Numbers 4, 5, and… 152 and 14?

February 23, 2024February 23, 2024 omrosasgolf, golf nj, golf-course, golfing, middlesex, middlesex county, middlesex county golf, middlesex county golf courses, new jersey, new jersey public golf, new jersey public golf courses, nj golf, nj golf courses, nj public golf, nj public golf courses, public golf, public golf courses, raritan landing, rolling greens, rolling greens golf club, rolling greens golf course, somerset, somerset county, somerset county golf, somerset county golf courses, sports, sussex, sussex county, sussex county golf, sussex county golf courses, tara greens, travelLeave a comment

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

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.

Numbers 125 and 126 (Great Gorge Golf Club, Quarryside and Railside)

January 16, 2023January 16, 2023 omrosasgolf, golf nj, mountain creek, new jersey, new jersey public golf, new jersey public golf courses, nj golf, nj golf courses, nj public golf, nj public golf courses, public golf, public golf courses, sussex, sussex county, sussex county golf, sussex county golf coursesLeave a comment

Date: 11/18/2021

How are a men’s lifestyle/entertainment multimedia empire and public golf in New Jersey related? The answer lies on a piece of land in the northwest corner of the state in Sussex County.

Before there was OnlyFans, there was Playboy, and in 1970 the Great Gorge Golf Club was built in Vernon and opened as the Playboy Club. While most of the appeal lied in the Playboy-branded hotel with numerous activities and amenities, the club also featured 27 holes of championship golf designed by George Fazio.

*The clubhouse at Great Gorge has a bar and restaurant, as well as a deck overlooking the course and the Mountain Creek ski area in the background.*

Great Gorge comprises three nine-hole courses, each named for a prominent feature. The Quarryside nine has multiple holes that play through an area carved out of the mountainous rock forms. The Lakeside nine will feature the most water hazards of the three nines. Lastly, the Railside nine plays on either side of the still-active railroad track. I headed up to Great Gorge in the late fall where I would play the Quarry and Rail nines.

While there are distinctions between the nines that can be noticed in the holes that feature their signature namesakes, there is also enough consistency that made playing both the Quarry and Rail sides feel as one continuous, 18-hole course. The green complexes offer mostly simple bunkering, but the surfaces they protect are well-contoured and can roll at relatively serious speeds for public golf.

Number 125 – Quarryside

The only starting hole of the three nines that is not a downhill par 4, the 1st at the Quarry is a relatively straightforward, mid-length par 3. From there, it carves its way through a few elevation changes.

*The signs at Great Gorge are a nice touch.*

The silo on 2. The tees are back towards where the silo’s shadow points. Golfers must hit to the landing area in the bottom right of the frame before turning their attention leftwards toward the green in the distance on this par 5.

*A wide-angle look at the green at 4, with some of the rock formations behind it.*

The approach at 5. This picture isn’t quite wide enough to show it, but your shot into the green will be through an area pinched by flanking rock walls. You can just see the beveled areas on either side where the foot of these walls meets ground level.

*Hole 6, par 3. A challenging all-water carry from the tees.*

*Hole 7, par 4. A straightaway hole whose defense lies in the water hazard running the entire length on the left, as well as OB right.*

*Hole 9, par 4. The approach plays significantly uphill into this two-tiered green.*

Number 126 – Railside

After returning up the hill from hole 9 on the Quarryside, the Railside 9 starts with a beautiful downhill tee shot into a very wide landing area. Once you’ve holed out on the first, the course then crosses the railroad tracks for which its named.

*The green at 1 on the Railside is in the center of the frame, though the tees you see are actually for the 1st hole on the Lakeside, which play off to the left.*

*The paths are narrow and indeed steep. This is not the place to test-drive the carts.*

The tracks splitting the Railside from some of the Quarryside. On the left is the green at 6 and the par-4 7th of the Quarry. To the right of the tracks is the 2nd on the Rail at the top of the frame, and the Rail’s signature 3rd hole in the center-right. You can see the trestle supports that remain of where the railroad used to run. From there playing to the top right corner of the picture is hole 4, a dog-leg right par 4.

