somerset county

Numbers 10 through 13 (Quail Brook, Emerson, and two nines at Neshanic Valley)

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Number 13 – Quail Brook Golf Course

Date played: 6/20/2013

Scorecard from my first round at Quail Brook.

Looking back on the chronology of public courses I played in New Jersey, it’s crazy to think that I lived in Somerset County for a number of years before playing an in-county course. But in June 2013, I finally made it out to Quail Brook Golf Course.

Located relatively close to exit 10 on Route 287 and not far from downtown New Brunswick and Rutgers University, Quail Brook is a 6,600-yard 18-hole par 72. It’s second only to Gambler Ridge for number of times played, with a total of twelve 18-hole rounds played over a couple years.

Though I hadn’t played all that many different courses at the time, that first hole remains one of the most intimidating opening tee shots I’ve encountered in the state. It’s a slight dog-leg right par-5, but it always seemed so narrow, with trees going up pretty much the entire way on both sides. Apart from that I remember a handful of holes, which tells me it’s high time to go back and pay the course a visit.

I wish I had pictures of it to share, but alas, this was before I was obsessed with taking pictures of golf courses. You’ll have to settle for this 2015 shot of the course rates behind the desk in the pro shop, which remarkably, is the only photo I could find. I will say that the discount for county residents (after a $50/year registration) was definitely one of the best deals in New Jersey public golf.

Golf was a bit cheaper in 2015, but surprisingly, the rates haven’t jumped much in 2024. The website shows that weekend rates for non-registered golfers is just $60.

Number 11 – Emerson Golf Club

Date played: 7/7/2013

One of a number of courses that has changed names since I started playing, the 11th public course played on my journey was known at the time as Emerson Golf Club.

The front and back cover of the Emerson Golf Club scorecard from my July 2013 round.

Today, it’s known as Soldier Hill Golf Course, which, along with nearby Soldier Hill Road, are both named for the historical Soldier Hill, an area where the Continental Army settled in August and September of 1780 during the Revolutionary War.

Having grown up in Bergen County, I remember being struck by how the course was nestled just off of Kinderkamack Road – a road I had traveled quite often – and yet I had never seen it until 2013. Today, as I pull up that information on Google Maps, I see that there are also three private courses – White Beeches, Haworth, and Hackensack – all within a couple miles, none of which I knew existed when I played Emerson. I hope I can play those as well one day!

Hackensack GC, Soldier Hill Golf Course, Haworth CC, and White Beeches GCC, all within close proximity of each other.

Numbers 12 and 13 – Neshanic Valley, Meadow and Lake nines

Date played: 7/14/2013

My second stop in Somerset County would be one of New Jersey’s best: Neshanic Valley. Not since High Bridge Hills or Heron Glen had I seen a course of this caliber. The drive from the road to the clubhouse alone is something you won’t see at many public courses. With the Academy Course to the left and the driving range to the right, it dips into a valley and then gently winds back uphill towards the main parking lot.

Paired up with a young woman who was preparing for a tournament at Neshanic Valley and her mom – who was caddying for her – I was thoroughly out of my depth when they asked me to play the mixed tees they would be playing in competition. In truth, the overall yardage probably wasn’t too much further than I would’ve played – and they assured me of that – but the few times we teed off from a box behind my normal set, I couldn’t help feeling out of place.

Scorecard from my first round at the Meadow and Lake nines at Neshanic Valley.

My occasional trepidation aside, Neshanic Valley cemented itself as a fast favorite. Between the two nines of the Meadow and Lake, I preferred the Meadow. It’s a picturesque inland course, with subtle rolling contours and water only featuring on the par-5 9th. A dearth of trees provides views across in both directions, something I was finding that’s relatively rare in public golf.

The first hole at the Meadow nine.

