Lives
Verona, NJ
Handicap
20-24
Age
55-64
Gender
Male
Skill
Intermediate
Plays
Once a week

Review Statistics

Average Rating

3.9
3.9
Total 10 Reviews

Rating Breakdown

10 Reviews
5 Stars
3
4 Stars
5
3 Stars
0
2 Stars
2
1 Stars
0
Recommended Courses
8
Not Recommended Courses
2
Helpful Votes Count
0
Not Helpful Votes Count
0
First Review
11/05/2013
Last Review
05/18/2018

Reviews Map

Reviews

3.9
Advanced Filters
Overall Rating
Course Difficulty
First time playing this course
Recommended
Review has
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Good round.

It was Tuesday, so the course wasn't as crowded as it can be, especially on weekends. The staff is friendly and accommodating. Maybe too accommodating, since they often overcrowd the place and everything slows down to a crawl. But not on this Tuesday. The tee boxes and fairways were in terrific shape. The superintendent has made some improvements, adding some bunkers and cutting some trees and eliminating some of the unnecessary tall weeds along the edges. The layout is not too difficult. The greatest drawbacks at this point are the greens, which were aerated 3 weeks ago and still haven't recovered. Your putt may have a bumpy ride. The 19th hole, called In the Drink, now in its second year, is a huge improvement over its predecessor and its menu and food are very decent.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Average
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate

Virginia Beach National Golf Club

Played On 02/25/2017
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart

Fine course on a great February day

This is a Pete Dye course, pretty flat, lots of waste areas and water. To me, it's a lot of fun to play, even when I'm not playing well. I was playing pretty poorly this time; the winter rust had worked itself deep, but I had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect -- low 80's, sunny. The course was in fine shape, well tended, except for a few thin bunkers and a couple soggy fairways, but that's really good for February. This course has a nice clubhouse and good practice facilities as well. Electric carts.

Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging

Knoll East Country Club, The

Played On 07/24/2016
2.0
First Time Playing
Good weather
Used cart

A lack of attention here.

Knoll East is the public half of the Knoll Golf Club, a facility owned and operated by the Town of P:arsippany, I played the membership-based West course a couple of weeks ago, and it is superb.

The East course, not so much. The course is heavily booked, and our foursome teed off roughly 20 minutes after our scheduled time. The East course is wedged into a small plot of land, so the fairways are narrow and close to each other. Calls of "fore" are so frequent that the effect becomes comical. It's often difficult to tell the fairway from the rough. The greens are well-kept, but the bunkers are sometimes nearly devoid of sand (one off our foursome almost bent a club in the shallow sand) or, in at least four cases, have become home to some large aggressive wasps. There were limited water hazards, and those had mostly dried up.

As for amenities, other than a practice putting green and an outdoor awning that housed the snack facility, there wasn't much. If you can play West, I would recommend it, but not this one, I'm afraid.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Fair
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Moderate

Bowling Green Golf Club

Played On 06/24/2016
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

A well kept parkland course

Bowling Green is a course made for walking. It has very little in the way of elevation change, and yet it is varies in its layout and fun to play. It is well kept, framed by towering oaks and spruces. The rough is low and well-groomed. There are limited opportunities to lose a ball here, unless you hit into the water, which comes into play most prominently on 4, but also on 8, 10 and 12.

The restaurant/bar is great, very friendly, and so are the course personnel.

I've had two unusual experiences at Bowling Green. Last year, there was a black bear hanging out on the 17th fairway, and I had to play a shot about 50 years from him (her?). This most recent time, the wind was blowing hard as we started, and after hitting our first shots, a very large oak crashed down about 30 years in front of us. We all claimed free relief.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Moderate
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Good weather
Used cart

Decent course

Preakness Valley West is the longer of the two tracks at this location. It's mostly level and can be walked without too much difficulty. As other reviewers have mentioned, the challenge here is pretty much your ability to hit it straight; the layout doesn't offer a lot of gotchas.The greens are decent. They've made the rough more accessible over the last year or two.

