Trump National in Colts Neck, formerly Shadow Isle (w/ pics)

[Bill Brightly]

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...





 

[Matt_Ward]

Bill:

The former Shadow Isle is a slightly better than average course -- if you think it's worthy of a PGA Tour site then you and I are miles apart.

If they wanted to find a more likely candidate in Colts Neck head over to Due Process of even Hominy Hill.

Shadow Isle / Trump National in Colts Neck will be a fine venue for the NJ Sr AM.

Good luck ...

[Mark McKeever]

Thanks for thie pictures Bill.  The course has a lot of Donald Ross'ish features it seems like from the pictures.  Not to mention some nice real estate surrounding it.

Best of luck during the tourney,

Mark

[Ian Larson]

The super is Tyler Otero who I grew up with in Lewistown, Pa.. Young guy from Penn State and started at Bedminster. I don't think much reconstruction happened there so I'm not sure why Faz is attached. The only thing I've seen from Tyler was the construction of the horrendous, perfectly oval shaped island green in the pond in front of the clubhouse. Appearantly it was Trumps idea, shocker, to build it as a betting green.

[Bill Brightly]

Ian

Yeah, I saw that green as i approached the first tee...at first I was nervous that it was part of the course and I could see all hope of my Monday score being good enough to make it until Tuesday going into that pond! But you are right, it is a 19th hole betting green that you pass on the way back to the clubhouse from 18.

Your friend Tyler knows what he is doing as a Super...

Oh, that reminds me of something that really caught my attention:  I was playing as a single in a cart at 10 AM, first practice round of the day with no one in front or behind me. I just wanted to see the course and didn't care if any maintainance trucks made noise in my backswing, etc. But EVERY single worker stopped while I played. On the 3rd hole I took a few minutes putting on different spots on the green. I noticed that there were two guys back on the tee, seemingly watching me (and I thought I was gonna get yelled at for practicing on the course...) Only after I left the green did they move and then I realized that they were workers who were trained NOT to move until I was done putting! I felt SO guilty... Say what you will about Donald, but anyone playing at his course will get first class treatment...

[David_Tepper]

I grew up at the Jersey Shore in the 1950's & 60's. I did not realize Route 537 west of Tinton Falls out past Colts Neck had become such a hot bed of golf! I remember Hominy Hills, but now there are 4 more courses in a stretch of less than 20 miles. Are all those courses going to be able to survive?

[Matt_Ward]

David:

The short answer is yes !

Monmouth County has flourished as the place to be in NJ - the golf dimension is quite varied with private and public offerings. Hominy Hill has a completely different set of clinetele than Due Process which is right down the street.

Golf may be suffering in plenty of places but not in Monmouth County.

[David_Tepper]

Matt -

Do you know the current status of Old Orchard in Eatontown? It was close to being closed for development but I think the economic downtown put those plans on the back burner.

DT

[Matt_Ward]

David:

Old Orchard is still operating. The fate of the course is helped by a flourishing Monmouth raceway which, as you know, is right down the street.

Like I said -- Monmouth and Ocean County in NJ are doing very well because of their offerings -- golf being one of them.

You should come back and see what is happening now -- especially in places like Colts Neck.

[Dan Herrmann]

Matt,
Off topic - where DO those folks that live in Monmouth County work?   The McMansions out that way are HUGE, so there seems to be a lot of $$$, but they're so far from NY or PHL.

[Matt_Ward]

Dan:

We can thank Jersey's generous pension system -- you will find plenty of former teachers, cops and firemen living in the area.

On the more serious side -- mass transit and such road as 195 allow residents in Monmouth especially to access either NYC or Phillie.

The Monmouth development -- along with Ocean -- is what really took off in the last 20-30 years.

If one wanted a solid golf county to play - both private AND public -- Monmouth would be hard to beat.

[Mike Sweeney]

Matt,
Off topic - where DO those folks that live in Monmouth County work?   The McMansions out that way are HUGE, so there seems to be a lot of $$$, but they're so far from NY or PHL.

Dan,

If you work in downtown Manhattan, you can probably get to Atlantic Highlands, NJ on the ferry faster than you can get to Columbia University on the Upper West Side via the subway. Not really, but you get the point. A number of people commute everyday from the Jersey Shore and during the summer that number grows.

Thanks Bill for posting the pictures.

[George Freeman]

I heard somewhere that this is the best course IN THE WORLD!!

Sorry, couldn't resist...

[Matt_Ward]

If I'm not mistaken Colts Neck has the following courses ...

Due Process
Trump National in Colts Neck (formerly Shadow Isle)
Pebble Creek
Hominy Hill
Colts Neck GC

Monmouth County also has a very good stable of county-owned facilities with the likes of Howell Park, Shark River and the 36-hole complex at Charleston Springs.

[Brad LeClair]

Matt,

Are you saying Hominy Hill is better than Colt's Neck in your opinion?  Curious to know why.  Just looking at the pics as posted vs. the Hominy Hill website it looks like Trump is the better layout.  My opinion is uninformed, as I've never played either.  I've never seen or played Due Process.

Brad

[Richard Hetzel]

Bill,

Great pics of a nice course. Good Luck! If I was there I would caddy for you!

[mike_malone]

 I'm thinking of the word "modesty" as I look at those pictures. It seems that the architect was more interested in building a solid golf course than attracting attention to his signature. That I like. I wonder if they will "trump it up".

[Matt_Ward]

Brad:

I like Hominy Hill as the #2 course in Colts Neck, NJ.

Due Process has the slight edge.

HH gets little love although RTJ did a fine job with the design. Keep in mind, HH was originally a private club owned by Henry Mercer.

Mike:

your description is a good one. however, sometimes less items on a course means a lesser course.

[Brad LeClair]

what is the rationale?

[Andy Hughes]

Bill, thanks for the pics.

Good luck next week!

[Matt_Ward]

Brad:

The combination of holes and the intensity of the challenges is more consistent at HH than at Shadow Isle -- now Trump's place. I see HH as no less than five (5) on the Doak scale. Shadow Isle -- TN at Colts Neck -- is slightly above average in my mind. Great conditioning can influence people to elevate it higher -- good make-up jobs can do such things.

[Patrick_Mucci]

.

[Bill Brightly]

Well, I guess I need to report in to my GCA friends...

After a solid front 9 where I was plus 2 (including missing an 18 incher...) I held things together on the back 9, grinding out a few  pars, came to 14 and a front right pin, missed the green short by two feet. The ball rolled all the way down the slope and I putted, leaving it one foot short of the green. At which point I went brain dead and marked the ball (that's what you do after you putt, right?) and thus concluded my first ever Senior Moment on the golf course, incurred a one shot penalty, and missed the cut by one, naturally

[Dan Herrmann]

Hi - did this course once have statues of horses on a couple of fairways?  I was in the area last year visiting a relative that was in rehab in the area.  We drove down to some some place called Delicious Orchards (what a name!) and there was this golf course with big horse statues along a couple of the fairways. 

Got a chuckle out of me

[Bill Brightly]

Dan,

Must be, you make the first right afte Delicious Orchards to access the club. I did not notice any horse statues, however.