New Jersey

Although Long Island seems to be the most conducive natural terrain for links-style courses, there are some very fine designs in – of all places – New Jersey.  With some beautiful landscapes and engaging topography, our coverage area of The Garden State – as far northwest as Sussex County and as far southeast as Monmouth – contains some of the most dynamic links-style golf courses in the area.

The lush greatness of Royce Brook East in New Jersey.

Stretching the limits of our bedeviled adjective is Royce Brook Golf Club, in Hillsborough.  Sitting in central Jersey’s Somerset County, about 50 miles southwest from Manhattan, Royce Brook has two distinctly different 18-hole golf courses, the East and West.  Although the West Course is restricted to members only (it is a semi-private facility) and fits the links-style bill a little more comprehensively, the East Course in its own right creates a beautiful setting that unquestionably taps the links ethic.

Designed by noted architect Steve Smyers and opened in 1998, the holes of the East Course weave through the natural surroundings of wild native grasses and wetlands to compile a very unique experience.  It’s unique mostly because these links-style attributes are set in and around a forest.  With tall trees framing holes and coming directly into play often, it might be a stretch to call this course “links-style.”  Some might go so far as to call it “parkland” – another overly used ambiguous golf course adjective.

But because of the serene setting, the East course can lull the golfer into feeling like he or she is on the Carolina shoreline.  The rather large bunkers are mostly shallow and built in traditional finger-shaped designs, normally found on the periphery of the fairways and at corners of doglegs.  The greens are generally well guarded by similar bunkers and chipping areas, making for some challenging approaches and some nifty short-game shots on a course that stretches out to 6,946 yards.  The creativity needed by the golfer to produce different types of shots, tee to green, makes for a round that speaks to the sheepherder in all of us.

And speaking of sheepherders, didn’t they wear kilts?  Like the kilt worn by the bagpipe player standing sentry at Ballyowen Golf Club in Hamburg, up in Sussex County?

The tough par-3 at Ballyowen that utilizes the natural ponds in Sussex County, Northwestern New Jersey.

Yes, it’s true that as the morning dew begins to evaporate and the ground in the foothills of the Kittatiny Mountains starts to warm, a grown man stands on the patio at this gorgeous club and blasts away the dawn mist with traditional Irish chants from a plaid-colored ancient instrument.  The attendants all run around in yellow knickers, white socks and dark blue tams, cheery, ready to say “Top ‘o the morning to ‘ya,” although they all probably grew up pronouncing “you” as “youh-z.”

Dramatic, yes.  But the point is that when you arrive at Ballyowen, it is obvious you are in for a special treat.  This arm of the Crystal Springs Resort (which is home to five terrific golf courses) is as good as it gets concerning American links-style golf, as architect Roger Rulewich pinpointed all that is right with this genre of design.

Utilizing the dramatic elevation changes, the natural ponds and the ever-rolling hillside, Rulewich carved a golf course that seemed dormant in the land all along.  There are holes that make their way around water hazards, like the 203-yard, par-3 sixth hole.  There, with all carry from tee to green, the design could feel forced.  But because of the way it’s situated, teeing from a small islet in the middle of a pond back to the “mainland,” the hole becomes just a joyous place to hit a golf shot.

Because there are very few trees on the course – mostly on the perimeter of the grounds – the wind whips around this place and drastically changes the way it plays on a daily basis.  Every mound that frames each fairway is covered in tall, native grasses, and the result is a 7,094-yard (back tees) course that is as aesthetically pleasing as it is physically enjoyable.

As there were on Long Island, there are many, many more courses in our coverage area of New Jersey that deserve recognition for being examples of good links-style design.  One of them is Colts Neck Golf Club, in Colts Neck, New Jersey.  Being in Monmouth County, the proximity to the Atlantic coastline encouraged many architects to build in the links-style vein.  Here, Mark Mungeum didn’t force the issue, when in 1999 he built a natural, rolling golf course that is somewhat short (6,250 yards from the back) and open, allowing for some creative golf.  Another good example is Neshanic Valley Golf Course in Neshanic Station, Somerset County.  Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry came into this 420-acre piece of flat farmland and built a 27-hole complex at championship length and a small, 9-hole track for beginners.  No matter which two nines you pair together on the big course, you will be in for a delightful, open round of golf with some environmental hazards (a Hurdzan/Fry staple) and some native grasses adorning the tops of mounds.