public golf courses nj

Number 92 (Harbor Pines Golf Club)

omrosas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Great old school ball washers at Harbor Pines

Date played: 9/8/2019

My first trip to play a public golf course in Atlantic County required begrudgingly breaking my precious sleep schedule. An early morning tee time at Harbor Pines meant that I’d have to be on the road at 5:00 am.  I don’t mind waking up early – especially to play golf – but waking up before 5:00 is pushing the limit. Nevertheless, the journey called and I was on my way.

The course winds through a dense forest, with almost every hole lined on both sides by trees. With the possible exception of the 1st and the 18th, wayward tee shots won’t have a chance of finding the fairway of a neighboring hole. When a course is mostly a winding tunnel of hole after hole, I find it difficult to appreciate unless there is great variety, and a majority of the holes at Harbor Pines are straightaway.

That’s not to say that there aren’t areas of the course that are noteworthy. The 4th is a long par 4 with a 90-degree elbow. The greens across the course are in great shape, and many have clever undulations that make for great hole locations, with the complex on the 9th being a great example.

Shadows across 9 green

You start the back nine with a tough par 5 that requires a tee shot that needs to avoid water on the left. Water is a factor on multiple holes, but perhaps nowhere else more so than the 12th. It’s a daunting short par 4 where a tee shot needs to carry and navigate water for at least half the carry distance, only to find that water must be avoided to the right of the green on the approach.

At over $80 in prime season for a round with a cart, Harbor Pines measures itself among the nicer public courses in the state. Through that lens, it comes off as somewhat average. Having said that, it’s certainly worth a play and would be a good option in a line-up for a multiple-day trip of golf in Atlantic County.

The par-5 18th
Number 92 (Harbor Pines Golf Club)

Number 91 (Orchard Hills Golf Course)

omrosas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Date played: 8/24/2019

I had taken a Friday off work and traveled up to northern New Jersey to play a small private/community course with an old family friend. Afterwards, I also played the short par-3 course at Anchor Golf Center and decided to stay up in the area to try to play another new public course on Saturday. I was able to crash at my brother’s place and find a tee time at Orchard Hills.

Like most courses in New Jersey – but especially in Bergen County – Orchard Hills is tightly surrounded by suburbia. Situated adjacent to the Bergen Community College property and across the street from Paramus Catholic High School, it’s relatively easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. The course is nine holes and doesn’t even reach 2,800 yards from the tips, but as its name suggests, it does roll up and through the hills of the property.

Though it’s an easy course on paper, I somehow managed to play some pretty terrible golf. Looking back at pictures now, there is all the room in the world to land your tee shots on the six par-4s and the lone par-5. The course also features two par-3s that are a bit long on the scorecard, but certainly fair in reality.

Hole 4, the first of the course’s two long par 3s

While I carded a poor round, it was a good feeling to cross off another Bergen County course from the list. Orchard Hills was pretty well maintained and pace of play was decent for a busy golf course on a weekend. The course became my fourth public played in the county.

Number 91 (Orchard Hills Golf Course)

Number 89 (Rockleigh Golf Course – Blue)

omrosas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Date played: 6/30/2019

After growing up and living in New Jersey his entire life, getting married and starting a family here, my cousin let me know that he and his family would be relocating to South Carolina. Knowing that we would be hundreds of miles apart for the foreseeable future in a matter of weeks, I suggested that we should play a round of golf before the move.

While not an avid golfer, my cousin was interested enough that we often talked about getting together to play, and he agreed we should make it happen. Being up in Bergen County and needing the course to be close to him so he could get back to the family soon afterwards, I booked a round at the Blue nine at Rockleigh Golf Course.

Located about a half-mile from the state’s northern border with New York, Rockleigh features 27 holes, split into an 18-hole course (the Red and White nines) and the par-33, nine-hole Blue course. Most of it plays very level, with only the slightest incline into some of the greens. While there are areas of the course that seem neglected, word has it that Rockleigh is limited in what they can use to treat the grasses, as it is protected park land. In spite of that, the greens are well maintained and play fairly. At $17 to walk on a weekend, it is tremendous value for casual or high-handicap golfers who don’t want to break the bank to hone their craft.

The green at 9

My favorite part of playing with high-handicappers is rooting for them and celebrating their victories. Whether it’s a 15-foot putt that’s holed or just a well struck shot, those moments in the game make great memories, so it’s special to me to serve as a witness to the occasion. At Rockleigh Blue, I got to see my cousin – who averages less than one round per year – make a legitimate par at the fifth hole, a short par 4 with a lateral hazard to clear on the approach.

If I’m going to bear witness to his next golf memory, it would more than likely have to be at my cousin’s new home in the Palmetto State. In the meantime, I’ll be continuing my journey around the NJ publics, perhaps joined by other casual golfers looking to make memories of their own.

Number 89 (Rockleigh Golf Course – Blue)

Number 85 (Pennsauken Country Club)

omrosas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Date played: 3/30/2019

After finishing my round at Golden Pheasant in Burlington County, I made my way 15 miles due west to play my first Camden County course: Pennsauken Country Club.

