Jersey Golfers

[bcc624]

Has anyone recently moved from public golf to private? Every week I’m pulling my hair out trying to get a public golf tee time. I’m tired of queuing up 10 days out to get lucky to secure a weekend morning tee time.  I’m in the eastern part of morris county. Anyone else given up and gone to private?

[golfer07840]

23 minutes ago, bcc624 said:

Has anyone recently moved from public golf to private? Every week I’m pulling my hair out trying to get a public golf tee time. I’m tired of queuing up 10 days out to get lucky to secure a weekend morning tee time.  I’m in the eastern part of morris county. Anyone else given up and gone to private?

 

I live in western Morris County and have 0 issues getting a tee time during the weekend. 

 

Where are you usually looking to play?

 

And as for private, I've looked around and NJ private clubs are crazy expensive when you factor in the initial dues. 

[ykhwaz]

18 minutes ago, golfer07840 said:

 

I live in western Morris County and have 0 issues getting a tee time during the weekend. 

 

Where are you usually looking to play?

 

And as for private, I've looked around and NJ private clubs are crazy expensive when you factor in the initial dues. 

Where in morris county do you usually play?

[golfer07840]

1 hour ago, ykhwaz said:

Where in morris county do you usually play?

I play all over, depends on my mood and schedule. 

 

Flanders Valley

Minebrook (now known as Rock Ridge), Berkshire Valley, and then the 4 big Crystal Springs courses, ad well as Great Gorge. 

[bcc624]

10 hours ago, golfer07840 said:

 

I live in western Morris County and have 0 issues getting a tee time during the weekend. 

 

Where are you usually looking to play?

 

And as for private, I've looked around and NJ private clubs are crazy expensive when you factor in the initial dues. 

Berkshire Valley primarily, but  I’m not very picky. We were looking on the MCPC app for a Sunday morning tee time yesterday. Earliest tee time was 2PM on Sunday at pinch, Flanders, sunset, and Berkshire. If I’m not booking 10 days out, I’m s*** out of luck. Going to Crystal Springs is an option but it’s 1.5-2hr round trip drive and Black Bear now costs $125. 

[golfer07840]

1 hour ago, bcc624 said:

Berkshire Valley primarily, but  I’m not very picky. We were looking on the MCPC app for a Sunday morning tee time yesterday. Earliest tee time was 2PM on Sunday at pinch, Flanders, sunset, and Berkshire. If I’m not booking 10 days out, I’m s*** out of luck. Going to Crystal Springs is an option but it’s 1.5-2hr round trip drive and Black Bear now costs $125. 

Ah see, that's where not having to be an early morning golfer pays off. 

 

Tee times all over the place and I pay half that. 

 

I'm playing Crystal Springs at 2:30 this Sunday, costing me all of 62$ 

[nsxguy]

5 hours ago, golfer07840 said:

Ah see, that's where not having to be an early morning golfer pays off. 

 

Tee times all over the place and I pay half that. 

 

I'm playing Crystal Springs at 2:30 this Sunday, costing me all of 62$ 

 

Crystal Springs is a bear of a course, and if the rough is up, damn near impossible.

 

Love the 10th(?) par 3 from a cliff over water to a very oddly shaped green. Can play from a SW to a 5 iron.

 

One of the guys in our club, completely fed up with the day, took his clubs off the cart and tossed the whole bag over the cliff.

[golfer07840]

Just now, nsxguy said:

 

Crystal Springs is a bear of a course, and if the rough is up, damn near impossible.

 

Love the 10th(?) par 3 from a cliff over water to a very oddly shaped green. Can play from a SW to a 5 iron.

 

One of the guys in our club, completely fed up with the day, took his clubs off the cart and tossed the whole bag over the cliff.

 

Yeah, from the tips it's 73.1/148 and it's barely over 6,800 yds. Hell, even from the whites the slope is 135. 

 

And yeah, you're thinking of the 11th, though if I recall you haven't played it in several years, so when you played it it was the 10th. They took the 18th and made it the first and the 17th became the 18th. They knocked down the original clubhouse, so they had to move the starting point to match up with the new Wild Turkey clubhouse. 

 

 

[Imp]

19 hours ago, golfer07840 said:

 

Yeah, from the tips it's 73.1/148 and it's barely over 6,800 yds. Hell, even from the whites the slope is 135. 

 

And yeah, you're thinking of the 11th, though if I recall you haven't played it in several years, so when you played it it was the 10th. They took the 18th and made it the first and the 17th became the 18th. They knocked down the original clubhouse, so they had to move the starting point to match up with the new Wild Turkey clubhouse. 

