Golfadelphia

6,794 yards, 145 Slope from the Blues

The empty road unwinds ahead. It’s a wonder how empty, considering how overrun these roads get in the Summer. The rain is constant yet playful. It’s coming down, now it’s not. It’s just a spray now, no it’s really pouring. A general resignation settles in that as expected, today I will be wet. Like the roads, the parking lot is empty. Walking into the clubhouse, that’s empty too. There’s an almost post-apocalyptic feel down at the Shore during Winter that I find strangely peaceful. I’m free to go out when I’m ready and am advised it’s walking or cart path only. I was always going to walk, let my legs get reacquainted with the stroll about fairways and hills. The game changes during the off season. The sheer opportunity to get on the course is what matters. Weather, conditions, score are immaterial. It’s a lovely perspective refresh.

I walk up to the First tee and get set. The rain plays its silly game. Opening tee shot careens off to the right, into an abyss of trees. No matter. I hit another. No one cares, no one notices, it doesn’t matter. The freedom of an open course and no pressures ahead, I wonder if it ever should matter. At the very least, rounds like this make me wonder if we’re too often denying ourselves the nourishment this game can provide if we let it.

Shore Gate was born in 2002 during the age when high end public courses were the hot ticket. David Dale and Ron Fream of Golfplan, likely most well known for Nine Bridges in South Korea, designed the course for the Turner family. The property was one of the highest points in Cape May County at the time (until Union League National came along), which Dale and Fream went to work on by routing based on sun light considerations then moved over 450,000 cubic yards of sand. Bold bunkering and mounding dominate the designscape, conjuring tones of flashiness and intimidation. Water comes in a little but most carries are over sand, so recovery character here is a bit more enduring than at a lot of courses of this time. Dale and Fream were trying to imitate incoming sea waves with their shaping, gradating from the small and mild to the towering and daring. Beyond the fairways are fescue and sandy waste areas, making one hope sand is all they need to worry about. Leggy with the width more of a moving target the golfer has to search for while the elaborate mounds and bunker complexes add levels of unique visuals, Shore Gate challenges and entertains alike. The placement strategy here is also worth mentioning for its moments of engagement. In all, it’s a nice enough play whose mileage will vary depending on the time of year and green fee. Yet most of the time if I was in the area and looking for a round, I’d be good with giving Shore Gate a go on occasion.

The woods stayed quiet until the rain drops started with their melodic symphony, the staccato of droplets joining with the slower heavier pops of water off the branches and leaves that were just beginning their return from winter slumber. A rush of water sounded from some far off stream every now and then. The only constant were my footsteps, their steady rhythm stopping for brief spats of what I only half seriously call a golf swing. I could have jumped in one of the ponds and I’d still be less wet than I was by the Seventh hole but it was fine by me. Some have their days of college football, others have their secret fishing holes but I have my pockets of well-being those days on the course when no one else is around.

The First is a 365 yard par 4 (from the Blues). A dog leg left that needs to clear the tree line on the left while avoiding the bunker straight out to the right. The green keeps leaning away to the left with bunkers more at the entry point, yet they create a good amount of blindness on the approach. We learn early on about the play of visuals this course likes to dance about the golfer. Views will not give much away and at times, will deceive.

The Second is a 401 yard par 4. Water is along the entire left side and the tee shot is a good enough carry over it to the fairway. The mounding gets rambunctious near the green while bunkers are below grade. The green is in the middle of it all, most of the bouncing and bunkers off to the right while water is off to the left. Lost in it all is the hole is shorter in length, so a well played tee shot should set up a shorter approach to help maneuver around the trouble near the green.

The Third is a 386 yard par 4. Another short-mid par 4 that runs to the left off the tee. The tee shot must once again carry water but bunkers along the right side mandate a degree of control. Most of the time, something less than driver is in order. The fairway shaping is purposeful and provides another layer to this course. You can see here leading up to the green, a rocky road of sorts as the trees close in and bunkers are always close at hand.

The Fourth is a 345 yard par 4. The shortest par 4 of the course, one must decide off the tee whether to take on the bunkers near the green or lay up short of them. Whichever the golfer chooses, it must be straight. The woods on the left are dense and while you can find your ball within the trees on the right, you probably don’t want to. The green is rather mellow and subtle after all this calamity in reaching it.

The Fifth is a 149 yard par 3. A shorter par 3 that needs to carry the water with some bail out room to the right. The green is rather shallow, especially towards the center. If you feel the need for your shot to roll out, consider the left side.

The Sixth is a 565 yard par 5. Carson’s Tavern Road runs along the left while larger bunkers jump from one side to the other as we move down the fairway. Staying left yet out of either tree line is the goal. You never know what is lurking in the pines. Like most of the pines courses in South New Jersey, any shots off fairway will go into the tree line with chances of recovery very much bleak. Remaining in the fairway is a much higher priority and that rings true here, even at the expense of distance. Here, the golfer must pick his away around and over the bunkers to reach the green. Laying up short of the left center bunker for the approach is advisable. Themes are beginning to show themselves and here, it appears the course favors positional aerial strategy from tee to green while at the green the ground game becomes more of a factor.

