Best golf courses near Morristown, NJ

Morris County Country Club gets lost among the unthinkably good golf in the Tri-State area, but the Golden Age design is finally getting its due, thanks to recent tree-removal work and impeccable conditioning?allowing the bold landforms and land movement to shine. Widely accepted to be a Seth Raynor design, recent discovery from the club revealed C.B. Macdonald worked here, too. The Morristown club also holds the distinction of being the first club in the country organized and managed by women. The course continues to make improvements, now under the supervision of consulting architect Jaeger Kovich of Proper Golf, who previously worked under Gil Hanse and Tom Doak as a builder and shaper.

Somerset Hills is another marvelous A.W. Tillinghast design, one of the few that has remained virtually unchanged since it opened in 1918. So, it may be the most authentic Tillinghast course on the 100 Greatest. It?s a charming, laid-back design that works through seemingly undisturbed rolling terrain, past rock outcroppings and around small-but-distinctive water hazards. Tilly designed this with a spoonful of whimsy, with ?dolomite? mounds edging one green and startling knobs within another putting surface. Like Baltusrol Upper, Somerset Hills has a Tillinghast version of a Redan par 3, the second hole, which Golf Digest panelists ranked higher than any of the many splendid versions created by C.B. Macdonald or Seth Raynor, the pioneers of the template in the United States.

Montclair Golf Club might be overlooked in the realm of great golf courses in the North Jersey area, but its history sets it apart. The club features 36 holes in four nine-hole loops?with 27 holes designed by Donald Ross in 1920 and nine holes built by Charles Banks in the late 1920s. Robert Trent Jones, a Montclair, N.J. resident, called the historic club his home base for a long time?and his son, Rees, grew up here?so the Joneses did their share of work at Montclair over the years. But the club tabbed Brian Schneider to reinvigorate the courses over the past few years?and the club was awarded with the 2026 U.S. Women?s Mid-Amateur. In a crowded scene of great private clubs, Montclair has a new shine.

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 Tilly's old plans and reclaiming green sizes and rebuilding bunkers?in May 2021. Hanse's team performed a similar restoration on Baltusrol's Upper course, which reopened in May 2025.

It?s believed that when A.W. Tillinghast began constructing the Upper and Lower Courses at Baltusrol in 1919 (replacing Baltusrol?s existing 18 holes), it was the first contiguous 36 holes built at the same time in America. Because of the Lower?s tremendous major championship record, most consider the slightly shorter Upper to be a secondary course at the club. But between the two, it was the Upper, not the Lower, that hosted the first U.S. Open (and third in the club?s history) in 1936, won by Tony Manero. The Lower didn?t get its first Open until 1954, won by Ed Furgol. Baltusrol Mountain, just 200 feet high, looms above the right flank of the Upper, complicating drives and putts with a landscape that tilts more than appears to the eye. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner restored the Tillinghast architecture to the Lower Course in 2020 with the ancillary goal of enhancing its tournament bite. Their job at the club?s Upper course, reopened in summer 2025, was simpler: Bring back the Tillinghast. This included significant tree removal, major green expansions (including the addition of a lost alternate green at the par-4 14th), bunker restoration/relocation and new sub-surface air systems. Both the Upper and Lower have long been known for strong opening and finishing sequences, but the Upper?s beautifully revived middle holes, moving across the more interesting terrain, now make the case for the courses being on equal architectural footing, if not in championship mettle.

In the late 1990s, Gil Hanse and his team gradually began restoring all of Plainfield?s Donald Ross features, including many that had become covered by trees or lost over the years. During the early 2000s, every green, fairway, teeing ground, chipping area and bunker was restored. Meanwhile, excessive trees were removed. The result is an exceptional restoration/renovation of one of Donald Ross? very best designs, and it could not be more fun to play every day. The tree removal also opened up strategic playing angles, optionality and stunning views across the property. The course remains a great venue for competitions as well, with USGA and PGA Tour events producing an impressive list of champions, including John Cook, Laura Davies, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day. Plainfield has committed to three future USGA Championships, including the 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, 2031 U.S. Senior Women?s Open and the 2037 U.S. Senior Open.

Mountain Ridge Country Club has forever been one of North Jersey's great hidden gems, and after fabulous restoration work done over the past 10 years by Ron Prichard, the club is starting to get its due after hosting a number of events, including the 2012 U.S. Senior Amateur on its centennial, the 2020 MET Open and the 2021 LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup. This 250-acre site, perched atop an enormous ridge in West Caldwell, was acquired by the club after a move from nearby West Orange, and the club hired Donald Ross in the late 1920s to route a new 18-hole course, which traverses varied, interesting topography and features some genius putting surfaces. Mountain Ridge had a large-scale celebration in June 1931 to dedicate the Clifford Wendehack clubhouse and new course, of which Ross himself attended. The club has hired Andrew Green to complete a long-term plan to ensure that Mountain Ridge continues to be in the conversation as one of the country?s best-known secrets.

Dana Fry designed and built this course in 2001 with then partner Dr. Michael Hurdzan, and in 2022 came back to do a renovation with current partner Jason Straka. The original design featured elaborate MacKenzie-inspired cape-and-bay bunkers, now replaced by what might be considered a more traditional, or New England, style of shaping with less formality. Their placements have also been adjusted, as have tees, while some fairways were re-graded and hundreds of trees were removed to better show off the 730-acre estate?s surrounding pastures and woods.

