salem

Number 110 (Running Deer Golf Club)

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Date played: 4/6/2021

I was invited out for a weekday round at Running Deer by Chuck Wanamaker, who also had me out at Scotland Run in 2019. The course is just a 3.5-mile drive from Centerton Golf Club. In fact, if you walked off the 12th green at Running Deer and headed west-northwest through the forest, it’s only about a third of a mile to reach the 11th green at Centerton. As close as they are geographically, these two Salem County courses are worlds apart in terms of quality.

One thing about this journey that I’m not ready to burden myself with is ranking the courses I’ve played. For one thing, there are 169 public courses (as I’ve defined them) in New Jersey. I couldn’t possibly tell you the difference between what might rank a course 38th as opposed to 37th, let alone 138th as opposed to 137th. The gradations over 169 courses would become extremely fine.

Having said that, what I am comfortable doing is maintaining an unranked list of “must plays”. These are courses that immediately come to mind when I think about my journey. Running Deer absolutely makes that list with an indelible first impression. One of a handful of Ron Jaworski golf properties in New Jersey, it is far and away the best of the ones I’ve played to date.

Many public courses suffer from a lack of variety. Whether it’s multiple adjacent holes that just run back and forth like the line for an amusement park ride, or flat, unappealing terrain, you sometimes feel like you’ve seen the hole already. At Running Deer, you may not be able to find two visuals on the course that are similar.

There are short par 4s, forced carries for par 3s, water featuring in a number of places to make you tentative, and par 5s that are reachable in two but require excellent approaches. Whether natural or not, the end result of the terrain gives every hole a unique look. The bunkering alone really allows for even the straightaway holes – like 4, 6, 8, and 10 – to appear incredibly different.

The stretch from 9 to 12 are some of the most memorable in the state. Here’s a look:

10 – a short par 4 – going out on the left, the par-5 9th – with its massive waste area – coming back on the right, and the remote openness of the farmlands of Salem County in the distance.
Looking back at the green at 11, surrounded by hazards.
12 is a beast of a par-4 with a serious risk/reward decision off the tee. You can cut across the corner on the other side of the creek, but your ball must navigate a few pines.

To top it off, the green complexes are incredible. Many of the putting surfaces have significant undulations, some funnel-esque slopes, backstops, and tiers. Surrounding them are excellent bunkers and run-off areas. They’re also likely to be some of the biggest you’ve seen on a public course that isn’t a resort. Even if Running Deer were as flat and open as a parking lot, the greens alone would make it a great course.

If I haven’t made it clear already, let me be explicit: I highly recommend this course.

It’s not often you can see undulations on camera in afternoon sun, but I think it’s pretty clear on this green at 3.
Some video of the wavy character of 3 green.
The par-3 5th, set up with a sucker pin to tempt you into the pond.
The green at 7 is massive, measuring over 50 yards wide.
More waves on the green at 8.

Number 110 (Running Deer Golf Club)

Number 102 (Centerton Golf Club)

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Date played: 11/6/2020

My 102nd course came about as another great instance of what social media has added to my journey. Tim Casale is a south Jersey resident who initially reached out on Twitter to ask which courses I had yet to play down his way. I let him know that I still had many to go in a number of southern counties and cited some of the specifics in the counties closest to him.

A couple months later, Tim mentioned that he’d be taking a weekday off to play some golf and asked if I wanted to join and check another course off my list. It was a no-brainer for me, and with time-off-work to burn in the calendar year, I confirmed I would join. Tim looked to find tee times at some courses. We thought we might have something at Indian Spring and then Pitman, but both fell through.

After an exercise in synchronized booking through GolfNow, we were set for a Friday round. Eventually, we landed on a round at Centerton.

Seven years into my journey, this would be only my second trip to Salem County, and three years after the first, which was a 2017 impromptu stop at Town and Country Golf Links. Located in Pittsgrove, it’s only about 20 miles from the Delaware River border at the Turnpike/I-295 crossing. It was a bit of a hike from the middle of the NJ where I’m located, but having played just about everything in the middle third of the state, most of the remaining courses are.

From left to right, 18, 1, 9, and 10 at Centerton

We arrived at the course and made our acquaintances. Tim’s brother and father would also join us, and it was nice to meet them and feel like I was part of a regular group. After chipping and putting on the practice green for a bit, we made our way to the first tee.

