6,664 yards, 146 slope from the Member tees, Tournament Course (First and Third)
Robert Trent Jones had his office and home about an hour away from here. While his work can be found far and wide, there’s a good concentration of his courses spread through North and Central New Jersey, touched at various points in his career, providing an arc of sorts. While his revision work on classic courses has been disappearing, there is an effort to maintain his original designs. Regardless of the prevailing current perception, RTJ is an important figure in course design history and we don’t get where we are today without him. Also consider RTJ was certainly capable of building some pretty good golf. An important architect in RTJ’s firm was Roger Rulewich. Ballyowen in North Jersey is a sole design of his and a lot of RTJ’s later work, including pretty much all of the RTJ trail, was the result of Rulewich’s contributions. Like RTJ, Rulewich was certainly capable of building some pretty good golf himself.
Metedeconk was designed during the twilight of RTJ’s career, in his backyard so to speak. There are some who will promote a course as being, “the last” or “one of the last” designs of this famous architect or that one, but I find that highlighting rather morbid. It’s historically relevant to place the course within the architect’s career span and his or her design evolution and that is why it is mentioned here. RTJ’s involvement here was significant based on its location and who was involved with its development, yet Rulewich was significantly involved as well. The charge was an aspirational one; incorporate the beauty of the setting into a championship level course that would attract a higher level national membership clientele. The charge was met, with the course designed and built, opening in 1987.
Design trends were certainly different forty years ago than they are today yet I remain adamant that should not mean anything from this era should be summarily dismissed. Within this era and style, there were courses that were able to distinguish themselves with variety and interest. There was an emphasis on aesthetics and beauty, albeit most of it did not associate itself with structure of play and in some cases, it masked some droll layouts. Difficulty was another anchor emphasis, so deeply entrenched into our collective sense of golf it remains today. Back then, it was tenfold. A course was almost solely judged by how much it would torture the golfer throughout the round and if it was capable of hosting the U.S. Open if the players arrived at a moment’s notice and could not break par.
Some courses lost their way within this rubric. Indeed, many jumped the shark and design trends shifted, or rather changed dramatically, to where we are today as a result. Yet some courses. Some courses, dare I say, actually made for good golf. The challenge a bit more subdued, or even varied and thought provoking to some degree. Instead of narrow, tree lined fairways and heroic forced carries to tiny, pitched greens, there was width, options to use the terrain to the golfer’s advantage and greens that held interest. A few, or even more than a few, bad apples can’t spoil the whole tree.
Rulewich returned in 1998 to design a third set of nine holes. The “Tournament” course is this third set of nine holes along with this first set, the “Original” is the first and second set of nines. I don’t know what the second and third set together are called, if anything.
Metedeconk is a bastion of modern golf. Remaining true to its RTJ design, it just underwent some work embracing this style. The course plays as long as you’d like as it winds through the hills of woods, ponds and marsh. Yes, there are forced carries but there are also a good amount of below grade greens and wide mouthed entry points to greens. There are some options off the tee. The greens were fast yet fun. There were angles and contours to contemplate. There was some width, some narrowness too. And yes, it was challenging, regardless if one shows up with their top game or not. The practice area is one of the most comprehensive you will find, consistent with that modern theme; practice, go out to the course and test yourself, then practice some more.
The course does what it is supposed to; provides a challenging arena in a tranquil respite. It showcases the RTJ/Rulewich style in ways I had not encountered before, mainly with its sinewy and limber fairways to greens taking on several different forms, ensuring the golfer never has the same look twice. It’s a driving course, usually not that forgiving on that front, so the straighter and longer, the better. The structure of play, however, rang hollow a bit for me, left wanting a bit more out of it. This comes down to personal preference and seeking more strategy demands and options and ground game components, but when examining the era and tenets this course represents, it excels well.
The holes are numbered consecutively, so do not reset with each set of nine holes. The first set is 1 – 9, the second 19 – 27 and the third 19 – 27. The Tournament Course is what will be reviewed. Alas, for the first time in Golfadelphia history, we start and do not end, at the Nineteenth hole.
The Third
The Nineteenth is a 370 yard par 4 (from the Member tees). The opening tee shot requires some thought as it’s entirely possible to drive it through the turn and the longer hitters might be licking their chops to cut the turn altogether, depending on which tees they’re on. Getting the line right and then hitting it on that line are two very different things, yet both are fairly important here. The first shot. After the turn, the fairway jostles along to the green which is well bunkered at the front before spilling down and expanding towards the back. For openers, I liked it a lot.
The Twentieth is a 381 yard par 4. The course does well to vary up the extent and severity of the turns and we see that up front with the opening sequence. Here, the bunkers are on the right while there is room on the left to work with but anything too far off to the sides will be in the trees. A successful tee shot will yield a clear look at the green where the right side is bunkered and the left is not.
The Twenty-First is a 532 yard par 5. There is no rest for the weary. The opening sequence hits all kinds of different ways and now we get a long, narrow par 5 where the trees are just chomping at the bit. The bunker signifies the turn to the right and then there is nothing but fairway and trees until it all ends at a throng of long grass with the green staring at us on the other side. Only of moderate size and not a whole of places to miss, take your shot, Mr. Gilmore.
The Twenty-Second is a 402 yard par 4. We get a straight hole and this is a good time to mention some times driver isn’t necessary if there is another club that will stay straight for you and leave an approach to the green, instead of risking the trees. This is one of those holes. Get it in the fairway off the tee ad give yourself a chance on the approach. The entry point is off to the left and bunkers are on both sides, spread out impressively.
