GolfTravelReviews: The Reviews "Atlantic City Area Courses"

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	Blue Heron Pines Golf Club
	Brigantine Golf Links
	Harbor Pines Golf Club
	Mays Landing Golf & Country Club
	Sand Barrens Golf Club
	Seaview Marriott Resort and Spa
	Shore Gate Golf
Blue Heron Pines Golf Club Two quite different but equally stunning layouts greet you at Blue Heron Pines Golf Club, located just west of Absecon in the village of Cologne. (Parkway exit 38). Recently, the course was named among the "Top Women Friendly" and "Top 100 Fairways For Women" by Golf for Women Magazine; and received a "4-Star" rating by Golf Digest. Blue Heron Pines West is the area's first Stephen Kay creation, which opened in 1993 to rave reviews. Atlantic City Magazine named it the best 18-hole course at the Jersey shore. Meandering through an ancient pine forest, this parkland style course, which measures between 5053 and 6810 yards from five tee sets, also has abundant sand and modest elevation changes with a few lakes thrown in. The course will host the 2003 U.S.G.A. Public Links Championship. The course’s best and toughest stretch of holes is on the slightly better back 9 and begins with #14, a 518-yard beauty requiring a carry over and a 100-yard long waste bunker planted with native long grasses to a slightly raised green. Many golfers could be undone by this arguably controversial hole if they are not careful, but once they’ve completed it, there is still more challenge ahead. The 421-yard 15th is quite spectacular, featuring an elevated green bordering a lake on the left; a fairway marked by bunkers on the right that tempt players to carry them (230 yards) to set up an easier approach shot; and a right to left sloping fairway that will promote overly hooked tee shots perilously close to or into the water. A redan style long par 3 and long straight par 4 follow this gem, and the course finishes with reachable par 5. In Blue Heron Pines East, which opened in 2000, designer Steve Smyers has created a links style track that has all the earmarks of greatness. Its wide open windswept and largely treeless environment is reminiscent of the famous Scottish links. It is also very spread out, winding hill and dale over 300 plus pristine acres – a majestic, spatially opulent canvas. Smyers, who apprenticed with Tom Fazio and who was on the University of Florida golf team with several former PGA stars, loves the open, rustic look, as evidenced by some of his other courses, including Southern Dunes near Orlando. At Blue Heron Pines, his intent was to bring back the bump and run shot on a hard and fast playing surface. His homage to the Scots is all over this course, minus the gorse. Though not thick, the rough is similar to the kind of rough you will encounter in the Old Country, and the rolling, pitched fairways look as if Smyers laid them down on the land just as he found it. In fact, relatively little earth was moved to create this masterpiece, which also has five tee markers ranging from 5165 to 7221 yards. The courses are the prize of a large decidedly upscale residential and hospitality community that will eventually include a hotel, elegant homes, and rental suites. The backdrop of the front nine of the West Course is already being modified by development. Each course now sports two very large and graciously appointed clubhouses, each with their own pro shop. Blue Heron Pines is home to the prestigious Golf Digest Schools – one of two locations for Golf Digest in the Northeast. Both 2-Day and 3-Day school packages are taught by Golf Digest Instructor Bob Lennon. For more information, contact www.golfdigestschool.com.

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Brigantine Golf Links An extremely popular Atlantic City golf venue and the closest course to the Boardwalk is Brigantine Golf Links, located on the barrier island of Brigantine just north of the city. This is a mostly treeless layout reminiscent of Scottish links. Though it is relatively short at 6570 yards from the tips, Brigantine sports no less than 14 holes with mounds and water features. At Brigantine, the fickle and sometimes very strong winds will kick up off the bay and sea, making golfers work very hard for every par. The course opened in the late 1920s and has undergone several million dollars in upgrades. History has it that in the early days before out best golfers went over to play in the British Open, they warmed up by playing Brigantine.

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Harbor Pines Golf Club Harbor Pines Golf Club spares no expense in offering one of the best groomed courses anywhere in the Garden State. Owing to its relatively short rough and its superb manicuring, Harbor Pines is promoted as "reminiscent of Augusta National." That may be a stretch, but you should definitely include Harbor Pines on your must-play list. The club is situated very conveniently on Ocean Heights Blvd. in Egg Harbor Township off Exit 30 of the Parkway. Alternatively, it is a short 25-minute drive south on Route 9 from Absecon. Home grown designer Stephen Kay routed a fine layout through the dense pines and around 17 acres of lakes. The course is the epicenter of an upscale real estate project comprising some 6500 acres. The seven and eight-figure homes are being carefully planned to protect the environment and appeal to the most discriminating home buyers. On largely flat terrain, the course features huge impeccably groomed bent grass greens with modest slopes (unlike Augusta), and wide bent grass fairways. Water comes into play on no less than eight holes and, though the bunkers are large, there is less sand here than you might expect. On a layout measuring from 5099 to a modest 6827 yards from the tips, golfers of all stripes can enjoy their rounds. This is a very modern course in every sense of the word except it has no tricks. It is a throwback to good old-fashioned "what you see is what you get" golf. Five sets of tees testify that no level of golfer was left out of the design plan. The front side meanders through pristine pine forest and offers some outstanding holes including my favorite, the almost 90 degree dogleg right 400-yard (370 from the whites) 4th. It is followed by a much longer par 4 5th which doglegs right around a lake. The backside features a very short par 4 requiring a water carry off the tee, a brutishly long par 4 17th, and a short par 5 finishing hole aimed at bringing smiles to all golfers. Homes line most of the backside holes. Harbor Pines offers an elegant 20,000-square foot clubhouse, excellent food, and fine instruction at a top quality practice facility.