*Hole 5, par 3. Easily the most diabolical green on the property, at least of what I played between the Quarry and the Rail nines.* Uphill and only 156 yards from the back tees, it’s easy enough to hit as a target. But its severe slope requires some deadly accuracy – and perhaps some luck – to be able to hold in a position for birdie.

*Having missed the green at 5 in one of the invisible bunker*s *to its right, a decent shot out at the pin had me roll all the way down here, completely off the green. This ground-level pic shows why, with the hole sitting 2-3 feet above where this fringe is.*

*Hole 6, par 5. 566 yards from the Green tees and playing well downhill as seen here.* *Plenty of room to miss left. This is a must-send tee shot.*

Being an off-season round – and having played pretty miserably up to this point – I decided to go for the green in two from about 230 yards. The risk was topping my 3-wood into a reeded creek that runs across the fairway about 150 yards *from the green. The reward was this 18-footer for an eagle, which I holed for the 4th of my career.*

*Sunlight faintly streaking across the sign at 8. This par-4 really narrows out in the landing area of a driver, with water to the left.*

*The sun sets over the derelict hotel on the Great Gorge property, now nothing more than a memory of a bygone era.*

Numbers 104 (Minerals Golf Club)

April 21, 2022May 3, 2022 omrosascrystal springs, golf, golf nj, minerals, new jersey, new jersey golf, new jersey golf courses, new jersey public golf, new jersey public golf courses, nj golf, nj golf courses, nj public golf, nj public golf courses, public golf, public golf courses nj, Robert Trent Jones, RTJ, sussex, sussex county, sussex county golf1 Comment

Date played: 11/21/2020

Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Minerals Golf Club is a nine-hole executive course that rolls along the side of the same mountains that compose the Mountain Creek ski resort. While set in a beautiful mountainside residential community, there aren’t many places where it feels that the homes encroach on the course, giving golfers the freedom to swing away.

*A look at the downhill 3rd, with some of Sussex County’s mountains as the backdrop*

Billed as the family-friendly choice of the six courses in the Crystal Springs resort system, Minerals is a great place for learning the game that is a step up from pitch-n-putt or par-3 courses. Each of the greens include a second pin that has a larger, 8-inch cup for younger or beginner golfers. The course features four par-4 holes and five par 3s that include some truly picturesque holes, particularly the par-4 third and the long par-3 sixth.

*The par-3 6th, from off to the side. At 230 yards from the back, this is a tough green to hit.*

It was truly a joy to be out on a course like this. I’ve been playing golf for just over 20 years, the first four of which were played almost exclusively on par-3 and executive courses. Places like Twin Willows in Lincoln Park and – over the border in Rockland County, NY – the Rockland Lake executive course were the next-step training grounds for my golf game after leaving the comfort of the 50-yard pitch-n-putt where I learned to play.

Being at Minerals reminded me of those places, but with considerable improvement in course quality. Checking in on the list of places that remain on my journey, I can see that there are many nine-hole courses, a few of which are par-3 or executive-length. I can only hope to find more that are like Minerals.

*The 7th and 5th, straddling the main thoroughfare through the community.*

*All nine holes from the foggy skies over Minerals*

Number 97 (High Point Golf Club)

October 3, 2021 omrosasgolf, golf nj, golfing, golfing nj, high point, high point golf, high point golf club, new jersey, new jersey golf, new jersey golf courses, new jersey public golf, new jersey public golf courses, nj golf, nj golf courses, nj golfing, nj public golf, public golf, sussex, sussex county, sussex county golfLeave a comment

Date played: 5/15/2020

Golf has a way of presenting you with moments which remind you that you never really have it all figured out. My round at High Point Golf Club would be that moment. While there is no way any of us can see such reminders coming, mine would happen at a time when the world was turned upside-down by something it couldn’t see either.

It was May 2020. The invisible terror that was the COVID-19 pandemic had spent the better part of six months tearing through the world. In New Jersey, the spread seemed to have peaked in early April. After the positive case average remained steady for the month, the numbers were finally dropping in May. Restrictions started to ease, and golf courses in the state began to re-open.