 

 

That's the easy pin location. 

 

Here was mine the day I played it passing through one day...

 

 

[golfer07840]

8 minutes ago, Imp said:

That's the easy pin location. 

 

Here was mine the day I played it passing through one day...

 

 

That is a tough one.. but I got it beat. 

 

Sept 24, 2022.. they put the pin damn near the middle.. yes.. the middle..

 

 

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, Imp said:

That's the easy pin location. 

 

Here was mine the day I played it passing through one day...

 

 

 

1 hour ago, golfer07840 said:

That is a tough one.. but I got it beat. 

 

Sept 24, 2022.. they put the pin damn near the middle.. yes.. the middle..

 

 

 

Welllllll,,,,,,,,, I can't even SEE the pin in the first pic but I assume it's the closest part of the green (to the right). SW-GW-PW-9 iirc. Pin was usually there when we played CS.

 

Back is considerably longer but at least there's still some green back there. About a 5 iron iirc.

 

But that middle ? I think I remember playing that pin position once. Crazy difficult. Short is in the water, long hits those boulders, and can go anywhere.

[golfer07840]

38 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

 

 

Welllllll,,,,,,,,, I can't even SEE the pin in the first pic but I assume it's the closest part of the green (to the right). SW-GW-PW-9 iirc. Pin was usually there when we played CS.

 

Back is considerably longer but at least there's still some green back there. About a 5 iron iirc.

 

But that middle ? I think I remember playing that pin position once. Crazy difficult. Short is in the water, long hits those boulders, and can go anywhere.

The biggest complaint pros have for that course? They can't put the ball anywhere. 

 

That hole is a great example. 

 

And when I say pros I mean the local PGA of America pros. Though there is a story about Jesper Parnavick showing up and playing 36 holes there, several years ago; Shot even both times and said he hated it. 

[mshills]

On 4/24/2024 at 10:08 AM, golfer07840 said:

That is a tough one.. but I got it beat. 

 

Sept 24, 2022.. they put the pin damn near the middle.. yes.. the middle..

 

 

🤣 that’s terrible. Must have wanted to protect par from all the sticks on the tee sheet that day. Ouch! That course is dang hard without Greenskeeper’s Revenge pin placements like that. 

 

I lived in Morris Co for a bit and thought the golf was quite good as long as I didn’t insist on playing peak times. Skyview, Berkshire, and Flanders were typical. Lived very close to Flanders and enjoyed playing there. Easily walkable and they didn’t F around with pace of play — typically pretty good flow over there especially considering the incredible volume of play. 

[golfer07840]

25 minutes ago, mshills said:

🤣 that’s terrible. Must have wanted to protect par from all the sticks on the tee sheet that day. Ouch! That course is dang hard without Greenskeeper’s Revenge pin placements like that. 

 

I lived in Morris Co for a bit and thought the golf was quite good as long as I didn’t insist on playing peak times. Skyview, Berkshire, and Flanders were typical. Lived very close to Flanders and enjoyed playing there. Easily walkable and they didn’t F around with pace of play — typically pretty good flow over there especially considering the incredible volume of play. 

I live 15 mins from Flanders and it's my go-to course on Fridays when we have summer hours or when I need to stay more local. 

 

Very tricky greens and considering when it was built, it's a pretty long too. It's mostly walkable. Some holes are so far apart when it comes to walking, especially on the Blue and Gold 9's. White and Red and much more walking friendly. 

[golfer07840]

On 4/24/2024 at 11:34 AM, nsxguy said:

 

 

Welllllll,,,,,,,,, I can't even SEE the pin in the first pic but I assume it's the closest part of the green (to the right). SW-GW-PW-9 iirc. Pin was usually there when we played CS.

 

Back is considerably longer but at least there's still some green back there. About a 5 iron iirc.

 

But that middle ? I think I remember playing that pin position once. Crazy difficult. Short is in the water, long hits those boulders, and can go anywhere.

I've had a shot or 2 hit the front rocks and somehow managed to find the green. 

 

1st time I ever played there, the pin was to the right and I yanked it left. I had to treat it like it was a par 3 mini golf course hole 😂

[golfer07840]

In what universe should Wild Turkey and Black Bear be on the same greens fee scale??

 

 

[stimpmeterp]

 

 

Can anyone in South Jersey near Atlantic City give me the latest top 5 public tracks?

 

My in-laws live in Ventnor.

