Vineyard GC at Renault Winery (Shearon) in Egg Harbor City, NJ

[Steve_ Shaffer]

While there have been many references here about Vineyard GC at Renault Winery in Egg Harbor City, NJ, there has not been a thread devoted to the course, at least that I could find. Designed by local golf architect Ed Shearon ( www.shearondesign.com ) whose portfolio includes new designs at Riverwinds GC in West Deptford, NJ and Ravens Claw GC in Pottstown, PA and renovation work at Whitemarsh Valley CC in Lafayette Hills, PA and Sandy Run CC in Flourtown, PA, Vineyard opened in late 2004.

I played there for the first time recently and was impressed. The course is built on the sandy soil outside of the Atlantic City area on land previously used as part of the vineyards for the Renault Winery. There is a small resort adjacent to the course with an upscale restaurant.  A small pro shop services the public golfers.

Here's the architect talking about the project:

http://www.shearondesign.com/expertise/golf/gallery/vineyard-golf-at-renault-winery/

Here is the course information:

Black  7213y 75.3/132

Blue    6746y 72.5/128

White 6358y 70.2/123

Holes of Note

1.       The course starts with a par4 double fairway with a center line bunker (“Cyclops”) that immediately gets your attention and, as it turned out, was a harbinger of things to come.

2.       Another par4, this hole features an “eyebrow” bunker short of the semi Punchbowl green.

3.       A shorter par3 with a “beach” bunker.

5.       Another par3 with a highly contoured green.

6.       A par5 with a forced carry off the tee over large diagonal bunkers and with vineyards to the right of the green.

7.       A dogleg right to left par4 with tees in the vineyards.

8.       A short risk reward par4 with a long centerline “muscle” bunker.

9.       A par4 with diagonal bunkers on the right side of the fairway and a “mirage” bunker about 40y short of the green.


11.   The number one handicap hole- an uphill par4 with a left to right sloping fairway and an “amphitheater” green.

13.    A longer par3 with a “beach” bunker.

15.     A par5 with an almost “Biarritz” green.

17.     A short par4 with a sloping left to right green.

18.    A double dogleg par5 with water to right of the green that discourages long hitters from reaching in two.

Since Vineyard must be one of the few local courses not found in the Bausch Collection, you can take a virtual tour here:
http://www.vineyardgolfatrenault.com/#!vstc8=virtual-tour/vstc13=1

All in all, if the greens were all like the par3 5th, this course would be much more difficult. As it is, Vineyard presents a good challenge for the public golfer at reasonable rates.I paid $55 on the Wednesday Senior(60+) Day. The course was in good condition considering the warm and humid weather in the area during the past two months. The greens were a little soft but had some speed. The fairways were firm and somewhat fast.

www.vineyardgolfatrenault.com

[astavrides]

i like it too.

[Joe Bausch]

I need to get down there. 

Maybe in the winter 2012 Executive Course Trail we can add this place and play from the forward tees.   

[Mike Sweeney]

I need to get down there. 

Maybe in the winter 2012 Executive Course Trail we can add this place and play from the forward tees.   

I played it once in February and it was in great playing condition. Very under-rated course. Played it this past March and did one of their wine tasting dinners the night before and it was very fun.

One hole on the back has a awkward dog leg but other than that hole, it is 17 holes of very solid if not spectacular golf.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

All-

  It is worth the drive.  Very good restaurant located right there.  I wasn't expecting a lot when I played there a few years ago, but was very pleasantly surprised.  Shearon routes the course well-it is South Jersey, so you're not going to get big elevation changes, but you work up, down, and across two or three smaller ridges on the course, and play more or less around, and sometimes in, the vineyards. 

Hard to put my finger on it, but it just works-it's just enough--some 'modern' courses we play by a Most Favored Nation architect here, I am often left with the feeling that we got the kitchen sink thrown at us as far as features, etc.  This is pretty understated as far as that, but there are a lot of subtleties going on. 

There are a lot of great risk/reward options on many of the holes; bunkers I felt were well placed and actually strategic rather than cosmetic.  There's an easy way to play every hole, which I think works really well here-the less skilled player can actually take the longer way to play holes, but still have a fighting chance.  I don't recall many, if any, forced carries without a second way to get around the trouble. 

I like that the par threes are different looks at each hole-different clubs, different shots-the par fives are mostly reachable and good examples of risk/reward, especially 18--some of the par fours feel a little shortish, but not a deal breaker.  You should have a good time playing this course, which is the intent of the architect. 

[Steve_ Shaffer]

http://www.atlanticcityweekly.com/arts-and-entertainment/golf/vineyard_golf_at_renault-50745332.html

[John Foley]

Really liked Renault as compared to many of the Atlantic City courses. It's got strategy, but it does not beat you over the head with difficulty. Great option when in the area.

[David Cronheim]

I played there a few years ago, just after it opened. I thought it was an interesting course, though it needed to settle and grow in a little when I visited. There are some interesting holes as I remember, but my opinion of the place was biased by the very out of place tuscan hotel next to it and by the fact that the wine is...well...tuscany it is not. Overall though, worth a trip, but not the equal of some of the other courses in that region. On the public side, for example, I much prefer Shoregate.