High Point Golf Club was a late addition to my list of courses. Though I started compiling the list in late 2015, I didn’t know High Point existed until sometime in 2019. Though it was surely online somewhere, I forget at this point where exactly I heard about it. Nevertheless, after a bit of research, I confirmed that it was in fact public and made sure to keep track of it. As we came out of the lockdown, it was one of the first courses to make tee times available, and I decided to book a round with my good friend Ed.

Protocols had changed. Out of caution, everything a golf course needed to facilitate public rounds of golf was still being managed outdoors. Golfers checked in with the starter to confirm their tee time and then needed to return to their cars until they were called. After a short wait, we got word that we could head to the first tee.

*Hole 1 from the tee. Just waiting for the fairway to clear so I can overdraw one into the water.*

The course is situated around a grouping of small lakes, and water features immediately on the opening tee shot. It’s a par 5 where you must land in a fairway area that runs out at about 260 yards. The largest of the lakes runs up the left side, and your approach must cross it to reach the second landing area or the green.

The routing continues from there to wind around and cross over the lakes, and water will realistically be a hazard on holes 4 through 8 on the front, and 10, 14, and 16 through 18 on the back.

The 16th is great drivable par 4. The view from the tee is deceptive, making it seem as though you must go for the green or bust. While the landing area looks perpendicular to the route from tee to green, it actually runs diagonally to provide some room, albeit narrow.

*Hole 16, where you decide whether to drive the green, or pump one OB at that house on the right. I know what I’m picking.*

The course finishes on two unusual notes and has a couple noteworthy distinctions. The 18th is a par 3 and the course plays to a total par of 73. Both are qualities I don’t remember having seen in other NJ publics to this point in my journey. High Point is also the northernmost public golf course in NJ. Tucked away in the northwest corner of the state in Sussex County, it’s just a couple miles east of the Delaware River and about five miles from the northern border to New York. It is also situated at the highest elevation of any golf course in the state.

As mentioned, my round at High Point would remind me that despite what I thought up to that point, I had not figured out golf. I would enter the round as a 10 handicap, and yet I would post a 106. I put five balls out of bounds, three in the water, and five times, I found a way to three-putt. It would be my highest score since 9/14/2014. “Golf is hard” is not just a hashtag. At times on this quest, it is a sobering slap in the mouth.

Numbers 86, 87, and 88 (Farmstead Golf and Country Club – Clubview, Valleyview, and Lakeview)

November 19, 2020November 27, 2020 omrosasgolf, golf new jersey, golf nj, golfing, golfing new jersey, golfing nj, new jersey, new jersey golf, new jersey golf courses, new jersey public golf, new jersey public golf courses, nj, nj golf, nj golf courses, nj golfing, nj public golf, nj public golf courses, sussex, sussex county, sussex county golfLeave a comment

Date played: 5/30/2019

*The Farmstead clubhouse (foreground, right) and restaurant* *(background)*

Set in the quiet Sussex County town of Lafayette, Farmstead Golf and Country Club is a set of three nines: Clubview, Valleyview, and Lakeview. Having only booked 18 holes, my friend Ed and I were hoping to be able to play nine afterwards to complete the 27, so as not to have to make the long trek back to the northwestern corner of the state.

After speaking to the starter, he let us know that the Valleyview nine was extremely wet after days of rain, and he wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get out there. I let him know about my journey to play all the public courses in NJ, and he said he would see what he could do. He sent us out on Clubview and told us to check back in to see which nine would follow.

Clubview (86)

The Clubview nine sprawls away from and returns to the clubhouse in an L-shape. Apart from the first few holes along the perimeter of the course property, it is generally open and provides some room to miss. Water will feature prominently on the par-5 fifth and the par-3 ninth holes, as well as the approach into the sixth.