The Twenty-Third is a 166 yard par 3. The trees clear and there’s a good amount of room short of the green, which has a good deal of room itself. It all moves towards the water on the left, so take note and stay to the right.
The Twenty-Fourth is a 502 yard par 5. During the round, I remember getting mad at my driver for losing some shots in the trees but these corridors are no joke. Yet another narrowish fairway with no refuge sideways. Moving at like an 11:00 angle, the green is slightly raised from the fairway but feeds right into it with the green spilling down and to the left. I liked the hole, especially with the ground options near the green but it certainly emphasizes how valuable it is to stay on the fairway.
The Twenty-Fifth is a 156 yard par 3. A forced carry to the green, which moves from right to left, then left to right on the right side. Bunkers are on the right side and should be avoided, as they make for a tough recovery out. It’s a solid par 3.
This is a good time to note the tee areas. They are expansive, providing a lot of freedom on how the hole plays, lengthwise, angle wise and everything else. I almost thought this was a par 4 when we came upon the teeing grounds, some of them were set that far back.
The Twenty-Sixth is a 410 yard par 4. Straight out, the fairway takes on an hourglass with the wider areas at the start and end of the fairway, bunkers on the left at each point of narrowing. This was not a good hole for me so photos are sparse but navigating the ball so it remains on the fairway and green is not just necessary to score well, but to get out of here in one piece.
The Twenty-Seventh is a 420 yard par 4. The right side will tempt the golfer with its promise of more width, but the left side with something less than driver should be considered as an option as well. The fairway dwindles down to no more than a strip when it reaches the water, where most approaches need to be aerial to the green. It’s a tougher approach for the send off, where the last couple holes bear down on the challenge and make you earn that spring in your step making the turn.
The third set of nine holes is stiff on challenge yet the variety and greens keep the holes fresh while there is never a feeling of outlandish impossibility in the questions being asked. I would rank them 19, 20, 24, 22, 23, 27, 25, 21, 26.
The First
The First is a 388 yard par 4. This set of nine holes opens with a slightly elevated tee shot that bends a little left. The bunkers on the left slim down the fairway, when runs to the green and opens on the left side. The green moves into the entry point on that side, then switches and moves to the right on the other side of a ridge line. The tee shot needs to clear the trees for a clear look while the approach is going to be different for everyone, especially based on the movement of the green. As we saw with the other set of nine, any sideways shot is met with a special brand of disfavor.
The Second is a 190 yard par 3. The clearing here is fairly open, the green a bit above us. The apron before the green narrows at the entry point, where bunkers reside on each side. A perfect tee shot is needed to thread the ball between the bunkers, or you can try for short or at the rear.
The Third is a 537 yard par 5. The course stretches its legs here while we deal with the constant fluctuations in width at each shot. The tee shot is no different as the bunker on the right and water on the left tightens the landing area. It widens after that before narrowing, then narrows again before ending altogether. The green is to the left, on the side of the water, so the golfer must decide where they would like to hit their approach from, the further down the fairway, the shorter the approach. The green undulates and drops in certain areas, so the work continues until that ball gets in the hole.
The Fourth is a 397 yard par 4. Heading out a little to the left, the trees gather once again to comfort the golfer as he tightropes the fairway. Closer to the green, the fairway tilts to the left while the entire fairway feeds into the green, bunkers here and there on each side.
The Fifth is a 500 yard par 5. The course doesn’t let up and this seems to be one of the narrowest of the bunch. Trees and bunkers are what we strive to avoid. The fairway bends to the right short of the green. It’s small and bunkers are on either side of the neck to the green. Bereft of options, straight and long is the order of the day.
The Sixth is a 168 yard par 3. A forced carry over marsh grass, the green rests between two bunkers, with the most room back and to the left.
The Seventh is a 360 yard par 4. A dog leg right where driver may be too much off the tee. The green is after the turn, swirling in from the right around water that is the left side. Meaning, if your ball goes to the left, it is in the water. It will be a tough approach, dealing with the water and carrying the bunkers at the front, or settle off to the right for a safer shot, then putting some pressure on the wedge or flat stick.
The Eighth is a 388 yard par 4. A center line bunker is off the tee we need to get to one side or the other of it. The second half of the fairway leads downhill to the green with bunkers on the left to avoid. Stay on the right side to accommodate the right to left movement.
The Ninth is a 397 yard par 4. The hills are more prominent here and the tee shot needs to confront it head on to take advantage of the slope that will make the approach more manageable. The approach is to an uphill green, blind to the fairway. It’s a nice finish to the round with the hills and undulations, yet can be tough closing things out if one gets out of position.
The first set of nine holes is set in isolated scenery, a challenging set with good greens that is demanding on the shotmaking yet gets a little more generous around the greens. I would rank them 1, 9, 8, 3, 5, 7, 2, 6, 4.
Generally, Metedeconk is a well regarded modern design with a penal, shotmaking exam playing structure. The holes rest within the woods in themselves, which emulates the isolation tone Pine Valley does so well. There are some heroic elements yet they are not overdone. One thing is for sure here. The golfer that scores well will never back into it; it will be because he is in fact a well skilled golfer or a decent skilled golfer that the golf gods decided to shine upon for that brief window of time during the round.
Clubhouse/Pro Shop: A nicely adorned structure on a higher point of the property and a leisurely outdoor area is used well.
Practice Area: The practice area is the stuff of local lore, and for good reason. The golfer is left without wanting more as the range is expansive with tons of targets, a short game area that rivals some of the better greens of lesser golf courses and of course, a putting green.
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