Old York Country Club in NJ

[Rick Sides]

Has anyone played Old York Country Club in Chesterfield NJ?  It's a Gary Player design.  It had some neat short par 4's and a couple good par 3's. 

[Tommy Williamsen]

I played it the year it opened (199?)  I remember that it was a very very tight driving golf course.  The owner was extremely proud of the course and must have driven out to talk to me a half dozen times.  My wife made the first hole-in-one on the golf course.  It was her first one as well.  It seems to me it was 11 or 12.  I thought the course was a little to penal.  My guess is they have widened the fairways by now.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

I think new owners- RDC Golf Group- have acquired the course or now manage it and it's now known as Old York CC at Chesterfield:


http://www.oldyorkcc.com


I haven't played there but I've heard that it is a difficult course,at least when the fescue is up.

[Matt_Ward]

Interesting thing but when Ed and Corine Eget owned the course the wild grasses were really something to see. The opening hole in its original form reminded me of Prairie Dunes -- just seeing where the fairway was located was a real challenge.

Maybe some can opine on how the course is now.

I always liked the front side better. The back is more wooded and often times fairly conventional in its appearance.

[archie_struthers]

 

I'm a big fan of Gary Player  as a golfer but not his architecture.  Often the angles of the holes he designs seem too acute ...real radical doglegs , some weird lay up yardages for tee shots etc etc....perhaps he doesn't get good sites  ....but I'm waiting to see a really good one

[Tim Martin]

I'm a big fan of Gary Player  as a golfer but not his architecture.  Often the angles of the holes he designs seem too acute ...real radical doglegs , some weird lay up yardages for tee shots etc etc....perhaps he doesn't get good sites  ....but I'm waiting to see a really good one

There is a Gary Player design at Lyman Orchards in Middlefield Connecticut. I agree with Archie, weird layout with almost nothing out in front of you. Holes are up, down and around with very sharp angles and green sites that don`t fit with the surrounds. Some of the holes feel shoved in despite an abundance of land. In very stark contrast to its sister course, a 1960`s RTJ.

[Matt_Ward]

Archie:

Have you played Olde York ?

If so -- can you provide specifics to the concerns you outlined initially ?

[archie_struthers]

 

No Matt I just take pot shots for no reason... lol

Played there a couple times at least , once in the team matches ...first time the fescue was up and it played hard ...I remembe winning the first hole when my opponent stiriped it down the middle into a small patch of high rough that was obviously by design. His lie was unplayable

Also remember tee shots on  10, and either 11 or 12 were real sharp doglegs ...crazy angles , perhaps you could drive the tenth green but the risk seemed to outweight the reward  unless you were super long and incredibly accurate ...can't remember all the holes but I did appreciate the Egets pound of flesh and hard work trying to make it good....

Don't particularly like Jasna either   how about you

[Matt_Ward]

Archie:

I ask because people may be speaking about other courses rather than the one being discussed here. It has happened.

I liked the course when it played the way it did originally.

The need to know your target lines was more demanding and required a good bit more mental discipline to avoid being distracted by all the other stuff you had to overcome. I don't remember there being rough in the middle of the fairway -- the sides of the fairway had a good bit of the fescue stuff and when played from the tips was tough to see the landing zone clearly.

The issue for me was that the back side featured fairly benign land which was overly dressed up by the design team.

In regards to Jasna Polana it's crammed into the site and while it has a few holes of note it's clearly been bulldozed to death and it appears completely ill-suited to what the property provides.

[archie_struthers]

 

Matt ,  just  having some fun ....the first Player course for me was the Bay Club in Ocean City MD...though fairly short and easy it was fun and I enjoyed it.

Jasna Polana was really crammed in...without elevation or layers  (Merion...Bayonne) its hard to design on a small piece of ground. Jasna is stifling tight and some of the holes at Old York were abrupt , truncated doglegs , where a snap hook worked

Tim had the same impression ....ninety degree doglegs are seldom compelling golf holes , yet Player is fond of them.  Olde York played hard when the fescue was up , There definitely was something weird going on in the middle of the first fairway...and I like quirk

[Matt_Ward]

Thanks ... what made OY interesting originally was that it played very firm and fast because the turf had not settled yet and they did not water as much then.

Now, the place is too soft and the features originally there were either softened or eliminated.

Agree w you on the 10th hole -- not a fan of the quick snap hook holes. But I did like the par-4 9th -- with the split fairway -- you can stay either short of the trouble or take the drive over it for a shorter flip shot to the green. Quite an interesting hole.

[Tags:]

Tags: