Date played: 9/22/2020

For the milestone that was the 100th course on my journey, I would meet up with my Twitter golf buddy, Brian, at Darlington Golf Course in Mahwah. Something of some old stomping grounds of mine, I used to work at Stryker just down the road, and had actually been to the driving range at Darlington. It would take another 17 years before I played the course.

There are a number of memorable holes, starting with the very first. I don’t play par 5s particularly well, but I love the mere mention of them. Playing downhill and under 500 yards from the White tees, the first at Darlington is a great par 5, and a perfect way to ease you into the round as you walk down to the lowest point of the course’s acreage.

I really enjoyed the middle third of the course, as you start to play towards and around the highest elevation on the property. This stretch starts with the 7th, which plays downhill almost the entire way to the green. There is room to send it for most golfers, but longer hitters may not have enough runway and can opt for something less than driver off the tee. The 8th will play back up the same the hill with plenty of room to miss right, though you could be left with a lie in one of several bunkers.

You’ll make the turn with a straightaway but narrow-feeling par 5 on the 9th, and then it’s back up the hill with a wide open tee shot on 10. The 11th is another terrific three-shot hole, and my favorite on the property.

Set along the crest of the elevation on the course, it may be reachable for the longest hitters, as the approach would play somewhat downhill. If you choose to get there in three shots, a decision will need to be made about where to send your second. The fairway splits before it reaches the green, so there is a bit of room to spray. A route directly towards it will play to a narrow fairway tract, while the path to the right offers plenty of room to land. If you choose to lay up to avoid the forked fairway altogether, you’ll be left with somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 yards to the green.

The middle third finishes with a relatively mid-to-long range par 3, playing at about 175 yards from the White tees. From there, the final stretch of holes continues to form the perimeter of the course, running downhill to the low point again, with 17 winding around a pond, and 18 playing back up the hill to the clubhouse.

When I think about it now, it’s a crime that I wasn’t playing the course regularly after work in the summer all those years ago. I was living alone, with no real obligations to anyone but myself. At the time though, I was only a few years into playing golf, and the courses I played were limited to pitch-n-putts, par-threes, and executive courses. I was hesitant to branch out any further for fear of embarrassing myself.

While you may not completely embarrass yourself at Darlington, it can certainly be a trying course. The slope from the White tees we played is 130, and from the back tees at just over 6,800 yards, it’s 135. In retrospect, the slopes are an accurate testament to the test the course offers to the average golfer. There is room to land tee shots, but the framing of the tree lines can make them psychologically daunting. The greens roll fairly but need to be respected.

When planning for the round on the night before, I wondered if we’d be able to knock another course off the list. I thought Hendricks Field would be a good option, and when we checked tee times, there was availability that would make an afternoon round possible. We chose not to book anything on the chance that we might not be able to make both rounds happen. As we wrapped up in Bergen County just after 1:00 pm, we decided to make the 35-minute drive south into Essex County with the hope of making the 36-hole day happen.