The Lake was a very close second. While the titular water feature only really comes into play on two holes (7 and 8) and possibly the 5th if you’re playing from far enough back, it’s a nice signature that separates the feel of the Lake nine from the Meadow. The opening hole is also a bit different as it plays downhill from an elevated tee box, something that you don’t really see on the Meadow, perhaps arguably on its 5th hole. Lastly, the finishing hole on the Lake is perhaps one of the best in the state. A long par 5 that plays uphill back towards the clubhouse is sure to provide pictures that are instantly recognizable to golfers who’ve been there.

The 9th hole at the Lake.

I left Neshanic Valley thoroughly impressed, and definitely looking forward to when I could come back to play the Ridge and Academy nines. Little did I know at the time that it would be another three years before seeing either one of them. But, there was so much other golf to see as well.

Numbers 10 through 13 (Quail Brook, Emerson, and two nines at Neshanic Valley)

Numbers 4, 5, and… 152 and 14?

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Continuing the theme of my last post, I’ve got more, out-of-order courses to tell you about. As I mentioned, the first three courses I played were all at points before and up to June 2006. Very shortly after that, my wife and I had just gotten an apartment together in Middlesex County. From there, I would play an additional four courses over the next few years.

Number 4 (Raritan Landing)

Date played: 7/22/2006

While he’s better known for his design at Scotland Run, Stephen Kay also helmed the creation of the par-58 Raritan Landing Golf Course in Piscataway, NJ. Though I have an undated scorecard that likely preceded it, this Middlesex County executive course counts officially as the 4th NJ public I played based on a July 2006 round.

As a Rutgers alumnus, this is another place I wish I had visited more while I was on campus, literally just minutes away from the course. With four par-4s and 14 par-3s, this would’ve been a perfect place to play while I was still in my novice-golfer shell.

The greens at Raritan Landing have enough undulation in them to set them apart from most other executive or par-3 courses and they are bunkered enough to challenge the beginner. However, in my experience, the greens are usually kept at a speed that might be a bit slow for those looking to be challenged on the putting surface. (I’m not one of those people, so win-win for me.)

It’s only $40 to walk on the weekend, but an additional $20 if you want to ride. Given the course is a par-58, $60 to play a short course is a bit steep. I would recommend the very manageable walk if you made your way out there.

Number 5 (Tara Greens – 9-hole)

Date played: 5/16/2009

The nine-hole course at Tara Greens Golf Center was my first Somerset County course played. Closed sometime between 2014 and 2020, the first time I played it was in a round with one of my cousins in May 2009. The course featured two par-3s (one long, one short), five par-4s, and two of the wildest par-5s in the state of New Jersey.

Scores of 6 and 10 on the 6th, and 9 and 8 on the 7th… yikes.

Hole 6 was a 465-yard par 5 that presented itself as a 90-degree dog-leg-left from the tee box. You could cut the corner over some trees, but your landing area was narrow and it was completely blind. For all intents and purposes, it was a three-shot hole. That was immediately followed by the 7th, which was listed on the scorecard as 615 yards. I don’t know if actually stretched that long, but I can tell you that in the few times I played it, I never even came close to making par.

Looking at the scorecard map, the shape of the 6th is portrayed accurately, but my recollection of the 7th is that it was much more of a dog-leg-right. Either way, you can see that image below, alongside a satellite image of the course. A majority of the acreage for those two holes sat where the large, white-roofed distribution center is now, and you can actually see remnants of the 7th green, bit left of center, north of the building marked “WA Cleary Corporation”.

(Side note: roughly 15 years later, almost none of the businesses that advertised on the back of that scorecard are still around today!)

Number 152 (Tara Greens – Pitch-n-putt)

Date played: 7/3/2022

The rates at Tara Greens on 7/3/2022.

As part of the “golf center” experience of Tara Greens, in addition to the nine-hole course and driving range, the facility also offered a nine-hole pitch-n-putt course. I say “offered” in the past tense, because I recently discovered that in May 2023, Tara Greens announced that it would “not be opening for the 2023 season.”

It wasn’t me, but I feel that deflated teary emoji.