With its nines straddling Haddonfield Road in a V-shape, Pennsauken CC is short par 70, playing at 6,250 yards from the back tees. The first three holes play east of the road while the remainder of the front nine is played across the street.

Overall, it was a great day out and I had good company for the round with some locals who were able to help me sort out some holes.

Here are a few of the memorable holes from the course:

  • The 4th is a long par 4 with a blind tee shot playing uphill.
  • The 14th hole is an excellent par 5 which forces three shots for a majority of golfers. Your final approach needs to cover a creek to an elevated green with a false front on the left side.
The approach into 14
  • 17 is a fun driveable par 4
  • The closing hole is a long par 4 playing from left to right around a pond. The approach plays slightly uphill to a green that is sloped severely from back to front.
Number 85 (Pennsauken Country Club)

Number 84 (Golden Pheasant Golf Club)

omrosas, , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

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)

Number 82 (Cape May National Golf Club)

omrosas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Date played: 12/26/2018

Number 81 on my journey took me to about 10 miles from the northern border of the state. For Number 82, I decided to go in the opposite direction. On the day after Christmas, I would head to the southernmost course in New Jersey: Cape May National Golf Club.

“The Natural”, as it’s colloquially known, would be my first course in Cape May County. Situated at sea level and right down the centerline of the Cape May peninsula, the course is also home to a nature preserve and bird sanctuary that splits the front and back nines. While the course in its current form was designed in 1991, the club boasts history going back to the late 1800s when it was known as Cape May Country Club.

An 8:02 tee time on one of the shortest days of the year meant I would have to leave well before dawn to make the two-plus-hour trek to get to Exit 0 on the Garden State Parkway. Stopping only to get a few photos of the rising sun, I arrived at the course early. I knew immediately that there would be a frost delay, something almost inevitable for a December morning in New Jersey. After about 45 minutes, I was able to get on my way.

Sunrise over the Parkway

The first three holes play southwardly down the east side of the nature preserve before turning back north along the Parkway on the dog-leg-left fourth. It’s clear immediately that the sea-level layout will be flat throughout, but mounding is used to add character to holes, like at the par-3 sixth.

The mounded green at the sixth

The green at the sixth is slightly raised, running off at the front left which increases the danger of short shots caroming backwards and rolling into the water. Along the right and around the back of the green, there is mounding that may provide challenging stances when trying to scramble for par.

The scorecard boasts a quote (from The Jersey Golfer) that the course has “three of the top ranked holes in New Jersey”. That’s quite a claim, and as of the time of writing, I can’t find any record of these rankings. I will say though, that on the back nine, numbers 11 and 18 are highlights on the course.

The landing area for the tee shot at 11 is larger than it seems from the tee

All around, I was thoroughly impressed with the condition of the course in December. While considerably further south than most courses I play, I still didn’t expect everything to be in the shape it was for the winter. I’ve seen many public courses that don’t look as well maintained in their prime season.

Being in such a remote corner of the state, it’s hard to recommend as a “must play”. Having said that, there are plenty of things to do in Cape May in warmer weather. So, if you’re looking for a beach weekend that includes some golf, then Cape May National is definitely worth a visit.

Number 82 (Cape May National Golf Club)

Number 81 (Berkshire Valley Golf Course)

omrosas, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Date played: 11/25/2018

Saddled between Routes 15 and 23, the 81st course on my journey is technically a county-less one. Berkshire Valley resides in Oak Ridge, NJ, an “unincorporated community” (gotta love that designation) between West Milford in Passaic County and Jefferson Township in Morris County. As far as the golfing community is concerned though, it is part of the Morris County Park Commission, and it was the last one I needed to play to complete the county altogether.

Designed by Roger Rulewich – whose work can also be found in the Crystal Springs Resort courses in Sussex County – Berkshire Valley is a picturesque ridge-and-basin layout beside Green Pond Mountain. It starts on the ridge with five holes playing in one direction along the side of the mountain before returning in the other direction with some eye-catching undulation on holes 6, 7, and 8.

Back across the ridge on the par-3 6th

After that, it’s down to the basin on 9. Where it felt tight on the ridge, the course exhales here for the first time with a wide-open fairway. The lower side of the course continues and features some great holes where water is in play, either to carry or to mind as a hazard to one side. The basin rolls delightfully around these bodies of water in links-style, where you’ll contend with native grasses more than trees.

A look out at some of the back nine in the basin

The morning I played, all players were sent out on 9 – to play 9 through 18 twice – as the first five holes were closed due to snow that still needed to melt. It would’ve been disappointing to have to come back to the course to complete it, but by the time we wrapped up on 18, enough snow had melted that they allowed us to play the front after all.

Shadows across the beastly 2nd

Berkshire Valley is truly a hidden gem. It’s the one course I’ve played so far where enough people haven’t heard of it, and it is an absolute recommendation in my book. The views from the ridge are striking and make for great pictures, not to mention the challenge you’ll face in that first third of the course. Its width in the basin makes it quite replayable, offering multiple angles on a number of holes.

If you haven’t seen it, it is an absolute must play. Give the unincorporated community of Oak Ridge a visit and discover a public treasure in Berkshire Valley.

Number 81 (Berkshire Valley Golf Course)