burlington county golf

Number 93 (Springfield Golf Center)

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Date played: 9/14/2019

The 93rd stop on my adventure was the self-proclaimed “Most complete family golf center” in South Jersey. Located in Mount Holly, Springfield Golf Center features a driving range, a miniature golf course, a “chip-and-putt” course (not to be confused with pitch-and-putt, I guess), and a par-68 course. I have to say, if you’re looking to learn the game, it’s difficult to argue with the “complete golf center” billing.  

Strictly speaking, the par-68 is what is actually Number 93 on the quest. Since the scorecard for the chip-and-putt does not have yardages for each hole, it’s not counted on the journey. It’s one of the few arbitrary rules I have about what will count and what won’t, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

*whistles* Nice greens…

The course only plays about 5,000 yards from the back tees. Most holes are straightaway, with ample room to miss. A serious exception is the par-5 14th which plays to a narrow fairway with unplayable woods on the left and a lateral hazard to the right. The back tees on the par-4 16th are also awkwardly narrow, pinched between the net at the far end of the driving range and a couple trees with some overgrowth on them.

There’s tight, and then there’s the-tee-shot-on-16-at-Springfield-Golf-Center tight

To be somewhat critical, there are some areas of the course where it seems difficult to keep decent grass cover. I believe the aforementioned 14th is the lowest lying area of the course and it looked like it might have drainage issues. The fairway landing area was very sparse when I played, something I felt was out of place for a September round.

Judging the place as a family-friendly learning course, I think it’s a great example of using the maintenance budget appropriately, focusing on keeping well-manicured greens, particularly for the price point. It was $44 (including cart fees) on a weekend, which is probably right where it should be.

Springfield became the seventh Burlington County course I’ve visited, leaving only Indian Spring Country Club to complete the area.

First we chip… then we putt

BONUS: After my round on the executive course, I decided to play the chip-and-putt while I was there. All holes are par-3s less than 50 yards with some probably as close as 25 yards. You can get around with a single wedge of your choosing, but I happened to play both my gap wedge and my 60-degree for practice. The putter was hot, and I made my way around with five birdies and two bogeys, en route to a three-under 51.

If only all of golf was that easy.

What could’ve been a sub-50 round
Number 93 (Springfield Golf Center)

Number 84 (Golden Pheasant Golf Club)

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Date played: 3/30/2019

I’ve gotten to the point in my journey – or at least, the point in writing about my journey – where I’m running out of things to say about the courses I’m playing. I’ve increasingly found myself behind in the writing, and my perfectionism is to blame. That isn’t to say that my posts to date have been “perfect”, or anything close to it. I’ve just put some pressure on myself to make a course seem interesting, or find elements that no one may have noticed.

I’m sure there are still truly unique golf courses that remain unchecked on the list for now, but the list – as you know – is a list of public courses. There will be mundane courses. Uninteresting courses. There will be courses that are more about the locals and what they mean to the community. Alas, I’m not a journalist by trade, and I won’t be able to extract a story from everywhere.

And so, this is the point in my journey where I admit that not every public golf course is noteworthy, and that this is likely true of most public golf courses. I am using this post to remind myself that this trip is about seeing them all, whether I feel good, bad, or indifferent towards them. I will allow myself the freedom to not have to force anything special out of each stop.

Number 84 was the first of a 36-hole day, starting at Golden Pheasant in Lumberton, Burlington County. The most interesting feature at the course? The 11th hole is a par 3 that plays across the entrance road for a knee-knocking experience for beginners.

If your shot is short onto the entrance road, you can shout “fore”, but they’re probably not gonna hear you in the car
Number 84 (Golden Pheasant Golf Club)

Numbers 59, 60, and 61 (Ramblewood Country Club – Red, White, and Blue)

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Date played: 7/1/2017

If Ramblewood Country Club has any claim to fame in the list of public courses in New Jersey, it’s that it’s one of Ron Jaworski’s properties. Jaworski owns seven golf properties in all, and Ramblewood is the newest of his properties, purchased in 2016. It would be my first of the five in NJ.

Ramblewood CC is a 27-hole layout, split into the Red, White, and Blue nines. It was a bit of a drive for me, so I always had it in the back of my mind to play all three nines in one trip. Making a Saturday morning tee time though, I was conscious of not leaving my wife burdened with the kids for too long. To give myself the best shot at a quick round, I booked a 6:00 am tee time.

White (Number 59)

Meeting a Twitter golf buddy for the round, we were able to get squared away with the starter and sent out immediately. I was able to hit the fairway on the first, but bladed my approach slightly to put me over the green. After chipping on through a tree, I three-putt from 31 feet for double-bogey. I made five straight bogeys from the 2nd to the 6th, before finally making par on all three holes into the turn to finish +7.

The White nine is generally unremarkable. It is mostly level, with some rolling features. All three nines of the property are set inside a community, so there are house-lined holes and a few tree-lined fairways. Apart from its average routing and features, it is a well-maintained golf course. Greens are kept in great shape, and they roll slightly faster than the average public course in NJ.

Blue (Number 60)

After finishing the White nine, we knew we were making good time, so we jumped onto the Blue immediately. I continued the par streak on the par-3 1st and par-4 2nd. On the par-5 3rd, I lost a ball in a lateral hazard after my 3-wood flailed out to the right, and was only able to make double-bogey after the drop. After bogeying the 4th, I hit four of five fairways from the 5th to home. However, poor ball striking meant I only carded par on 7 and 9. Bogeys on the rest of the holes meant I would finish the Blue in +6.

Coming off the 9th, the starter was swarmed with groups, everyone waiting to get out – night and day from the start of our morning. We looked down at the time, and it was only 8:35. There have been a number of superlatives on my journey so far, but 2 hours 35 minutes is far and away the fastest I’ve finished 18 holes of golf.

