RTJ, Rulewich and Metedeconk

[J_Olsen]

Played Metedeconk last week. Hard to put into words how little I liked it. The craggy look of the bunkers was the only positive, but what somehow looks ok on a Gil Hanse course seemed contrived here. Also, is the lack of a ground option on any approach a remnant of the unfortunate 70s-80s era of course design? Whether one has 60 or 225, every shot has to fly in. Good grief. Anybody else play here recently?

[Matt_Ward]

J Olsen:

Did you play all three nines?

I personally believe the 9th hole on the 3rd Nine is one of the best long par-4's in NJ.

Was it just the lack of a "ground option" that caused you to believe the course is lacking? A bit more detail would be helpful for me to understand since I do like the course.

Thanks ...

[NAF]

J_Olson,

I have played Metedeconck 3 times now and I must say I like the course and the bunkering.  It does not look contrived at all and I think fits in well with the slightly rolling pine forest the course is built into. I don't know if it is the super or Rulewich had that in mind but I love the native grass growing out of them and the cragged look to the shaping.  I know one gentleman on this website who wishes Rulewich would have put that attention to detail over at Yale.  I like the 3rd nine best and the 1st and 9th holes on that nine are my favorite. I am also a fan of the 1st nine.  Overall, the course has very weak par 3s but a good mix of some very solid par 4s and 5s which utilize waste areas or water to make it difficult for the long hitters. Doak gave the course a 5, I rate it higher, a solid 6 depending on which nines you play..

[GeoffreyC]

This may come as a big surprise coming from me but

I really enjoyed Metedeconk a whole lot. The 2nd and 3rd nines were particularly good in my opinion.  

There are 6 outstanding par 5's on the 3 nines. These were the highlights of the course.  The par 3's were very repetitive.  The par 4's are strong but I believe there is only 1 short 4 within the 27 hole complex and it was the usual water infested dogleg hole but to a nice raised green complex with a pretty severe green.

Many of the greensites are raised and the aerial game is at a premium.  I've heard criticisms from Pat Mucci that too many fairways are canted against the turn of the hole but I frankly didn't see that as a problem (but it was wet out when I was there without much roll to the fairways).  Olympic club has similar terrain and I don't see people marking it down for that feature (I certainly don't).

Metedeconk used to be on the GW modern top 100 list and frankly I don't see why it fell off.

There- I had something nice to say about Roger Rulewich (for a change).  

[redanman]

Metedeconk is underappreciated in my opinion, too.