Matt,
Just saw this hanging curve ball and knew you meant for me to take a swing!
Alhtough we've had this discussion before, I'll go right on the record and declare Somerset Hills EASILY the number 3 NJ course. Why? Because hole for hole, all the others mentioned lack a fraction of the variety of the SH terrain, strategy, routing and architecture. Essentially SH has two vastly different nines.
The outgoing is as close to an inland links style layout as one can find in the Garden State. It feels silghtly similar to Garden City, but shines on its own merit. Early on, the course gives you a taste of how it taunts and teases by deceptively sloping the first green away from the fairway, rejecting the outright skyball and instead looking for a wise-man's play of bouncing it into the front left side of the green to get anywhere near a front, middle or either-side pin. #2 is quite simply one of the most elegant and best-exampled Redan's in existence today! #3 is a straight-forward hole with a very "Raynoresque" elevated green that posesses multiple and subtle humps and rolls.
Four is undenialbly a strong four par. During last year's Met. Am, the area's best could do average no better than 4.6 over 4 days. The green is slick and severly canted back to front and canted left to right a slight bit. Five is marvelous short four par that gives the player two seperate shot decisions;1) Drive it long up the left and look for a SW into a small green with a "dead elephant" in its right corner; or 2) lay up with an iron/3W and look to make par or worse. (Does Baltusrol have a hole like this?) Six is a bending, but short 5 par that has a few interesting features(the racetrack trough), but does fall short of challenging some of the state's better 5's. Seven is an all-world befuddling four par that gives a long driver (again the better am's failed to get near par ,on average,) fits with a narrowing and canted landing area that chokes the fairway. The second shot is equally interesting, as the green slants hard right-to-left and back-to-front. Baltusrol Lower's greens don't present these types of issues nearly as frequently!
Eight is a strong and long (221 uphill) three-par that has a subtle, but nasty green shouldered by humps and hazards. Nine, the other five par on the front, is not a great hole, but presents its own challenges with a sahara-style driving bunker and small, well-protected green.
The back is sheer Tillinghast parkland with features that totally differentiate it from other Tilly classics. 10, like SH's other five pars is again not a tough or long hole and IMHO should be permanently made a long four. 11 is regularly recognized (even by Matt, et.al.) as one of the BEST four's around. It's emphasis on a well-placed tee shot and a TESTING approach to another canted, elevated, slanted and multi-tiered green...TOUGH. 12 is simply a marvelous short and cagey one shotter over the pond with another sublte, but canted green. Where else in NJ does this variety exist?
13 and 14 with their blind tee shots and a marvelous biarritz green aren't long, but are testy. 15 is often considered another "signature" hole with its sloping blind tee shot and well protected, humped and bumped green. 16 is another wonderful medium length three with very difficultly slanted and slick green.
17 is not a great hole...it is short and mostly feels squuezed in. 18 is likewise short, but has one of the more complicated green complexes on the course. It is not the greatest finishing holes, but it does make any match that comes down to the wire play their best to walk away with a win.
Bottom line: Baltusrol Lower and Metedeconk are undenialbly longer and resultingly, tougher course to score on. Forsgate, Mountain Ridge, Essex, Montclair & Ridgewood are all wonderful courses with some great features. Baltusrol Upper and Hollywood are perhaps the only courses that hole-for-hole gives SH a run for its variety, style and unique playability. Forsgate has some of this, but many holes lack the elevation and greens complexity (and subtlety) that define SH and make it so unique, and great fun to play!
It owns the 3rd place slot for exactly those reasons. If length is final determinator then, of course, SH might fall lower. But as we here at GCA adore the NGLA's, the Fisher Island's, the Merions, CPC, et. al. then we must give SH its due and accord it the recognition that comes with great architecture, style and playability.....categories sorely missing at Baltusrol Lower.
It is a natural par 70 and it's fives definitely lack some of the "meat and muscle" that Matt and Jaimie may like, but nearly every other hole tests every good player with ANY club in their hand. Any player hitting 9 irons into the fives (other than going down the first fairway to approach the 9th) is more freak than the norm!
I'm done!