Valleyview (87)

Returning to the starter after nine holes on Clubview, he let us go out on Valleyview. These nine holes have a much tighter setup than Clubview, and you work your way back up into some elevation to the first tee which also gives it a mountain golf feel. With the exception of turning back for the par-3 third and fifth holes, the routing essentially runs away from the clubhouse along one line and comes straight back, covering a relatively narrow footprint. It is also significantly shorter than the other two nines, playing at under 2,900 yards from the back tees.

The sixth hole is a fantastic downhill, dogleg left par-4. For longer hitters, it’s drivable for if you can match the shape of the hole and carry the water in front of the green. The par-5 seventh is also fun, playing at only 430 yards from the back tees, with your final approach playing to an elevated green.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Farmstead for letting us out to see this nine. The course was indeed very wet, so much so that there were areas on the fourth fairway that were like walking on a waterbed. Other than playing our shots, we were extra cautious to not disturb any of the course.

Lakeview (88)

If I remember correctly, there was a slight chance of rain in the forecast, but thankfully it hadn’t rained a drop all morning. We would finish the last of the nines in dry weather as well. While named for the lake that it’s set along, I’d argue that water is really only a factor on holes two, four, and nine, which is a fantastic par-3 set on an isthmus that runs through the lake. On nine, there is a vast difference between the back tees playing at 201 yards and the one-ups at 124, but it’s intimidating from any tee box with water on both sides the whole way.

Overall, I found the courses at Farmstead to be charming, something I think was encapsulated perfectly in the old farmhouse that has been converted to the course’s restaurant. For first-timers set to play 18 holes, I highly recommend trying to arrange that Valleyview be one of the nines if possible. It will provide the best variety on the day when compared to Clubview or Lakeview, which play somewhat similarly.

Of course, you could just commit to trying to play all 27 on the day!

Number 64 (Crystal Springs Golf Club – Wild Turkey)

February 11, 2018September 17, 2018 omrosascrystal springs, crystal springs resort, golf, golf new jersey, golf nj, golfing, golfing new jersey, golfing nj, new jersey, new jersey golf, nj golf, nj golf courses, nj golfing, nj public golf, nj public golf courses, public golf, sussex county, sussex county golf, wild turkey, wild turkey golfLeave a comment

20171022_115438

Date played: 10/22/2017

The first Crystal Springs course off my list was half of a golfing-skiing adventure at the nine-hole Cascades layout, with the skiing taking place at Mountain Creek. My day at Wild Turkey was strictly a golfing affair.

An early tee time in late October in Sussex County meant we started our round in frigid temperatures and finished it in the 60s. Expecting Wild Turkey to be something of a tougher course, I told my golf buddy that we should just play “smart golf” on the day. It turned out to be one of those rare times when I had a plan and executed well.

I ended up shooting +12 (+6, +6) on the par 71, with nothing worse than my double-bogey on the par-5 17^th, and that was primarily due to over-drawing my drive and not clearing the water/lateral hazard. Having hit only six fairways and six greens in regulation, the keys to my scoring well – for me – were definitely putting, putting, and putting.

Even though 33 putts is not a great number in the grand golf scheme of things, it is just below my average. That was remarkable for me, given that Wild Turkey has some relatively fast greens for a public course, and that I had putt as many as 41 times (!!!) just two rounds earlier at Beaver Brook CC.

Here are a few interesting notes on my putting for the round.

I was 15 for 15 from six feet and in. Admittedly, this was mostly tap-ins from 2.5 feet and in, but it included two six-footers, a five-footer, and a four-footer. Like most average golfers, I’m plagued by missed putts in this distance. On any other day, I could’ve been 11 or 12 for 15.
On the 3^rd hole, I had 75 feet for my first putt, up and over a ridge. I would leave it a ridiculous 39 FEET short. Now faced with a breaking downhill putt, I putt past the hole and watched it break away to 10 feet for my third. I made the ten-footer for bogey.
From the 9^th to the 14^th, I made 46 feet of putts (5, 13, 12, 6, 4, and 6) to go +1 through those six holes. I struggle to make 46 feet of putts through most of my 18-hole rounds.
On the 10^th hole – a beautiful downhill par 3 that has about a 30 foot drop – I hit the front right of the green, with the pin placed front left. Faced with a 55-foot putt, I COMPLETELY mishit it, ending well right of my intended line, and 13 feet away… only to drop that putt for par.

