By Steve Gordon
Let's put one thing right up front about the Centerton Golf Club. It isn't a northern version of Augusta National as someone quipped in the club house when a friend and I paid our first visit there recently. However, this Ed Cameron design has been a staple of local public golf since 1962 in the South Jersey area.
A glance at the scorecard shows you that by the numbers it isn't a long track measuring a shade under 6300 yards from the back tees, but numbers don't tell the whole story. The course is a well thought out mix of long and short holes much like that of the early designers.
It winds it's way through the trees on the property that line the fairways on most every hole with straight holes, right to left holes and left to right holes. There isn't much in the way of water hazards but what there is can't be ignored.
The 7th hole is kind of an innocent looking 150 yard par 3 from the white tees but it's got some challenge to it. The first thing you notice is a small lake left of the green but what you don't readily notice at first glance with some bushes that line part of the water is that it borders the green.
If you take a harder look you will notice the green is long and narrow and it slopes right to left towards the water. What that means any shot towards the left side of the green is in danger of not staying on the green. If the pin is there my suggestion is not to go flag hunting. This turned out to be one of my favorite holes on the course even though it is the 18 handicap hole. It plays 184 yards from the back tee.
To transition to the top rated hole on the course I refer you to my opening statement that this is a course made up of long and short holes. Number 16 weighs in at 413 and 388 yards from the Blue and White tees respectfully. It is a dogleg left but you don't want to flirt with cutting it unless you are confident of how far and straight you can hit it. A miss left or short of finding the fairway isn't likely to leave you a shot to the green and if you get lucky the green is guarded by two bunkers from that angle.
The scorecard reveals that the 17th hole is a medium length par 3 of 156 yards (169 Blue tee). It is however all over water so a mishit or misclub results in your ball taking a bath. Be sure to read the wind direction correctly at the tree top level as well.
A short distance through the trees will bring you to the 427 yard (444 Blue tee) finishing hole. It is dead straight between the trees lining the generous fairway with one lone fairway bunker on the left that is in play.
Two of the par five holes are less than 500 yards but on the day we played with soft turf from overnight rain they both played as legitimate 3 shot holes while the other par 5 (number 11) was a beast from the 555 yard white tee (578 Blue tee).
The par 4 holes vary in length from 288 to 388 yards from the white tees (302 to 444 Blue tees). Much of the course is tree lined but it's fair and not confining for the most part. OK, the tee shot on the sharp left dogleg 9th hole can be a tight fit with the wrong ball flight. There are a couple open links like holes on the course for a different look but those holes are within the design concept of the rest of the course, they just don't have a lot of trees on them.
Centerton is an affordable quality golf course in South Jersey. It is about an hour from Philadelphia and Atlantic City areas. For more information call 856-358-2220 or go to www.CentertonGolf.com.
Let's put one thing right up front about the Centerton Golf Club. It isn't a northern version of Augusta National as someone quipped in the club house when a friend and I paid our first visit there recently. However, this Ed Cameron design has been a staple of local public golf since 1962 in the South Jersey area.
A glance at the scorecard shows you that by the numbers it isn't a long track measuring a shade under 6300 yards from the back tees, but numbers don't tell the whole story. The course is a well thought out mix of long and short holes much like that of the early designers.
It winds it's way through the trees on the property that line the fairways on most every hole with straight holes, right to left holes and left to right holes. There isn't much in the way of water hazards but what there is can't be ignored.
The 7th hole is kind of an innocent looking 150 yard par 3 from the white tees but it's got some challenge to it. The first thing you notice is a small lake left of the green but what you don't readily notice at first glance with some bushes that line part of the water is that it borders the green.
If you take a harder look you will notice the green is long and narrow and it slopes right to left towards the water. What that means any shot towards the left side of the green is in danger of not staying on the green. If the pin is there my suggestion is not to go flag hunting. This turned out to be one of my favorite holes on the course even though it is the 18 handicap hole. It plays 184 yards from the back tee.
To transition to the top rated hole on the course I refer you to my opening statement that this is a course made up of long and short holes. Number 16 weighs in at 413 and 388 yards from the Blue and White tees respectfully. It is a dogleg left but you don't want to flirt with cutting it unless you are confident of how far and straight you can hit it. A miss left or short of finding the fairway isn't likely to leave you a shot to the green and if you get lucky the green is guarded by two bunkers from that angle.
The scorecard reveals that the 17th hole is a medium length par 3 of 156 yards (169 Blue tee). It is however all over water so a mishit or misclub results in your ball taking a bath. Be sure to read the wind direction correctly at the tree top level as well.
A short distance through the trees will bring you to the 427 yard (444 Blue tee) finishing hole. It is dead straight between the trees lining the generous fairway with one lone fairway bunker on the left that is in play.
Two of the par five holes are less than 500 yards but on the day we played with soft turf from overnight rain they both played as legitimate 3 shot holes while the other par 5 (number 11) was a beast from the 555 yard white tee (578 Blue tee).
The par 4 holes vary in length from 288 to 388 yards from the white tees (302 to 444 Blue tees). Much of the course is tree lined but it's fair and not confining for the most part. OK, the tee shot on the sharp left dogleg 9th hole can be a tight fit with the wrong ball flight. There are a couple open links like holes on the course for a different look but those holes are within the design concept of the rest of the course, they just don't have a lot of trees on them.
Centerton is an affordable quality golf course in South Jersey. It is about an hour from Philadelphia and Atlantic City areas. For more information call 856-358-2220 or go to www.CentertonGolf.com.
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