Road Trips

By Steve Gordon

I always like going to play a new course so over the years after playing in an area close to home the circle gets larger and larger expanding the area to find new courses. Over this summer I've traveled some with a regular golf partner so I thought I'd review our road trips and throw in some photos from them.

I'm going to hit on Chesapeake Bay (formerly Chantilly Manor), Patriots Glen National. Linfield National, Iron Valley, Crossgates, Forsgate (Banks Course), Shore Club (formerly Wildwood CC), Buena Vista, Mays Landing, Stonewall (Old Course) as well as Doylestown CC, Philmont CC (North Course) where I played in charity golf outings.

There are a couple still left on the bucket list like Bulle Rock and Galloway National for starters. If they happen there could be a follow up to this story.

Chesapeake Bay in Rising Sun, Maryland.

We hit the first tee here after one of the many heavy rainy periods this area has seen. It was cart path only on a Tuesday morning. The course had some players but basically very light play as evidenced by the few number of cars in the parking lot as we pulled in around 7:30 in the morning.

It was a nice comfortable course to play and it was mostly open. The course played 6749 yards from the tips and it had five teeing areas. As seniors and it being wet we played the 5824 yard green (Pines) tees. There were trees and they were in play but it wasn't a heavily lined fairway thing. If you got off line they managed to present an issue of some kind but generally nothing that just totally blocked you out from making some kind of recovery shot.

The course was wet but overall in good condition. OK, there were a few holes where fairways were thin from water damage in low areas but as it was casual and not tournament golf we played preferred lies all over. The greens, while likely softer and slower than normal, were very good and putted smooth. You could pretty much go right at the hole unless it was on a slope and downhill because it was like Velcro when the ball slowed down. It stopped quickly.

There were water hazards but nothing right in your face. They were mostly lateral in nature or just there but not really in play. The bunkers were basically flat but wet so we had to improvise there for lies as well. If you hit it just right out of wet sand you can get a lot of spin on the ball as we did on a few occasions, but you couldn't really play out with a normal bunker shot.

Patriot's Glen National in Elkton, Maryland

This course didn't have great reviews and we mentioned going there to a couple of locals and got a "Good Luck." It was listed on Golf Now with a great rate so as a second 18 after playing Chesapeake Bay how does that not work for any avid golfer?

We ended up being mildly surprised. The reviews about the course conditions were not inaccurate but it wasn't unplayable playing preferred lies. I'm not saying the fairways were particularly just OK because many of them were not, but they were playable. It was pretty wet and cart path only but that was expected.

This was a resort style course that was well thought out and designed. It stretched to 6730 yards from the tips but with the design, even being mostly flat, it played long even for us as seniors from the gold tees set at 6035 yards. Wet fairways probably had a lot to do with it and hitting into slight upslopes and trying to navigate around well placed fairway bunkers. 

Each hole was separate from each other except for a couple teeing areas that shared some common ground. You easily got the feeling that you were the only ones on the course most of the time. It was heavily tree lined but the holes were big and wide so even missing a fairway by more than a few yards didn't put you in tree trouble.

Linfield National in Linfield, Pennsylvania

Set in Montgomery County near the nuclear power plant the steaming towers are visible from may areas around the course. This is an interesting and challenging little layout. While not overly long playing only 6365 from the back tees it's no pushover. 

Conditioning seems to be an ongoing issue but with the combination of heavy rains and hot and humid weather many area courses are experiencing similar issues on various levels. While some fairways were in rough shape the greens were just fine. They ran smooth and true while on the slow side the day I was there.

The course is packed together pretty tight and while there are trees and mounds used to separate holes some are pretty close. There are a couple holes that play tough the first time you see them but they are manageable once you break them down, like the par 5 12th hole. It has a really nice green complex but while the hole is short by par 5 standards it isn't one you go after in two unless you hit an exceptionally well placed and long tee shot in the fairway.

The designer save the only over 400 yard par 4 for your last test heading to the barn. The green is open and accessable but without a good tee shot it will take a quality second shot to find it.

The course makes good use of the rolling terrain and doesn't present many blind shots to the golfer. What it does is make you think where you want your next shot to be over just hitting for distance toward your target. Driver off every tee, even from the short tees, is not the way to play this course.

