Atlantic City, a golf destination ?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Is the greater Atlantic City area becoming a hotbed of good golf courses, private and public ?

Is it an area void of bad golf courses ?

How would you rank the golf courses in this greater area ?

[Jason Mandel]

Let me just say this, it is not becoming Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head, but for many of us that spend our weekends down there it is certainly a good place to play.

On the private side there is Hidden Creek, Galloway, Ballamor, Linwood, Stone Harbour(an adventure in itself), and at least a few others.  Of those, Hidden Creek has been discussed enough on this site, and i haven't played it yet but am drooling to.    Galloway is supposed to be awesome, very difficult but awesome, hoping to play there within the next month.

I have played Ballamor, and let me tell you, i like it more and more each time I play it.  Ault and Clark designed it with one of their associates doing the the majority of the work.  There are some really good thinking holes on this course.  

On the public side you have Blue Heron East and West, Twisted Dunes, Brigatine Links, Sand Barrons, McCulloughs Links, Harbor Pines, and others, all good courses.  

If you are a semi-big gambler theres a good chacne you can get on to Atlantic City CC, a Tilly redisigned by Tom Doak.  

It does get crowded, and a little expensive in the summer, but it does indeed have its fair share of courses.

[Rob_Waldron]

The Atlantic City / South Jersey Shore area has become a hotbed for new course construction the past few years. On the private side Galloway is very good. Fazio created some extremely challenging greens complexes.  The course makes very good use of the natural environment. If you can find a way to get on Atlantic City CC do it! The renovations are wonderful. Unfortunately the great atmosphere is long gone. The clubhouse has become a tribute to the traditions of the past. It is a shame that access is limited to "high rollers" who have little or no appreciation for the tradition.

I have played several excellent daily fee courses in the area including Blue Heron Pines (I prefer the Smyers course to the Kay course) Twisted Dunes, and Shore Gate. Twisted Dunes is a tribute to the D-9. What was once a flat abandoned wasteland has been transformed into a golfing paradise reminiscent of the heathland courses of Scotland.

Shore Gate has an outstanding routing however the condition of the greens maes them virtually unputtable. If the greens issues can get  resolved, this will easily be one of the premier courses in South Jersey.
   

[Tim_Weiman]

Pat Mucci:

I'd be happy just to go back and photograph #12 at Atlantic City CC sometime when there are semi drought conditions.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Don't forget the Ross course, the (former?) Marriott Seaview (Bay) course, whatever the name is now.

Also the pretty good Greate Bay course, former home of an LPGA event and recently turned private.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tim Weiman,

Why # 12 ?

[Tim_Weiman]

Pat Mucci:

When I played the course last September, Atlantic City had been without much rain for quite a while. I thought it gave the course a very good "look", especially on the par 3, #12. If I can be permitted to say this on the basis of photographs rather than a personal visit, #12 had a kind of Melbourne like look, as if Tom Doak had created something a la Kingston Health.

I really enjoyed the golf course, but do regret not having a camera with me. If I did I might have shot an entire roll on just #12.

FYI, golf photographer Larry Lambrecht was kind enough to send me a picture of this hole when everything was real green. Honestly, it didn't compare to what I saw first hand when playing Atlantic City. That is through no fault of Larry, but the course conditions - especially the color - was just so different and more favorable during my visit.

I do like to take pictures of courses I'm not likely to play very often and really regret missing the opportunity on #12 at Atlantic City last year.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tim Weiman,

We've had a good bit of rain for some time, so perhaps you'll have to wait until next year to get rid of the green.

Scott Burroughs,

The Pines Course, rather then the Bay course was deemed to be the better of the two.  Unfortunately, when Marriott took over, they destroyed some of the holes/features on the golf course for building expansion, so it's not quite the same, but, still an outstanding golf course.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Pat,

I originally had the Pines as the right course, but
golfcourse.com had the Bay as it, so it was wrong and that's
not the first time, either.