The Blue made for more interesting play than the White as it is much tighter, particularly on the 3rd, 4th, and 8th holes, and it’s in equally good condition.

Red (Number 61)

Amidst all the groups looking to get out, full credit goes to the starter who was able to get us on the 1st tee of the Red nine in just 30 minutes. Perhaps excited that I was going to be able to complete all three nines, I completely botched the first. A weak and lazy drive meant I would slice it into the lateral hazard. A drop and a couple attempts to get onto the green resulted in triple-bogey.

That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the nine, over the course of which I played mediocre golf at best. There wasn’t anything particularly challenging about the Red nine, but I couldn’t put anything together. The highlight was certainly my approach on the 8th, a relatively long par 4. After pulling my drive left, I had 184 yards uphill to the green. I also needed to draw around some overhanging branches, and it came off just right. With a bit of draw, I was able to avoid the bunker on the right, and land just off the green. I chipped my third shot to 3 feet.

The lowlight was missing the 3-footer for par.

I was able to par the 9th to close, which was nice. But, with the 2nd being the only other par on my card for the Red, I would finish +9. Starting at 9:05 and wrapping up at 11:11, the Red nine took nearly as long as the first 18 we played.

The Red nine is much like the White, and perhaps even a bit more open. Again, the overall condition was great. Being the weekend before Independence Day, all pins flew American flags, which – according to my playing partner – is something Jaworski does at all his courses around the holiday. My only complaint was the “replay rate” we got for the Red nine. The fees for the pre-booked White-Blue combination was $69 ($34.50 for each nine), but we paid $37 for the Red. Not the end of the world – and both rates included the cart – but I would expect a rate that would beat an online booking through the course website.

Overall, however, the price of golf at Ramblewood is commensurate with its quality relative to other public golf in NJ – just a touch above average. I look forward to playing the other Jaworski-owned properties.

Numbers 59, 60, and 61 (Ramblewood Country Club – Red, White, and Blue)

Number 54 (Hanover Golf Club)

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The northernmost public golf course in Burlington County, Hanover Golf Club was the 54th stop on my journey. Hanover holds itself out as “one of New Jersey’s finest daily fee courses”. I thought this was an interesting way to advertise itself as open to the public, presumably as opposed to a required annual membership fee.

A windy February day, with breezes blowing between 10 and 20 mph, I probably needed to bring my best golf to score well, and I came up short. Tee boxes seemed to be limited for the winter, with some holes only playing from Forward boxes. I took the liberty of teeing off as close to the White tee boxes as possible on a number of holes, especially on the back nine.

The first hole was played from 339-yard Forward/Red box, and I striped a 3-wood to leave an approach of 117 yards. Seemed like a fantastic start. Unfortunately, I overshot the green with a 9-iron, landing just at the back of the green, but bouncing off the firm ground. A poor chip left me with 27 feet, and I two-putt for bogey. The 2nd and 3rd were a par 4 and 5 respectively, both right in front of you. The fairways aren’t wide, but they certainly aren’t narrow either. Errant tee shots on both, and fat third shot on the par 5 meant I would card bogey for both. Then came the fourth hole.

The fourth is on the card as 128 yards from the White tees, playing as the third-easiest hole. That day, however, it only played about 95 yards from the Forward box. Though short, it’s a well-designed, downhill par 3. There’s a tree hanging over the left and some water to be avoided short and right of the green. I missed the green, got back on, and then inexcusably three-putted from 10 feet. I missed a two-footer. (There, I said it. Happy?)

I made the turn in better form, going +2 through the next five holes. The highlight of those five holes was making the par-5 8th green in two. The lowlight was three-putting for par (this time, from 45 feet).

Coming in, the wheels were coming off my game. An interesting stretch of five straight par 4 holes, 10-14 should be ones to score on. The 11th is an uphill, but drivable hole, playing at 276 yards from the White tees. I managed to pull it left under a small tree in some deep junk, take four more strokes to get on the green, and two-putt for 7. The 12th takes you all the way back down the hill. The White tees were well up, so I opted to play from the 399-yard blues.  Hitting the green in regulation, I three-putt for bogey. Finally, on the 14th, I managed to make my first par of the back nine.

The 15th, 16th, and 17th, are pars 3, 4, and 3 respectively. The only notable part of this stretch is that there is a massive difference between the Blue and White tee boxes on the 15th, with the Whites playing at 116 yards to the Blue’s 185.

Then, there’s the 18th…

Playing at par 5, it can arguably be a par 6 for the average golfer. While the scorecard says 614 yards, the website advertises its “monster” finishing hole as 621 yards from the tips. The White tees are marked at 496, but I decided to finish from the Blue tees at 583 yards. Although it’s straight, it’s a beautiful hole. Downhill for most of the way, you’re probably level with the green at about 200-225 yards. The bottom of the fairway is a pond running perpendicular to the hole sitting across the entire width. The last 100-125 yards or so play back uphill. I hit a very good drive to the left side, but shanked my second shot. I managed to hit my third shot well, across the pond and 40 yards short of the hole. My approach from here left me at 13 feet below the hole, which was a gift, as it slopes severely from back to front. Unfortunately, my par putt lipped out, and I had to settle for a bogey finish to end the day at +18.

It’s difficult to judge the condition of a course during a winter round. I’ve since seen pictures of the course both on Hanover’s website and elsewhere. It seems to be kept in great shape during peak season, and if prices are comparable to my winter round ($34 with cart), it’s certainly worth a visit. If for nothing else, just to play the “monster”.

Number 54 (Hanover Golf Club)