20171022_093914 — The steeply downhill par 3 10th at Wild Turkey.

Again, if my putting wasn’t what it was, my +12 could’ve easily been +16 to +18. I’ve had plenty of those rounds this season. I was happy to add another great first-time score to my journey around the New Jersey publics, especially on a course as stunning as Wild Turkey.

Number 53 (Crystal Springs Resort – Cascades)

July 2, 2017July 2, 2017 omrosasadventure, crystal springs, crystal springs golf, crystal springs resort, golf, golf nj, golfing, golfing new jersey, golfing nj, new jersey, nj golf, nj golf courses, nj golfing, nj public golf, ski, skiing, sussex, sussex county, sussex county golf, sussex county skiing, winter2 Comments

If I haven’t mentioned it already, I love New Jersey. For better or for worse, it’s my home state, and I’m absolutely in love with it. Part of what I love about NJ is the diversity of geography and settings, allowing for a variety of activities year-round. The shore isn’t the Caribbean or Fiji, but there’s a shore. The mountains aren’t Utah or Switzerland, but there are mountains. Likewise, the golf isn’t Hawaii, Ireland, or Scotland, but there is golf, and plenty of it.

I know. It’s a ringing endorsement. But again, it may not be yours to love, and while I’d love for you to feel what I feel about it, it’s irrelevant. I love it all the same.

Over the last three years, I’ve become obsessed with golf to the point that I now play year round. For those of you that don’t know, New Jersey has four distinct seasons, and most people would rather be skiing or staying indoors in the winter than playing golf. In fact, on some winter days, I’ve played golf in what is essentially ski gear; winter cap, facemask, plenty of layers, and a jacket that’s (somewhat) impenetrable to wind.

Which got me thinking…

What if I played golf AND went skiing in the same day? I could do it. Here, in my home state, I could play golf and ski in the same day. I’m not exactly a “you-must-try-everything-there-is-to-be-tried” kind of person, but skiing and golfing in the same day just sounded amazing to me.

After taking to the internet to plan my magical adventure, I purchased my lift ticket and booked my tee time, and I was set… or so I thought. It turned out what I thought was a confirmation of my tee time was actually a notice that the tee time could NOT be booked. Either way, I took the weekday off, so I was headed for Vernon, NJ.

Planning to ski before playing golf, my first stop was Mountain Creek. Figuring that I would ski a bit and play nine holes before heading home to pick up my kids, I got to the mountain just after 10:00 am. As it turned out, the mountain didn’t open until noon, so I was headed over to Number 53 on my journey.

Just six miles down the road from Mountain Creek, Cascades Golf Club is a nine-hole layout at the stunning Crystal Springs Resort. For the most part, New Jersey is mostly suburbia, a few cities, and a ton of farmland. But the resort at Crystal Springs is an idyllic mountain getaway, something you’d more likely expect to see in a Bond film, but not in New Jersey.

Set at the back of the resort hotel, the Cascades course plays at over 3,600 yards from the back tees, all the way down to 1,538 yards from the most forward tees. I opted to play from the 3,022-yd white tees. Thankfully, even without a reservation, they were able to get me out. This was more than likely due to the fact that the high temperature for the day was 37 degrees, and there was literally NO ONE else on the golf course at 11:00 am.

After teeing off OB on the downhill first, there wasn’t a more fitting way to start my December round than with a snowman. After six horrible strokes, I finally managed to get on the green and two-putt for eight on the par 4 first. That really set the tone for the round, following with triple-bogey on the 2nd hole, and managing to card bogey on the 3rd. After finally putting a ball on the green in regulation at the 111-yd par 3 4th (AKA: the easiest hole on the course) I actually managed to card par.

