The New Jersey Senior Am will be played here next week. I played my practice round yesterday and took some pictures. First of all, I must say that I really liked this course. It opened as Shadow Isle and then ran into financial difficulties. Donald Trump bought it two years ago. It was designed by Jerry Pate, but the yardage book says Pate with Tom Fazio, so perhaps Fazio did some work after the purchase?
Anyway, having never seen the course before I must say that I was really impressed with the quality of the course construction and the conditioning is superb. (Congrats to the superintendent, amazing how he has kept the course in this kind of shape given the extreme weather conditions this summer.). There are virtually no trees that come into play, which I really liked. The bunkering is good with a nice variety, but I think so much more could have been done with a few center line hazards off the tee. The course has great width, a few center line bunkers would really make it special, IMO. The greens are big with a decent amount of movement, run very fast and true. I love the fescue look although it rarely comes into play unless you spray it badly.
The biggest negative, as you will see, is the fact that the course is surrounded by many big houses, some REALLY big...but I guess building homes around the course is one way to make it financially viable. Hopefully the homes will become less visible as trees grow in over time.
All in all, I think it is a great place to hold tournaments of all types, perhaps even a PGA stop. Enjoy the photos of a course not many have seen:
Hole 1
Hole 2, Par 5
Hole 3, Par 3
Hole 4, short par 4
Hole 5, Long dogleg left, 432-460
Hole 6 dogleg left over water 406-441 par 4
Hole 7, par 5
Hole 8 long par 3
Hole 9
Hole 10 approach
Hole 11, short par 3. Raynor inspired???
#12 approach
Hole 13, par 5 tee shot
second shot
Hole 14 second shot. (Interesting, what do you think of this look after a really good drive? )
Hole 15, long par 3 (one of two holes where you even think about trees.)
Hole 16, the other hole where you think about a tree, lone tree on right...
approach
Hole 17 tee shot
approach
Hole 18 from fairway
Well, it is Donald's course...