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Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club



Courses

The best golf courses you can play in New Jersey

Crystal Springs Resort: Ballyowen
Public
Crystal Springs Resort: Ballyowen
Hamburg, NJ, United States
4
17 Panelists

From Golf Digest Architecture Editor Emeritus Ron Whitten: Until I visited the area, I always wondered why the northwestern corner of New Jersey had so few golf courses. When I finally got there, it became obvious. It’s mountainous, better for rock-climbing or skiing than golf. It’s hard to grow grass on solid granite.

 

That corner of Jersey is not totally devoid of golf, but most of it is clustered atop a bluff overlooking the Walkill River valley. There's Great Gorge, 27 holes by George Fazio that had been a Playboy Hotel resort when it first opened in 1970. Twenty years later came Crystal Springs, chiseled from quarries by Robert von Hagge. That course was purchased soon after it opened by ski resort moguls John and Jack Kurlander. They then tried their hands at designing a companion golf course, Black Bear. It was okay but received lukewarm reviews from critics, so when the Kurlanders decided in 1997 to add still another 18 to their collection, a course they would name Ballyowen, they hired a real golf architect, Roger Rulewich, who'd been the chief associate for Robert Trent Jones for a quarter century. Rulewich had handled every major Jones project from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, including the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia (site of several Presidents Cups) and the extensive Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. Ballyowen was the first solo design Rulewich tackled after the Trent Jones corporation folded up around him in 1996.

 

You can read Whitten's complete review here.

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Shore Gate Golf Club
Public
Shore Gate Golf Club
Ocean View, NJ, United States
3.6
18 Panelists
Shore Gate is a challenging, target-heavy golf course—likely inspired by nearby Galloway National with a hint of Pine Valley—that's very popular with Avalon vacationers. Penal, deep bunkers as well as tall pines with pine straw and sand present a strong challenge to public golfers. It's a former member of Golf Digest's Best Courses in New Jersey but still among the very best public options in South Jersey.
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Neshanic Valley Golf Course: Ridge/Lake/Meadow
Public
Neshanic Valley Golf Course: Ridge/Lake/Meadow
Neshanic Station, NJ, United States
3.8
10 Panelists
The three championship nines at Neshanic Valley opened in the mid-2000s and cover 350 acres. The course has an open feel with generous fairways that are framed nicely by tall fescue. Neshanic Valley—located less than 20 miles from the USGA’s headquarters in Liberty Corner—hosted the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. In addition to the three championship nines, the facility has a par-32 Academy Course for beginners.
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Twisted Dune Golf Club
Public
Twisted Dune Golf Club
Egg Harbor Township, NJ, United States
3.9
21 Panelists
Twisted Dune offers enough gnarly lies, bump-and-run opportunities and sand to satisfy. The par-72, 7,248-yard layout has all the bunkers and waste areas you can handle. You'll be shaking sand out of your shoes for weeks. Wind is the course's other defense, which can be problematic on a long closing nine. Even from the white tees, you'll often find yourself hitting hybrids and woods for second shots. Luckily, you can chase them onto many of the greens because there aren't a lot of forced carries. Oh, and speaking of the greens, take a refresher course on lag putting before coming. They're huge. --Ron Kaspriske, senior editor
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Crystal Springs Resort: Wild Turkey
Public
Crystal Springs Resort: Wild Turkey
Hamburg, NJ
4
12 Panelists
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Hendricks Field Golf Course
Stephen Ruggiero
Public
Hendricks Field Golf Course
Belleville, NJ, United States
3.6
18 Panelists
Hendricks Field Golf Course is a Charles Banks public course in Belleville, New Jersey. Discover tee time information and reviews from our course experts.
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Seaview: Bay
Aidan Bradley/Courtesy of the resort
Public
Seaview: Bay
Galloway, NJ, United States
3.7
23 Panelists
Seaview's Bay course, a 6,247-yard, par-71 layout, has a similar look and feel to Atlantic City Country Club, playing along Reeds Bay with views of the distant AC skyline. Five holes use the marshland as part of their defense. Architect Bob Cupp should get credit for doing a nice job of restoring the original design started by Hugh Wilson and completed by Donald Ross in 1915. Like most Ross courses, the smallish, tricky greens make up for any lack of length. And like ACCC, a visit to Seaview comes with a history lesson: It hosted the 1942 PGA and has been home to the LPGA's ShopRite Classic since 1986. What was once an elite private club is now a 36-hole resort. --Ron Kaspriske, senior editor
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Galloping Hill Golf Course: The Hill
Public
Galloping Hill Golf Course: The Hill
Kenilworth, NJ
3.9
16 Panelists
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Scotland Run Golf Club: Scotland Run
Courtesy of the club
Public
Scotland Run Golf Club: Scotland Run
Williamstown, NJ, United States
3.8
6 Panelists
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The Architects Golf Club
Courtesy of the club
Public
The Architects Golf Club
Phillipsburg, NJ
Architects Golf Club is perhaps the most thoughtful public design in New Jersey. Built in the spirit of the game's best (dead) architects, Stephen Kay and Ron Whitten (Golf Digest's editor emeritus of architecture) designed greens and bunker complexes and routed holes reminiscient of the styles of the game's best designers, such as C.B. Macdonald, A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross. One of the highlights for many golfers is the course's 13th hole, which is inspired by Alister MacKenzie's par-5 15th hole at Augusta National.
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Ballamor Golf Club
Courtesy of the club
Public
Ballamor Golf Club
Egg Harbor Township, NJ, United States
Ballamor—formerly a private club and now part of the Ottinger Golf Group—is the perfect addition to any Atlantic City-area golf trip. Built by Ed Ault and Thomas E. Davis on 350 acres of rolling land, wide fairways and large, interesting green complexes are a great test for all levels of player. In a sneaky area of good public golf, Ballamor stands out as one of the best in South Jersey.
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Hominy Hill Golf Course
Courtesy of the Monmouth County Park System
Public
Hominy Hill Golf Course
Colts Neck, NJ
A municipal course owned by Monmouth County, Hominy Hill is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that is popular among locals for its affordable prices and quality course conditions. The New Jersey track has hosted two USGA championships: the 1983 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 1995 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links.
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