scotch hills golf

Date: 10/23/2021

Just six miles from Baltusrol, nestled between Routes 22 and 28 is without a doubt the most historic stop on my journey through New Jersey.

In 1921, the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club was formed as the first black-owned golf club in the United States. From 1932 to 1964, John Shippen – the first American-born golf professional – called the club his home, offering his services as head pro and clubmaker.

Today, we know the course as Scotch Hills Country Club.

*The svelte-looking Scotch Hills CC with the 5th green in the foreground and the clubhouse in the distance.*

A nine-hole course set on a narrow piece of property, Scotch Hills runs uphill towards the back of the course at the 5th green and then turns back down the hill towards the clubhouse. While the opening and finishing holes are on relatively level ground, there is a fun test of elevation changes from holes 2 through 8. The course offers small greens as targets, so if your approach play is off, you’ll need to make sure you have your short game on hand in order to score.

The course opens with a straightaway par 4. Anything wildly left or right will have room to land, but will only offer an obstructed approach shot as two sets of in-play trees line the fairway within 100 yards of the green.

The 2nd – which I would consider the course’s signature hole – is a par 4 which plays through a tight chute off the tee and slightly uphill. Most of the fairway sits on a very rounded mound which will deflect balls off to the left. Approach shots from the downhill collection area will be playing to a green 10-20 feet above the lie.

Flyover from the opening tee shot, through the chute at the 2nd tee, and up past the greens at 2 and 6.

*Looking back from the green at 2, you can see the pronounced mound in the fairway.*

The 3rd hole is a downhill par 3, where anything long is potentially dead in the woods.

The 4th hole has you back on the some of the lowest lying area on the course, teeing off uphill. Approaches on this par 4 will be to a green that slopes away from you and is at the end of the foothill. Players will have to decide whether to carry a lofted club to the green with spin or try to land short of it and allow the ball to trundle down the hill and onto the putting surface. A bunker further down the hill and beyond the green awaits any approaches that are sent too far.

*The green at 4 in the foreground, with the 5th fairway running up the hill on the left with the green in the distance.*

A significantly uphill par 4, the 5th hole is drivable. However, driver may be too much club for many players. After playing a 4-iron safely to the fairway, I played a second ball for fun with a 3-wood, and the ball went through the green and was just kept in play by some stray branches on the ground. If you’re going for the green, err on the short side based on your club yardages.

*A look back at the green at 4, showing the downhill approach and a view of the collection bunkers.*

The 6th is a VERY short par 4, playing only 220 yards from the back tees. There is ample room to take on the green, but players need to carry a bunker in front that is about 15 yards short of it.

At the par-3 7th, players are faced with another downhill tee shot to a slightly tricky target. It slopes downhill to the left, so the best tee shots will be ones that are fortunate enough to play right of center on the green.

*The 7th. From the tees, while you can’t see the green, you’re almost given a hint as to its right-to-left downhill contour* *based on the crest of the hill* *before it.*

The 8th hole is the course’s longest par 4 at 380 yards from the back tees. On the tee box, it feels very narrow with the trees lining OB from the road on the left. The fairway is cut to favor this side with almost no rough on the left before your lie could be obstructed by the overhanging trees. There is much more room on the right, but there is a significantly wider rough area before a penalizing patch of trees. Any long (and straight) hitters should be careful not to drive the ball through the fairway as there is a water runoff collection area where finding a ball may prove difficult. The green slopes right-to-left and back-to-front.

The approach into 8. Beyond the hill that crests across the front of the green in this shot is the water runoff area that should be avoided. If a poor drive finds you too far to reach the green, your second shot should be played out to the right, towards the greenside bunker.

The finishing hole is a long par 3 – roughly 190 yards when we played – and ever so slightly uphill, albeit to a generous green.

*The green at 9, with a view of the green at 1 in the distance on the right.*

My good friend Ed and I walked the course on a quiet Saturday. Some rain had fallen before we went off and seemed to threaten to start up again, but thankfully, we remained relatively dry throughout the round. Neither one of us had our “A” game with us but we always have a good time regardless, and playing Scotch Hills to complete all the courses in Union County was no exception.

For more information on this significant piece of golf history, please visit the Preserve the Shady Rest Golf & Country Club site!

Orson Rosas Golf

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Number 124 (Scotch Hills Country Club)