to the clubhouse. Apart from the occasional grill food at the turn, I have rarely stopped to enjoy on-course food when there is a restaurant. However, having made good time that morning, we thought it might be worth checking out the food at Riley’s Pub before heading to our next destination.

The burger and fries were first class! I’m sure I was hungry, but that was objectively quality food. My hat’s off to the chef.

It was almost good enough to make me forget about the layout of 6 through 11.

Almost.

The 4th hole, an almost-drivable par 4.
11 green. The parallel zig-zag is over.
12 looking back up at the elevated tee boxes.
Classic signs at Valleybrook.
Number 129 (Valleybrook Country Club)