Is there something in the water in NJ that makes grown men with no golf architectural experience decide to devote years of labor, money, and passion to building golf courses?
With respect to Mr. Crump, his example has certainly inspired others. Just last week we talked here extensively about Ed Carman, who designed and built Running Deer over the course of 17 years.
There are others, of course. Developer Eric Bergstol build Pine Barrens GC a few years ago and it has been highly rated by most accounts.
Yet, of these recent examples, none begins to encompass the scale of effort and vision that Archie Struthers created outside Atlantic City at a course called Twisted Dune.
Described as a labor of love, it is staggering in the immensity of earthmoving and finely detailed playing areas. According to Matt Ward in "The Jersey Golfer" OVER 2 MILLION cubic yards of soil (sand actually, and thankfully) were moved to create Struther's paean to golf in the old country.
Visually, one cannot help but compare Twisted Dune to Whistling Straits. The 30 to 50 foot dunes that are EVERYWHERE provide a very similar look, as do the numerous wild bunkers and other sandy areas. Comparatively, I think Twisted Dune's look more authentic and less manufactured, simply because they tend to be more rounded, less patterned, and more raggedly irregular than the "volcanos" at WS.
Fescues have been planted on the dunes, and while the look is appropriatedly wild, one wonders if their thick growth won't become a maintenance nightmare over time. Let's just say that this stuff is growing both long and thick, making it difficult to find, much less play wayward balls that enter it.
However, given the windy, open site (there are perhaps 2 trees on the course 
), the playing areas are appropriately WIDE, although my playing partner and I did manage to find the thick stuff a couple of times each. And, in another enjoyable departure from the very severe, all or nothing green surrounds on many of the holes at WS, the surrounds at TD permit some degree of recovery on most holes, albeit from all sorts of "twisted" lies, undulations, and embankments. With the type of regular wind both sites get, I found TD more in the spirit of the type of green surrounds one would find in Scotland or Ireland than what Dye created at WS.
Ok...enough of comparing the two, because Twisted Dune is reason for discussion on its own considerable merits.
Let me also say that I'm not inherently a big fan of either faux Scottish golf, nor of large earthmoving projects. However, the work done at Twisted Dune is so comprehensive that the illusion is maintained throughout. It's almost impossible to believe that this was flat farmland bordering what looks to be a sand quarry. Care was even taken to build dunes along the perimeters of the course so as not to distract from the experience. The detail work is remarkable, and the entire project was blessed with the fact that the course is built on native sand.
It's tough to get past the incredible moon-scaped look of the place, but one finds themselves equally impressed with the quality of the golf holes.
The routing is fairly simple, and perhaps too many holes run parallel (but, I'd defy anyone to notice that without a map). However, because each hole is singularly encapsulated in dunes, one almost never sees adjacent holes.
The course starts straightforward enough, with two mid-length par fours, and then a beautiful long par three (up to 235) where a pair of forshortened guardian bunkers stand sentinel depending on wind direction.
The 4th is an exceptional, long par five, playing uphill and bending right around a monstrous fairway bunker. The second shot must challenge and carry two bunkers set mid-fairway in a ridge to get the preferred angle for the third, or leave a semi-blind third otherwise.
5 is a short par four, running downhill, where it is all too possible (don't ask how I know!) to overcook the preferred draw from the tee and end up on the wrong side of a 40 foot dune on the left. Even an accurate drive leaves a pitch to a green that rises up for the first third, and then falls steeply to the back.
The rest of the front nine is solid, if not spectacular beyond the look. Then comes the 10th, which is one of the best par fives I've seen. It is effectively a cape hole, requiring a carry past water, and sandy waste, with the hole turning to the left, and then back to the right slightly for the last 130 yards. There is plenty of room to bail out to the right, but that leaves a completely blind second over a series of dunes, or an awkward angle to play back left. If one carries the angle on a bold drive, the fairway has a "turbo boost" on the left, which can carry aggressive drives within reach of the green for the second shot.
In the interest of typing and time, I'll simply add that the rest of the back nine continues this level of excitment and quality. One excellent hole after another provides incredibly fun golfing challenge and strategic enjoyment. As others add their comments, I'll probably weigh in later to describe other holes in fuller detail.
I also should mention something else to this group of traditionalists. The course is meant to play firm and fast, walking is ENCOURAGED, caddies are available, there is no "signage", cart girl, yardage book, or other distracting modern accoutrements. Instead, there is simple golf and really, really good golf.
There has been a lot of talk on here recently about ranking and ratings and I had to think a lot about where I'd rate Twisted Dune on the "Doak Scale".
This morning, I read Tom Doak's description of a "7", which essentially said that one would recommend anyone within 100 miles to play there due to sound design, solid maintenance, and architectural value.
That sounds about right to me.