As far as amenities, there is not much. You have to leave a $5 deposit fora golf cart, which is a little odd (you couldn't exactly drive off with one). The pricing is not great unless you are a Passaic County resident. Play it if you can get a good price; there are much better tracks nearby for $80 or $90.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Fair
Difficulty Moderate

Berkshire Valley Golf Course

Played On 10/05/2014
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

One of the Best Munis

The natural beauty of Berkshire Valley does not eclipse the quality of the course, but it's close. As other reviewers have mentioned, it is not a course which can be easily walked unless you are really looking for workout. The layout presents a number of challenges, including forced carries over water and waste areas, sprawling bunkers and some pretty good elevation changes. The greens were in fine shape. Overall, a very well planned and maintained course. A couple of caveats: most of the fairways are accomodating but if you don't hit it reasonably straight, you're going to lose some balls. Also, the snack bar is a snack bar (with a grill), quite limited. This is something Morris County should work on at all of its courses; it seems to be a pretty simple way in which the county could upgrade the golf experience even more.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
2.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

A good course gone to seed

I had not played Great Gorge before, and all I really knew about it was that it used to be a Playboy club resort and that it was owned by Crystal Springs. So I was shocked to see the ghost town hotel with grass growing in the parking lot and trees sprouting in the tennis courts. The course wasn't much better. Most of the greens were nicely kept, but the fairways were shaggy. The fescue rough was often 6 inches deep. The entire course is lined by a thick, ugly overgrown tangle of weeds. On some fairways these weeds are growing through boarded-up, abandoned houses. Water hazards are more ooze than liquid. The bunkers are shallow and hard-packed. The cart paths, once asphalt, have disintegrated to rubble and ruts in so many places that it was hazardous to obey the cart path/90 degree rules.
A shame really. The course looks like it may have once been fun, but it has suffered serious neglect, and current conditioning seemed haphazard at best. I couldn't decide if Crystal Springs had decided to let the place go, or if it is really early in an attempt to rescue it.

If you diecide to go, do not think about walking; elevation changes are over a hundred feet on at least 4 holes, and the distances from greens to tees are frequently formidable.

Conditions Fair
Value Poor
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Amenities Poor
Difficulty Moderate

The Architects Golf Club

Played On 08/29/2014
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing
Excellent weather
Used cart

A Delight to Play

As other reviewers have mentioned, this course looks and plays extremely well as a whole, even though the concept would seem to suggest that it might be disjointed. It is not. It is open and scenic and really quite beautiful. It is not an easy course, but it is fair. Not too much water. The bunkers are extensive, but well kept with good playable sand. The course is very well maintained. The day I was there the pace of play was quick without feeling rushed. Good practice facilites. The restaurant is new and attractive; the views from the bar and from the patio encompass several holes. Really nice, and although the greens fees are not inexpensive, they are not out of line, either.

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging

Hillendale Golf Course

Played On 08/10/2014
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Excellent weather
Used cart

A Casual Round

If you're looking for a PGA level challenge, Hillendale is probably not for you. Although not every hole is set up to be easy, many are. The pace of play is casual, but I have never been held up by the group ahead. On this occasion I played as a single, and 2 groups waved me through, which was nice. The front nine has several hilly holes (hence the name) which might make it difficult to walk; the back nine is mostly level. Course conditions are mostly pretty good. The gravel cart paths, where they exist, need some work. The practice facilites are very good. The clubhouse staff are very friendly, and everybody -- golfers and staff alike seems to have a good time.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Fairly Easy

Pinch Brook Golf Course

Played On 11/3/2013
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great greens, beautiful fall foliage.

Boyoboy, it was cold and windy (43 F by the tiime we finished), but the fall colors were bright and framed this Rees Jones course beautifully. Mallards on the ponds, a really pleasant setting, all in all. In general, the fairways are wide and well-trimmed. Water comes into play on a number of holes, much to my chagrin. The greens are immaculate -- but fast and undulating, and defended by some formidable bunkers.

i can imagine that this course could be crowded on a summer weekend,but it wasn't on this date. We arrived and were greeted by name (even though it was our first time here) and were set up and out immediately. We were told there were two holes empty in front of us but we might catch up to a foursome by hole 6. They never held us up. My son walked and I rode, due to a sore knee, but it's a perfect course for walking -- flat and short. Many par 3's; only two par 5's, and they aren't really long.

Our tee time was at 1:30 and I had neglected to take the fall-back hour into consideration, so we ran out of light before we finished. The course closed at 5PM but the ranger came to get us at 4:30 and told us (cordially) we had 15 minutes to get back to the clubhouse. So we took off, but we will be back.

Conditions Excellent
Value Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Difficulty Moderate
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