While I could not have started the first hole any better – piping my drive down the center of the fairway and making a routine par – it was pretty shaky from there on. I snap-hooked and pulled my tee shots on 2 and 3 respectively, and though I recovered well from 4 through 7, I fought those misses around the remainder of the course.

The first par 3 is a long one. I probably missed this green a cool 30 yards left.

The course is very flat and walkable. There is room to miss, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a second-shot course. Some tee shots do require attention, like the drives on 2 (which is narrower than most) and 10 (which is a dog-leg right that will require a placement decision). Then, there is the 6th, where a poorly struck tee shot may have you stuck behind Roger’s Tree.

Depending on the tees you play, Roger’s Tree is located anywhere between 80 to 110 yards from the teeing grounds on this straightaway par 4. (OK… so it would have to be a really bad tee shot.) I don’t know why, but I was intrigued by the idea of such a tree.

Roger’s Tree. Or is it The Rogers Tree?

Presumably, it’s a memorial. I’ve seen benches and in-ground plaques that are tributes to those who have passed away or even just member donors. But this one has a relatively crudely thrown together piece of plywood, painted white, with “ROGERS TREE” in black lettering. I’d love to know the story behind it. Who is/was Roger? Did he plant the tree? Was he always hitting it off the tee? If so, did his buddies put the sign up as a joke?

Whatever its history is, I’m glad to have avoided it. I’m also glad to have met up with Tim and his family as I continued my journey.

15 green, watched over by a tree that is not Roger’s
Can you spot Roger’s Tree on the 6th?
Number 102 (Centerton Golf Club)

Number 56 (Town & Country Golf Links)

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My stop for the 56th course on my journey was incredibly spontaneous and a lot of fun. I had just spent a week with my dad in North Carolina, where we got to enjoy a practice round as well as the exciting finish of the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point Golf Club. I also got to play golf with my dad, which was amazing given it was his first time on a regulation-length course. Even though I played miserably (from the senior tees, no less) I got to witness my dad’s first legitimate bogey, which is a moment I’ll never forget.

I started my drive back to New Jersey late on Sunday, and stayed the night in Virginia. I resumed my drive on Monday morning, and under strict orders from my wife not to return home without Krispy Kreme donuts, I stopped in Maryland to get a dozen. As I continued my drive at around noon, I thought I could definitely get a round of golf – and another NJ public golf course – in before getting home. I would be in New Jersey around 2:00 pm, and with a four or 4.5-hour round, I would be home in the early evening.

I started calling a few places while I was in Delaware. I maintain a list of all NJ courses on my phone, so I just had to find contact information and see what would make the most sense. Coming back into the state over the Delaware Memorial Bridge, I was trying to find places that wouldn’t be too far off the NJ Turnpike. Salem or Gloucester County courses would be best. After a few calls I discovered that Holly Hills (Alloway) was no longer operational, and that Town & Country Golf Links in Woodstown had a 2:20 tee time available.

After playing awfully in North Carolina, I arrived at Town & Country  (my first Salem County course) with the desire to play some decent golf. It was pretty windy, so I committed to playing smooth, low drives. From the first ball, I just felt like I could hit anything. It was an incredible change from the prior week. I went out in 39 (+4) and came back in at 41 (+5), and that included a triple-bogey with a lost ball, which was caused by a departure from the game plan of smooth, low drives. That +9 round matched some of my best golf ever, and it felt like redemption for all the bad golf I had been playing, including my round at Lakewood CC.

It’s hard to be critical of a course when you’ve played well there, at least for me. Noteworthy features are the peninsula/island green on the par-3 13th, and a nice change from mostly links-style to some parkland-style chutes on holes 15 through 17. If I had any complaints, it would be that there aren’t any real elevation changes, but that is just characteristic of the low-lying, level farmland of the area overall. Architecturally, it seems they did try to compensate for this with a raised tee box here and there, like on the par-3 7th, or the raised green on the par-3 16th, but it is level for the most part.

Apart from the even-planed nature of the layout, it is beautifully maintained and has some very friendly service. It’s quite a hike from my Mercer County home, but it ranks highly for me among the public courses I’ve played so far. I would gladly recommend Town & Country Golf Links to anyone in the area, or even if you’re just passing through, trying to get a round in as you head back north.

Number 56 (Town & Country Golf Links)