Iron Valley Golf Club in Lebanon, Pennsylvania

If I thought Linfield National was hilly my visit to Iron Valley provided a new perspective. This PB Dye (son of legendary designer Pete Dye) took this former quarry and made it into a tough challenging 18 holes of golf. I think Big Horn sheep would have been better than a golf cart to navigate some of the course.

This course challenged you right from the first hole that goes up hill to a pushed up green. Once there you lose concentration of your putt with a wonderful 360 degree vista from the green set on the highest point on the course.

After navigating the hills and contours of the first four holes Dye throws a flat 124 yard (back tee) par three at you with a smallish island green. Talk about swinging for the fences or trying to knock a single over the infielders head this change of pace throws you a curve. It's only a brief respite however with this and the relatively flat par four 6th hole.

The tee shot on the par 5 seventh needs to be well placed and then you have to figure out where to go from there as much of the landing area seems slopped severely towards a water hazard. One staffer commented that it is one of the worst holes in golf and he hasn't figured out how to play it. 

It was unfortunate that the day I played there was a company of multi groups playing just in front of us and play was very slow in addition to cart paths only and one of the hottest and most humid days we had over the summer. While after I played I was told there was staff out trying to keep those groups all moving I didn't see a Ranger on the course after the 6th hole and witnessed open holes ahead of us.

I would go back to play the course again but I would make sure it would be at a time more compatible to playing at a much improved pace.

Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Township, New Jersey

This is a private facility in Central New Jersey that was a treat to get an invite to play. I played the Banks Course that is a test at a par of 71 with a 130 slope rating. The regular members tees are set at 6379 yards over some naturally hilly terrain. It will challenge you to use every club in the bag and with a few quirks on it your mind will get a workout.

One moderate length par 3 has a bowl in the green that feeds the ball toward the hole, but there are two other levels on the green so you could have a birdie putt or be looking at a three putt. It is also surrounded by a bunker that gives the hole its name "Horseshoe."

Another par 3 that plays 216 yards from the back tee has an elongated green that almost looks like a saddle with three tiers. A forward high tier that drops about 10-15 feet to a middle lower tier then back up to an even higher back tier. It's a test from the 182 yard member tee no matter where the pin is set. Adding to that is a large bunker along the entire left side of the green that has a wooden walkway through it to the green from the cart path.

The 551 yard eighth hole is call "Long" for a reason. The fairway is like the ocean on the outskirts of a storm rolling this way and that way and after the tee shot it plays all uphill to the green.

Crossgates Country Club in Millersville, Pennsylvania

Another of the many courses in the Keystone state using the rolling terrain to its advantage. This is basically a golf course community facility right next to Millersville University. 

The course seems suited for senior and women players but that doesn't mean it's a pushover for low handicap players. As with many courses built over rolling hills just bombing the ball off the tee doesn't work because many of the holes require placement using angles, a creek that borders some holes and doglegs around trees as well as the hilly nature of the property.

The third hole is a little downhill par 3 of 118 yards from the white tee (136 from blue tee). Miss this narrow green short, left or even long and you are in trouble and might even have to reload. A miss right won't kill you but where your ball ends up depends on the bounce.

The course is only 6151 yards from the back tees and it plays very comfortable with mostly generous landing areas that don't require a driver. The greens have tilts and gentile rolls so while they look flat they really aren't. Sometimes subtle breaks are just as hard to read as those big breaking putts. We did encounter one green that shows you everything appearing tilted and sloped one way and the ball goes against what your eyes tell you. You need to test that slope with your feet walking on it.

Two holes showed up to me as a little out of place in the par 5 10th and par 5 18th. On ten the layup area seems awkward and leaves a longish uphill third shot to the green. While most of the course was comfortable and fun to play when I stepped on the 18th tee I felt I was on a different course. It plays 530 from the white tees and 450 from the senior tees but play from either tee leaves the same testing uphill shot to the green that could be as little as an eight or nine iron or a hybrid for a senior player.

All that said it was a fun course to play and it was in very good shape when I was there before we started to experience all the heavy rainfall in the area

The Shore Club

The former Wildwood Country Club under new ownership is renamed and getting a gradual facelift. The bunkering is being restored to it's more natural state from the original design while a couple of holes may get some tweaking. 

Buena Vista

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Stonewall, Old Course

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Broad Run Golf Club, West Chester, Pennsylvania

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Doylestown Country Club

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Philmont Country Club, North Course

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This is an article in process. More to come.