[Wander Bread]

2 hours ago, stimpmeterp said:

 

 

Can anyone in South Jersey near Atlantic City give me the latest top 5 public tracks?

 

My in-laws live in Ventnor.

 

My preference:

1) Ballamor

2) Shore Gate

3) Twisted Dune

4) Seaview - Bay Course

5) Brigantine Golf Links

[BigBlue7]

2 hours ago, stimpmeterp said:

 

 

Can anyone in South Jersey near Atlantic City give me the latest top 5 public tracks?

 

My in-laws live in Ventnor.

 

3 minutes ago, Wander Bread said:

 

My preference:

1) Ballamor

2) Shore Gate

3) Twisted Dune

4) Seaview - Bay Course

5) Brigantine Golf Links

 

Good list.  I believe Atlantic City Country club is public too, but their greens fees can be on the high side.

[NJgolfer11]

28 minutes ago, BigBlue7 said:

 

 

Good list.  I believe Atlantic City Country club is public too, but their greens fees can be on the high side.

I believe Atlantic City Country Club is back to being private.

[golfer07840]

6 minutes ago, NJgolfer11 said:

I believe Atlantic City Country Club is back to being private.

Correct. I just sent to the website and there is a Members log in here button and the rest is just vague descriptions. 

[Wander Bread]

Yup ACC would be top of the list for me but they went fully private before last season. I got to play it a few times the 2 seasons before - very expensive but what a fun, well manicured track with great views.

[golfer07840]

15 minutes ago, Wander Bread said:

Yup ACC would be top of the list for me but they went fully private before last season. I got to play it a few times the 2 seasons before - very expensive but what a fun, well manicured track with great views.

I wonder what made them go public in the first place? Weren't they private to begin with? 

[Bonneville85308]

On 5/23/2024 at 1:27 PM, golfer07840 said:

I wonder what made them go public in the first place? Weren't they private to begin with? 

 

The Fraser family sold it to Hilton in '98 and it had been private up to that point. I had a boss who had an ACCC membership in the 1990s that Hilton terminated (along with all of the other memberships I believe) soon after they took over, and for a while you had to be a Hilton/Caesars casino hotel guest to play there. I played it in 2014 or 2015 for something like $125 on a weekday morning shortly after the Ottinger group bought it from Caesars and it was definitely open to the general public then. I don't know if it was open to the non-casino guest public at any point during the Hilton/Caesars regime. 

[stimpmeterp]

On 5/23/2024 at 1:42 PM, Wander Bread said:

 

My preference:

1) Ballamor

2) Shore Gate

3) Twisted Dune

4) Seaview - Bay Course

5) Brigantine Golf Links

 

I played Ballamor this morning. Thanks for the recommendation. Had a 7:10 a.m. but they let me go off solo at around 6:30. Wouldn't let me walk, and I get it they don't know me and I didn't know the course...in the end it would have been a hike.

Great course as far as I am concerned for a semi-private daily fee. Have to keep it in play but mainly because the tree outline is a total crapshoot as far as any decent lie. The par 3s were all long and difficult in this morning's slight wind. I don't think I hit less than 7 iron (7, 7, 6, hybrid). 

The greens are bananas. Slow today, but obviously well maintained.  For a first timer, that undulation is crazy.

 

# 17 must be awesome in match play. Had to play it twice. 279-ish from the blues. Total risk reward. 

[Bonneville85308]

Has anyone played Farmstead recently? Curious about conditions. I haven't played it since the late 2000s, remember it being a decent layout (Club/Lake nines), and will be in that immediate area in a couple weeks with some guys who want to play. The rates seem suspiciously cheap compared to Berkshire Valley, Bowling Green, and the Crystal Springs-area courses.

[razuuun24]

Played Farmstead last Month......Course is pretty much the same as it was in the late 2000's 

 

I guess they just decided not to price gouge ppl like crystal springs does since covid

[golfer07840]

4 minutes ago, razuuun24 said:

Played Farmstead last Month......Course is pretty much the same as it was in the late 2000's 

 

I guess they just decided not to price gouge ppl like crystal springs does since covid

You're not kidding about Crystal Springs. Black Bear, being as much as Wild Turkey is ludicrous.

[Bonneville85308]

I played Farmstead last Friday, Lake/Club nines, it ended up being in really good condition all around, especially the greens. Great value for $58 with cart and we all enjoyed the day. Course was full of people since they were sending groups off both nines early AM to get everyone off before an afternoon outing, but we still got around in 4:15.