There is wonderful golf in Colts Neck, N.J. – some of the best in the state and beyond.
Hominy Hill is one of the finest public tracks not only in the state, but in the tri-state area. The problem with Hominy Hill is getting a tee time on the weekend, which is as simple as avoiding Jersey Shore traffic on a Friday night.
On the private side, ultra-exclusive Due Process, where Bill Parcells and many other celebrity members tee it up all summer, is spectacular – “golf heaven,” as Parcells calls it. Getting onto Due Process is like holding a winning ticket in the Big Game lottery.
In Colts Neck Golf Club, which opens for play today, there’s an open-to-the-public addition to the mix in this horse-country, farming town. And, from our firsthand look this past week, it will be a welcome addition.
Here’s a closer look at Colts Neck Golf Club:
BEST HOLES: Our favorite is No. 3, a short, 316-yard par-4 that offers a delicious risk-reward factor. There is a wide swath of marshland cutting diagonally across the front of the tees. It’s a classic, “how much do you want to bite off?” tee shot. You can pound a driver and, depending on the wind and the bounce of the golfing gods, possibly drive the green. Or you can hit iron off the tee and position yourself for an easy iron approach into the well-bunkered green. This was the most fun hole on the course.
No. 8 is a good test, a 183-yard par 3 that played hard into the wind for our round. The green is huge and undulating, making for some challenging pin placements. No. 9, also into the wind for us, is the toughest on the course, a 431-yard par-4 with a narrowing fairway dog-legging to the left with magnet-like fairway bunkers left and a lake on the right.
On the back side, the 12th hole is scenic in that the previous part of the course was links-style wide-open, while No. 12 routes into the woods with trees left and the green nicely framed by tall trees. No. 15, a reachable 464-yard par 5, offers the best tee box on the course. It’s set well back into the woods. We also liked the 151-yard par-3 14th hole, which plays over marshland to a generous green.
WORST HOLES: The worst of the lot is No. 11, which teases you at the tee, looking like a pretty hole into the woods. The problem is once you’ve teed off on the dog-leg left hole, you find a tree that the architects purposely left in front of the green, making it too much of a precision approach shot for the average 15 to 20 handicapper to negotiate. In terms of finishing holes, No. 18, while scenic (starting off in the woods and playing toward the large clubhouse) is too short at 371 yards to be a significant challenge. Some might not be enamored with a couple of extremely long par 3s – No. 10 is 224 yards and No. 16 is 233 yards.
PLAYABILITY: Though the course runs only 6,219 yards from the back tees, it’s enjoyable toplay and, most important, not a course that was shoe-horned into a piece of property. It’s able to be routed in this short space because it has a five par 5s and six par 3s, but you don’t feel strangled. In fact, if anything, it’s an interesting change to have some more par 5s and par 3s.
AMENITIES: At press time, the clubhouse was still under construction, but it’s an impressive structure built into an old dairy barn with the silo still intact. It’ll offer a full-service restaurant and bar with beautiful deck seating, a well-stocked pro shop, locker-room facilities and an independently contracted sports-medicine and physical-therapy workout area.
COMPLIMENTS: The property is scenic. The course is easy to get to. The clubhouse, which is due to be ready within a month, is going to be special, and the course is a fun challenge.
COMPLAINTS: As is our complaint with many of these new high-end daily-fee courses, the price is a little steep at $83 Monday-Friday and $103 Friday-Sunday including a cart, which is mandatory on the weekend. Some people might find the thick rough a little too penal, because the ball sits well down in it. But in defense of the course, there aren’t a lot of trees, so the rough is par’s defense.