The Shore Club

Clubhouse and Gazebo behind the first tee.

By Steve Gordon

Recently I had the privilege to revisit and play a round of golf at The Shore Club, formerly the Wildwood Country Club. After the round my playing partners and I found it to be exactly what Director of Golf Fred Riedel said it was, “a fun golf course to play.”

With the new ownership and physical upgrades to the clubhouse, the 18-hole Wayne Stiles golf course that opened in 1921 isn’t getting overlooked. It’s gone through some changes over the years including the major loss of four holes in 1952 when the Garden State Parkway expanded. But through that and the addition of new holes and the rerouting of the course, it has maintained itself as a quality layout.

Work has started on the bunkering but also tree removal is on the agenda. Many golfers like well defined tree lined golf courses but there is a point when trees become obstructions over the character of a golf hole. Eleven and twelve are two replacement holes that fall into that category along with not really having quite the same look and feel as the rest of the course.  

Reidel explained that for a couple years after those holes were built they weren’t used because there were issues of turf conditioning. Those issues were resolved and the holes were incorporated into the course and they are good golf holes. However now there is a plan to make them fit in better with the rest of the course.

The plan begins with shortening the 441 yard par 4 (members white tees) 12th hole to about a 360 or 370 risk reward par 4. Then the heavily tree lined left side between it and the 11^th hole will be mostly cleared to give it more of an open feel. The end result will be a shorter hole that will retain the water hazard guarding the front of the green and a large specimen tree guarding the dogleg.  

The preceding 360 yard par 4 eleventh hole is likely to remain as is with some tree removal. However Reidel indicated that there are some at the club who would like to rework it to make it a par 5. This would retain the course as a par 72, but that is a minor issue for this golf director.  The hole is a challenge as it is as the sixth rated handicap hole on the course. 

As shown above the wind will stretch out the flag sticks around the course. 

As for the bunkering, the biggest and most noticeable part of the makeover for members, it has started on holes three and seven. “Primarily the bunkers will be rebuilt and the style will be consistent throughout the course,” Riedel explained. “The floor of the bunkers will be relatively flat and the sod will be rolled down to the bunker much like what was here before,” he continued. Holes five and six are next to be done in the ongoing cycle.

On our trip around the golf course we found a nice mix of long and short holes in a combination of straight and tricky doglegs. Also there were two par 5 holes in two and fifteen that we (as mid-level handicappers) found were reachable in two having some favorable wind and slightly forward tee placements. It required two good shots of course.

Reidel cited the 15^th hole a favorite of his and a lot of his reasoning has to do with the green. “It has a lot of character,” he commented in addition to the challenge of negotiating the way to the green sandwiched between unplayable areas down the left side and a water hazard in play on the inside of the slight dogleg. Wind is a big factor in coastal golf courses and Reidel said he has seen the 15^th play really tough and long and getting on the green in regulation can be a challenge.

Add 15th green as seen from the right side of the fairway.

Risk reward holes dot the course for the long hitters with strategic placement of water hazards, bunkers and sharp doglegs. In general we found just pulling out the driver wasn’t the way to play some of them which followed another thing Reidel commented on after our round. “If you play smart and hit to the middle of the greens you can do well here,” he told us.

One thing players will remember are two par three holes in five and sixteen, both play over water. While they are mild yardage holes playing 133 and 121 yards from the white members tees (170 and 155 from the back tees) you can walk up on the tee with three clubs in your hands and stand there trying to figure out which would be the right one because of the wind conditions on any given day.

Par 3 5th hole.

Par 3 16th green as seen from 15th fairway.

“There really is no prevailing wind,” Reidel said. It can be a North or Northwest wind or it came come up from the south, and then there is the east wind coming in off the ocean. Add to that the infamous Jersey shore green heads. “We don’t have bugs all the time,” Reidel said and added that the winds can and do help with the bugs.

The course record was set a few years ago by a then 19-year-old local player, Alexander Hicks, who is now chasing the dream on the Canadian tour. “He came in one day with a score of 64 which would have broken the existing course record,” Reidel said, “but one of the holes was set up short so it really didn’t count. About a month later he came in with the 62.”

The Shore Club is private but there are seasonal memberships and you can call Amanda Ruhl at 609-465-7824 to explore the options available.

View from clubhouse patio of the current 7th green.

(photos by Steve Gordon)