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Mays Landing Golf & Country Club At Mays Landing Golf and Country Club, golf is exceptional and affordable, making it easily one of the most popular courses among vacationing golfers, as well as the locals. Opened in 1962, the course was designed by the late Leo Fraser, a past PGA president. It is situated on 175 acres of pristine pinelands just off Route 40, a short distance south of Atlantic City. In recent years, Mays Landing has been lengthened and undergone numerous upgrades to where it is now one of the best conditioned courses in the area.

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Sand Barrens Golf Club For serious Atlantic City-bound golfers, Sand Barrens Golf Club is a must play. It is a 27-hole complex with a magnificent clubhouse, and it is a gem. It is located conveniently off Exit 13 of the Garden State Parkway in Swainton, NJ, approximately a half hour's drive from Atlantic City. Designed by Dr. Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, Sand Barrens features three 9's, each ranging in length from about 2450 yards to 3500 yards from the tips. During our visit in June 2001, Sand Barrens was in mint condition, with bent grass tees, fairways and greens that were as finely maintained as anywhere I have played. It was pure pleasure to putt such true greens. It appears a fair amount of earth was moved to create the weavy, sometimes elevated design of the holes which will be among the most interesting you will ever play. The holes bob and weave through tall pines and hardwoods and feature upland marshes brimming with wildflowers and other native plants and grasses. Southern New Jersey is heavily forested with pitch pines, short-leaf pines and hardwoods oak, sycamore, magnolia and yellow poplar. The landscape is also colorfully adorned with such wildflowers as purple violet (the state flower), honeysuckle, goldenrod, Virginia cowslip, and Queen Anne's lace. Sand Barrens is very similar in look and play to Tom Fazio's Pine Barrens at Worldwoods north of Tampa. Both courses, with their up and down fairways, omnipresent sand and wooded environs create a sense of being in North Carolina. Of course, sand plays a major part at Sand Barrens, offering not only a golf challenge but terrific visual interest. Large, sprawling waste bunkers deep enough to require staircases complement greenside bunkers that will have you tearing your hair out if you are not accurate with your approach shots. When you play the 9th hole of the South Course, stop and marvel at the stacked sod bunker on the front left side of the green. It was modeled after the famous greenside bunker at the 17th at St. Andrews only this one is even deeper. As for the greens at Sand Barrens, they are very large and feature some testy pin locations. The ProLink GPS tracking system will help you pick the right club and stay out of trouble. The recently completed 18,000-square-foot clubhouse featuring a very large and cozy bar and grille with fine menu is as attractive as any I've seen. The service is also excellent. Judged by the condition of the complex, the owners appear to spare no expense to make Sand Barrens a rival of the very best public golf venues in the state.

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Seaview Marriott Resort and Spa The Seaview Marriott Resort & Spa, on Route 9 in Galloway Township, NJ, just across the bay from Atlantic City, is a special place. It has a history and tradition that rivals the best of the classic, old-style resorts that used to attract the "stars" of business, film and sports. The elegant hotel’s reception area is strewn with vintage black and white photos of famous people who have graced these halls over the years. Situated on 670 pristine wooded acres, Seaview is marked by gracious, friendly service and all the outstanding recreational facilities of a Golf Digest four-star resort, highlighted by two of the finest classically designed courses you will ever play, the Bay Course, designed by the renown Donald Ross, and the Pines Course. The 2001 ShopRite LPGA Classic was being played on the Bay Course during my visit, but I did play the Pines and loved it. From the back tees (6211 from the middle set), the Pines Course is 6731 yards of classic golf at its best. Built in the 1920s, the course features a dozen doglegs, and every hole meanders through tall, thick southern Jersey pines. There are no gimmicks one often sees on modern designs, just pure straight-ahead golf. After a terrific front nine, the course begins to sizzle starting with the long, uphill par 4 11th. From there, you play the downhill short but treacherous par 3 12th, the 436-yard slight dogleg right 13th which features a landing area off the tee into a small valley from where the green is obscured by a rise, and two fabulous and very long par 3’s in succession. The 468-yard sharp dogleg left 17th is one of the finest parkland par 4’s anywhere, magnificent in its beauty and downright massive in its challenge. The modestly long par 5 finishing hole up the hill, tops off one of the most enjoyable rounds of your life. But you needn’t stop at the Pines. The Bay Course is one of Ross’s finest designs and is the resort’s signature course, though at 6247 yards from the tips, is considerably shorter. It features all of the famed designer’s trademarks and dynamic vistas of the bay on which it sits. To make your round more enjoyable, the resort provides a forecaddie. If your game still goes south, try some lessons at the Faldo Institute right there at the resort. Meanwhile, a full-service health and fitness center, Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa, tennis facility and superb cuisine complement the excellent golf at the Seaview Marriott.

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Shore Gate Golf Stretched over 245 acres of completely secluded pristine woodlands of Jersey pines, oaks, maple and laurel, Shore Gate will test golfers of all ability levels with its sensational, challenging and stunningly beautiful layout. With five sets of tee markers ranging from 5200 to 7200 yards, Shore Gate is a dramatic design by Ron Fream featuring elevation changes not usually found on New Jersey's shores. Fream, a veteran California-based architect whose courses are located in some 60 countries, let out all the stops in designing this, his first East Coast course and great care was taken to preserve the wetlands and other natural endowments of the untouched parcel which once sat adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean. Fream artfully incorporated the dunes into his design plan, exposing the natural sand and the contours of the dunes to frame many of the holes and provide an additional visual and strategic element to a course that puts a premium on accuracy. The course’s seven ponds and lakes add to the overall beauty and physical texture of Shore Gate, which was created to provide a challenging but enjoyable round for the recreational golfer.

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