After bogeying the 5th, I really took a moment to look around. I had the course absolutely to myself. I was playing some awful golf, but the peaceful solitude of winter golf is something I’ve fallen in love with. In that moment, I imagined how different a course it would be in the summer. With group after group of players, it would likely take 2.5 hours to get through nine holes. But, the course would also look tremendously different. The browns of winter grass would definitely be a picturesque green. Any fescue areas would be grown out instead of mown down. The howling winds accompanying my winter round would be replaced by gentle mountain breezes and perhaps even the sounds of local avian life. Either way, at the time, I wouldn’t have traded the freezing round to myself for any of those things.

Continuing on, I managed to finish the round in a relatively mediocre fashion: bogey, bogey, par (2nd easiest hole), bogey, for a nine-hole score of +12. An hour and a half later, my winter round of solitude had come to an end, and I was off to Mountain Creek (now that it was actually open for the day).

As I stated earlier, New Jersey skiing isn’t the powder skiing you’d find out west. But just as it was with golf, given that it was 1:00 pm on a weekday, South Peak at Mountain Creek was relatively empty, and I got to enjoy some quiet skiing. No lines for the lifts meant I was able to get in a series of back-to-back runs before heading home. As kids made it out of school and onto the mountain, I decided to call my adventure complete.

Highlights of my winter round of golf at Cascades included making par on the two easiest holes (did I mention that?) and trying to find a yardage marker for my second shot on the par-5 9th, only to find that it was covered by a layer of ice. Most importantly, public course Number 53 was successfully played, and I went skiing in the same day.

I love New Jersey.

Number 40 (Black Bear)

August 21, 2016March 6, 2017 omrosasblack bear, black bear golf, golf, golf blog, golf nj, golfing, golfing nj, new jersey, nj, nj golf, public golf, sussex, sussex county, sussex county golfLeave a comment

Another course on the expensive side, but well worth it, is Black Bear in Franklin (Sussex County). What my 39^th course (River Vale CC) might have previewed in elevation changes and blind shots, Black Bear offers in spades. Set essentially into the side of the mountain, Black Bear is as challenging as it is attractive.

I spent most of the summers of my teen years in Sussex County, so I vaguely remember when the course was built. I was not yet playing golf at the time, but I remember thinking that it was one of the few courses I had even seen (or given notice to) and it had magically just appeared on a familiar route, seemingly out of nowhere. Route 23 was long stretches of nothingness for parts, and small bastions of civilization at others. When anything was being developed, it was easy to notice. The course is tucked away but when it was finished, the sign at the road announced its existence and you could just about see it in the background.

My round at Black Bear started the way no other round in my life had. Bogey on 3 and birdie on 6 meant I was even through six holes. I bogeyed the 7^th but parred 8 and 9 to make the turn at +1. I hit 6 fairways and 6 GIR. To put that in perspective, to date for the year, I am averaging 5.17 FIR and 5.56 GIR per round. I didn’t know what I was doing right, and I desperately wanted it to continue coming home.

Alas, I let it get inside my head.

I started the back nine bogey-bogey, and then it unraveled (relatively, of course). I hit the 12^th green in regulation from a difficult lie, but I was 36 feet out. I then proceeded to 4-putt. A birdie opportunity turned into double bogey. Something of a running theme for me, my lag putt left much to be desired, as well as another 9 feet before I could hole out. I got careless with a 2-footer coming back, and that is the story of my 4-putt.

I made it through the closing 6 holes in +6, with one highlight and one lowlight. I took triple bogey on 17 after putting my approach into the woods behind the green. That’s the lowlight. My highlight, however, was driving the green on 15. I not only drove the green; I hit what must have been the top of the pin. I initially thought it hit the flag and dropped straight down. However, after taking the carts up to the green, I noticed the ball actually ended up about 3 feet over the green on an awkward downslope. Luckily, I chipped to one foot and carded my second birdie of the round.

And so it was a tale of two nines. After going out in +1, I came back in at +10 to tie my best first-time-on-a-new-course score of +11, set a month earlier at River Vale CC. In a two-round fight, I got the best of the bear at first, but then The Bear got the best of me.

Orson Rosas Golf

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