Texas Children's Houston Open

Memorial Park Golf Course



Baltusrol Golf Club: Lower

Springfield, NJ Private

Overview

Jack Nicklaus won two U.S. Opens on Baltusrol's Lower Course, setting a tournament record each time. Phil Mickelson and Jimmy Walker won PGAs on it. But the Lower’s most historic event was the ace by architect Robert Trent Jones in 1954 on the par-3 fourth, instantly squelching complaints of critical club members who felt Trent’s redesign made it too hard. Trent’s younger son, Rees, an avowed A.W. Tillinghast fan, lightly retouched the Lower’s design for the 2016 PGA Championship. But there has been another changing of the guard at Baltusrol, as architect Gil Hanse and his team took over as the club’s new consulting architects, and re-opened the restored Lower course—after carefully examining Tillie's old plans and reclaiming green size and rebuilding bunkers—in May 2021. The results, while praised, did not alter the course's standing in the 100 Greatest ranking--it remains at no. 45.

About

Holes 18
Length 7550
Slope 145
Facility Type Private
Year Opened 1922
Designer A.W. Tillinghast/(R) Robert Trent Jones, Sr., ASGCA/Rees Jones/(R) Gil Hanse

Awards

100 Greatest
Best Courses in Every State

Ranking history:

100 Greatest: Ranked since 1966.
2023-'24 ranking (and previous): 45th.
Highest ranking: 15th, 1985-1986

Best in State: Ranked in Top 5 in New Jersey since 1977.
Current ranking (and previously): 2nd.

Watch our exclusive drone tour

Panelists

Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

4.7

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options
7.7059
Character
7.9814
Challenge
7.8428
Layout Variety
7.7225
Fun
7.5268
Aesthetics
7.6178
Conditioning
8.0082

Reviews

Readers

Collection of reviews from our readers

0
There are no reader ratings yet

Reviews

There are no readers reviews yet. Be the first to write a review.