While that language leaves open the possibility of opening for the 2024 season (or any future season) it is probably highly unlikely. Given the sale of land to the distribution center years ago and the current real estate market (land isn’t cheap) the facility owners would have done well for themselves selling the remainder of the land to the highest bidder.

While I have one undated scorecard that I believe is from the time I lived in Middlesex County, and a few others from 2016 to 2020, I did not originally include the pitch-n-putt course in my list of NJ publics. After realizing that it met my criteria – it’s open to the public and offers a scorecard with yardages for each hole – I decided to avoid renumbering my entire journey and just slot the course in as my 152nd played.

If it doesn’t return – and again, it probably won’t – it will be sad to see it go. Here are a few pics from that day.

Number 14 (Rolling Greens Golf Club)

Date played: 8/31/2013

My final, out-of-order course for this post is a trip to Sussex County.

While I have an undated scorecard of a round with someone I worked with from 2006 to 2008, I counted Rolling Greens Golf Club in Newton as the 14th I had played based on a round played with two of my best friends in August 2013.

A par 65 from just under 5,200 yards, Rolling Greens was a tight test on a number of holes, particularly the par-4s. I can’t quite remember if it was the par-5 13th or par-4 15th, but even though they offered a bit of space on the approach, one of those extreme dog-leg-left holes also had a very difficult tee shot to navigate into a narrow landing area in the elbow of the hole.

Holes packed together like a microscope image of reproducing bacteria.

In 2021, I learned that Rolling Greens had closed sometime in 2019. Over time, a number of courses have been removed from my list, some of which I played, others which I hadn’t. There’s a bit of a missed-opportunity sting to learn about a course that I never played which no longer exists. But like many of the courses gone from the early part of my journey, there’s a deeper pain of an erased personal history when I see a course I played get relegated out of reality and into history books.

Here is a satellite image of Rolling Greens which still shows much of the shape of the layout.

Another one bites the dust 😔
Numbers 4, 5, and… 152 and 14?

Number 57 (Neshanic Valley – Academy Course)

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Date played: 6/8/2017

The Academy Course at Neshanic Valley is something of an unusual bird to me. As its name implies, it’s meant to be a learning facility, apart from the Meadow, Lake, and Ridge nines that offer championship golf. It plays at par 32 through its nine holes, with only par 3’s and 4’s on the card. From the longest tees, it’s just over 2,000 yards. Other than Galloping Hill’s Learning Center 9 – which I have not yet played at the time of writing – I haven’t seen or heard of any other courses like it.

In keeping with the spirit of the spontaneity of my 56th course, I also happened to make the Academy course the 57th on a whim. I was wrapping up my day at work, realized I would have time on that late-spring evening, and decided I would drive out there immediately after I had “clocked out”. It was the continuation of a great week for me, as I had just seen Iron Maiden in concert for the first time at the Prudential Center the night before.

Unlike my round at Town & Country Golf Links, where I was just hoping for decent golf and ended up playing some of my best golf, at the Academy Course I was hoping for some of my best golf… but only ended up playing decently. It was slightly breezy, but nothing unmanageable. I played poorly off the tee, only hitting one of five fairways and none of the par-3 greens. Still, I managed to make par on the 5th, 8th, and 9th and finished +7.

As with the championship layouts, the Academy Course is in impeccable condition. I have recently taken to walking courses more often; partly for cheaper greens fees and partly because I haven’t really been getting any other exercise. As short as the course is, I would strongly suggest walking it. From most of the Academy course, you have great views of some of the Meadow nine, and the course itself is beautiful. The walk down the hill on the 9th was particularly picturesque, with the sun setting in the distance to the left. Other notable features are the 2nd, which is a 166-yard par 3 that plays slightly over water, and the 8th which – at the back tees and depending on your strategy – has a tee shot that may need to be played through a window of natural overgrowth.

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The par-3 2nd… what water?

Overall, the Academy Course holds its own in adding value to the experience of golf that is on offer at Neshanic Valley. Yet another reason it remains, for the time being, my favorite public course in New Jersey.