[Dan Herrmann]

I think AC's biggest problem is the lack of affordable quality lodging.  Everything is overpriced for the big gamblers.  Plus, we absolutely hate the sleaze that is AC.

That said, I do think Twisted Dunes is a lot of fun (and very interesting from an architectural perspective).  My wife called Twisted Dunes "Bandonesque without the ocean".  No - she wasn't saying that it's anywhere near as good as The Bandons.  What she meant is that some of the holes had a similar feel (granted, it's totally manufactured) as The Bandons at a fraction of the cost in terms of travel and greens fees (yep - some of us are on a budget    )

Sand Barrens down in Cape May county has some good holes, but is frequently quite crowded.

It's a little drive from AC, but I think that Pine Barrens up off I-195 is a very good course built on sand.  Nope - it's NOT Pine Valley (what is?), but it's well worth checking out.

[Matt_Ward]

Just a short post for now -- Pat for too long the casinos had no interest in promoting golf through their marketing and advertising departments. That has changed but more can be done. Compared to Vegas the AC operation is really Little League stuff.

Last thing -- the AC airport isn't really the super 21st century alternative that will also bring people to the AC area.

Sad to say but much of the emphasis is in getting folks from the DC, Baltimore, Phillie, Northern NJ and NYC areas to the vicinity.

The casinos need to really see the merits of being involved with golf. That has happened with Park Place through its' involvement with Atlantic City CC, but more can be done to spread the word on the quality golf that does exist as redanman has already mentioned.

P.S. For those who love TF his design at Galloway National is indeed a special place. Just wear a EPA uniform when playing in the summer.

[Patrick_Mucci]

DanHerrmann,

I stayed at the Borgata the other night and didn't notice anymore sleeze then one would encounter on an airplane.

Maybe they had all gone to bed, or hadn't gotten up yet  
Or perhaps my 11:00 pm lights off, and 6:00 am lights on schedule bypassed them.

I will admit that I think they are more attracted to the freebees at the casino then those fabulous meals served by the airlines.

But, there must be other places to stay that are within 30 minutes of these golf courses.  The golf courses are worth the trip.

[Mike Worth]

Matt Ward.  

Not sure how you feel, but I'm not sure what has been achieved by Park Place's takeover of ACCC?  I don't think very much has been accomplished in terms of casino's marketing golf in the area.  

[Patrick_Mucci]

SS1,

What has been achieved is that Bally's can offer their select clients....GOLF, on a very good golf course, without crowded conditions, amongst other amenities.

It was never Bally's vision to market golf as THE lure.

The golf course is another amenity or service that other casinos will have difficulty duplicating.  Hence, to golfing customers, Bally's could be considered as able to offer more.

[Matt_Ward]

SS1:

From the sources I have there have been number of hi-rollers and big time VIP's that have played the newly restored Atlantic City County Club in Northfield. Pat is quite correct on how the golf course fits into their total "branding" efforts. Anyone thinking that ACCC would operate as the Fraser family ran it for many, many years is obviously going to feel differently.

Look, I don't doubt that ACCC is only a small part of the larger issue but Atlantic City is still thinking small. The cumulative golf courses in the area certainly offer a good mixture of public and private but if you look at what neighboring areas like Ocean City, MD and even Cape Cod to for promoting themselves it dwarfs the AC approach IMHO. That doesn't even begin to come close to what you see is done in promoting Myrtle Beach, the Alabama golf trail or the king of all promotion places Vegas.

Atlantic City has no grand master plan that ties the golf courses together. Yes, there has been a Greater Atlantic City Golf Association but until you have a cracker-jack promotion plan backed by some serious $$ you will continue to have Atlantic City serve as a day-trip or a limited weekend getaway IMHO.

The casinos need to understand that playing golf adds to happy campers when they visit and will mean a greater return for their investment in linking up to the golf experience. Even the Vegas area showed a great deal of inertia to this approach until the last 10 years or so. We shall see.