Mark-
From what I understand, Ross did redesign work there, to Van Etten's original course. It's on flattish terrain, about a mile from the ocean. Holes go in different directions, in contrast to Hollywood, where the majority of the holes run East-West, to take advantage of the prevailing seaside winds. At Deal, holes run predominantly N-S, so the player has a different strategy to take into consideration. Different shape of property as well--Hollywood is a long rectangular shape, Deal is a more square shape.
The tight routing at Deal reminds me a little bit of Ross at LuLu. I'm not sure where this falls in his timeline--for some odd reason, I think it's relatively early in his design career.
I read somewhere, perhaps in NJ Golf News, that Kelly Blake Moran is doing work there. Kelly, if you're reading this, can you add to the preceedings?