Number 57 (Neshanic Valley – Academy Course)

Number 52 (Neshanic Valley – The Ridge)

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The 52nd course on my journey is at a facility that holds a special place in my golfing heart. It’s not somewhere I’ve played often, but Neshanic Valley was the first public course that blew me away.

Set just north of the Sourland Mountains in Somerset County, the Neshanic Valley Golf Course is a striking view from the main road to the course. As its name implies, turning into the course takes you down into and then back up out of a valley, where the clubhouse is perched at the highest point on the course. Driving through this miniature valley, you get to see about half the course layouts sprawling out to your left, and the driving range and Learning Center (also a Callaway Golf Performance Center) on your right.

The course comprises three championship, par-36 nine-hole layouts, as well as a shorter par-32 nine-hole Academy Course. Of the championship nines, I had already played the Meadow and Lake combination twice, so I needed to play the Ridge course for Number 52. The Ridge – named because it plays along the ridge that the clubhouse sits on, above the miniature valley – plays the shortest of the three nines, but only by a matter of the shortest of approach shots (3,516 yards to the Meadow and Lake’s 3,520 and 3,549 respectively). The Blue tees I played from measured at 3,106 yards. (The courses run by the Somerset County Park Commission don’t have White tees, and the Blues are comparable.)

Playing in late November, the weather was unusually warm. With the high temperature reaching about 65 degrees, as my playing partner put it, it felt like we were “stealing a round” from Mother Nature. But, as unseasonable weather usually goes, it meant a relatively windy round, particularly for the morning start we had.

I started the round bogey-bogey, which was alright for the 1st hole, but disappointing on the 2nd. A beautiful, short, dog-leg-left par 4, I managed to hit a decent draw to carry the corner, guarded by a menacing plot of fescue. I made poor work of the 59-yard approach, and ended up 42 feet from the pin. One of the characteristics that make Neshanic Valley an amazing public course is the speed of the greens. They roll as fast as any public I’ve played, probably between 10 and 12 on the stimp on any given day. Unfortunately, fast greens terrify me, and I three-putted for bogey.

The 3rd hole plays uphill the entire way. With the wind at my back, I hit a great drive a bit left, into a fairway bunker. From 142 yards, I managed to put the ball on the green, 15 feet past the pin. My birdie putt lipped out, but I was able to make par coming back for a sand save. The 4th hole is a straightforward par 3, but you must be accurate off the tee. Most tee shots that hit the green will funnel towards the lower tier in the back right corner. I pushed my tee shot right and got back on for bogey.

If the Ridge has a signature hole, I’d say it’s the 5th. A par-5 with something of a split fairway, you would need to carry about 270-280 yards slightly uphill to land on the finishing approach section on the left, which is essentially on the ridge itself. Otherwise, you make the smart play down to the main section of the fairway on the right, which plays back down into the second valley beyond the ridge. A long drive and a great second shot put me in position to score, but a fat third shot meant I would make bogey again.

After a “textbook” bogey (i.e. miss the green, chip on, two-putt) on the par-3 6th, I struggled coming in on 7, 8, and 9. I pulled the drive on the 7th, but managed to punch back onto the fairway and scrambled for par. On the par-5 8th, I topped both my drive and second shot, but managed to get just short of the green, then get on, and then two-putt for bogey. I hit the fairway on the 9th, but thinned my approach and went over the green. I got back on and made bogey again. My two pars and bogey golf meant I finished +7 for the nine-hole round.

If you haven’t been, Neshanic Valley is an absolute must-play. Designed by Hurdzan and Fry – most recently famous for their work at 2017 US Open venue Erin Hills – Neshanic Valley is consistently rated among the top 10 public courses in New Jersey. As with Erin Hills, there is plenty of fescue, so the play can be challenging, but the views are gorgeous. Whether you play the Ridge, Meadow, or Lake, or even the Academy Course, it is some of the most well-designed and well-maintained acreage of golf available in New Jersey. The experience is one you won’t forget.

Number 52 (Neshanic Valley – The Ridge)