The highest-ranked Trump-owned course, the Old Course at Trump National Bedminster, hosted the 2017 U.S. Women's Open and was set to host the 2022 PGA Championship before the PGA of America moved the event to Southern Hills. The Fazio design, which opened in 2004, was ranked as high as 141st on our America's Second 100 Greatest rankings in 2013-2014?and 165th in 2015-2016?before falling off our rankings for not having enough ballots to meet our minimum evaluation count.

North Jersey Country Club in Wayne is one of the best golf courses in New Jersey. Discover our experts reviews and tee time information

From Golf Digest Architecture Editor emeritus Ron Whitten: I don?t normally think of Rees Jones when the subject of course restoration comes up, even though Rees insists he popularized the notion of restoration back when he prepared The Country Club for the 1988 U.S. Open. Rees usually redesigns courses in his own style (think of Lakewood in Maryland, Baton Rouge C.C. or the South Course at Carmel C.C. in Charlotte), which is understandable, because clubs hiring the legendary ?Open Doctor? expect a stronger test of golf as a result of his labors.  But as he showed in 2017 at Medinah No. 2 and Golden Horseshoe Gold, he can pay tribute to an original architect when desired. But that wasn?t his objective in revamping Echo Lake Country Club in New Jersey, where he?s served as consulting architect since 2010. Some critics were outraged when Rees and his design associate Steve Weisser changed the second hole from a short, drivable par 4 that played to a tabletop green into a par 5 by moving the green 300 yards to the west into the former third fairway. (To accommodate that, he turned the third into a par 3.) At least one critic considered the second to be one of Donald Ross? great holes and a tribute to the lookalike second hole at Pine Valley.  It may or may not be a Donald Ross hole, but Echo Lake?s second predates Pine Valley by six years and that hillside of bunkers below the old second green, the ones that gave it a Pine Valley look, weren?t added until the 1990s by golf architect Ron Forse. Rees? new par-5 second actually improves Echo Lake (it needed an uphill par 5), particularly with the downhill fourth now switched from a 490-yard par 5 to a 480-yard par 4.  Not much Donald Ross actually remained at Echo Lake even before Rees got involved. Robert White added six holes just after World War I (including the dogleg 16th, probably the best hole on the course), and Willard Wilkinson added three more (including the mammoth par-3 14th) in 1928. Rees has unified the design by creating what I consider Ross-like bunkers with molded grass faces throughout the 18.

Essex County Country Club has been touched by some of the game?s best designers, with A.W. Tillinghast routing a new layout on the current site in 1918. Seth Raynor kept seven of Tillinghast?s original holes (Nos. 1 through 6 and the ninth) during a 1925 redesign. Before construction began, Raynor passed away, leaving his associate Charles Banks to do the rest. Banks favored the template holes of Raynor and Macdonald, and his brilliant renditions are still standouts today, including a Redan, Double Plateau, Alps, Punchbowl and Eden. A young Gil Hanse extended the course to 7,100 yards, added fairway bunkers and removed thousands of trees in the early 2000s. In the fall of 2023, Hanse and partner Jim Wagner returned to perform some updates and sharpen features?most notably reinvigorating the dogleg-left opening hole?continuing the portfolio of great architects to have worked at this storied New Jersey site.

Watchung Valley Golf Club?s extensive restoration plan by George Waters brought to life an unbuilt Seth Raynor routing, constructed after his death by Plainfield Country Club?s Marty O?Laughlin, revealing the rolling topography and bold features on the site of this old dairy farm. Hundreds of trees were cleared out over the past 10 years to bring the club back to its roots as one of New Jersey?s most prideful clubs. A number of Raynor?s templates can be found here, particularly on the back nine, including the 11th (Eden), a standout par-4 12th (Bottle), a rare par-3 punchbowl 13th and the prize-dogleg 16th. An emphasis on walking and firm-and-fast conditions, plus a new short course with six greens dubbed the Merry-Go-Round, designed by Blake Conant (the club?s current consulting architect), gives this character-filled hidden gem a great sense of place?and continues to bring more notoriety to the club.

A comprehensive bunker and irrigation project over the past few years has elevated Fairmount Country Club into the conversation among the hidden gem country clubs in North Jersey. The Hal Purdy design has a strong history, hosting an LPGA event in the 1980s, won by Nancy Lopez in 1985. The tree-lined layout meanders through two sects of land, including Chatham?s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. A tree-removal program has opened up vistas and improved conditioning, and 62 bunkers were renovated with the Better Billy Bunker method. The highlights of the round include the terrific short par-4 fifth hole, the par-5 11th where players must navigate a water hazard with options including a right fairway strip and an ultra-difficult finishing three-hole stretch that rivals any in the area.

Canoe Brook?s championship pedigree runs deep, ranking among our list of America?s 100 Greatest Courses from 1967 through 1970. The 36-hole facility hosts U.S. Open sectional qualifying every other year (on off years with Old Oaks and Century) on its North and South courses. With its thick rough, towering trees and difficult but well-conditioned greens, Canoe Brook is a mainstay among great New Jersey golf venues.