The Seventh is a 388 yard par 4. A strong dog leg right with a sandy waste area along the right side up to the green. The golfer needs to figure out how much of the waste area to carry off the tee to set up the approach, while also making sure his tee shot does not run off the fairway on the left side. Even successful tee shots will realize the approach needs to be surgical to the smaller green with trees on the left and water closer to the right than it seems. Positional strategy continues to rule the day.

The Eighth is a 204 yard par 3. Bunkers and mounds fortify the green rather well, once again playing on visuals from the tee. Left center to left rear of the green provides some relief from the trouble.

The Ninth is a 616 yard par 5. Length asserts itself to close out the front. While there is some sand to contend with off the tee, the more important consideration is the water to the left, which is out of view. The unsuspecting golfer will hit what he believes a well intended tee shot only to realize he will need to take a drop from the mischievous water on that side. Stay to the right off the tee, then again at the second shot, which should set up a manageable approach. That approach will run away from you, towards the elaborate bunkers on the left, so an approach in line with what we have come across a lot thus far. Hit it enough but not too much.

The front nine starts off with a nice series of shorter par 4’s before mixing it up with short and long holes. Most of the strategy is of a positional variety while the penal elements are toned down with some interest. I would rank them 6, 2, 3, 9, 7, 8, 1, 5, 4.

The back nine starts with the 435 yard par 4 Tenth . A slight dog leg left to start and the golfer strives to find a comfortable landing area off the tee. The left side over the bunker visible off the tee is a good line, the one that looks very much like a Principal’s Nose. A center bunker up ahead creates the false impression the green is at hand but it’s another seventy yards ahead. After that center bunker, the entry point to the green is clear while the bunkers are off to the sides. Approaches to the center of the green should avoid much of that side of trouble.

The Eleventh is a 376 yard par 4. Magnolia Lake is off to the left and only the wildest of shots will reach it while a pond is further up on the right in the trees. You really never know what’s lurking in those pines. Stay to the right off the tee to one of the more inviting fairways, which should open up the approach to the green. There’s a good amount of room near the green and only one bunker to contend with on the right. Take advantage.

The Twelfth is a 387 yard par 4. Straight out, the visuals once again do not tell the whole story from the tee. There is water off to the right, hiding from the unsuspected. Driver isn’t critical here; hitting the fairway and perhaps watching the ball roll out to rest is. The green is pushed up ad guarded by an assortment of bunkers and mounding, once again rewarding positional aerial accuracy yet accounting for degrees of roll out at the approach, just don’t go too far off the rear or to the right.

One of the notable features of the course are the number of shorter par 4’s. The golfer must think a little at the tee instead of mindlessly bashing the driver on every hole that’s not a par 3. Shotmaking and some strategic decisions abound, instilling some nice interest into the round.

The Thirteenth is a 536 yard par 5. There’s a bit of a walk through the pines to the next tee. The next three holes enjoy their own piece of property to which the course calls, “The Kingdom.” The Kingdom greets us with a dog leg left par 5. Bunkers are down the left and water along the right. A fairway interruption of rough separates the first fairway from the second and will come into play off the tee for the longer among us. The fairway keeps turning left to the green, so favoring the right side is ideal, although things narrow considerably closer to the green. The green is in the middle of a good deal of below grade sand, which puts shorter approaches at a premium. A good way to think of this hole is that the accuracy demands increase as one gets closer to the hole. Perhaps this is common sense but the hole does a good job emphasizing it enough to cater a plan of attack.

The Fourteenth is a 130 yard par 3. The shortest par 3 of the course, to the surprise of no one, requires precision to navigate the surrounding trouble and manage a successful tee shot. A large waste area is just off the tee area, then four bunkers cover the front, right and rear sides. The left rear is shrouded in dense forest. The green is of modest size but large enough to accommodate some measure of leeway off the tee. Enjoy.

The Fifteenth is a 378 yard par 4. A dog leg right moves around the water we encountered on the Thirteenth. Again, one must figure out a tee shot that maneuvers between the water and bunkers and the further one ventures out, the more relevant water becomes. The approach will likely require some carry over the water while the green is closely guarded by bunkers on the left and water on the right. This is indeed one of the tougher approaches of the course, even more so if the wind decides to stop by.

The Sixteenth is a 526 yard par 5. Another longer walk from green to tee back through the woods and once again we are met with a leggy par 5. One of the rare holes where the golfer should take his driver and belt the ball as if he were sending it to Hades. The further the better. The decision is then whether to go for the green on the second or lay up short of all the bunkers. The green is off to the left but the fairway continues to move to its right, even pin high. Decisions must be made but my preference is staying short of the sand for a nice short approach into the green. Of course, I’m mindful that it’s always easier to write and think of such wise conservative play yet it’s another matter entirely when you’re out there and see the green in the distance, taunting you.

The Seventeenth is a 185 yard par 3. The final par 3 uses the play on visuals to hide just how large the green is, even though the bunkers cut into her about the sides. Staying relatively straight is the order of the day and bunkers swarm close to the green. If someone pleaded with me to give a line of preference from the tee, I would admit that left center is my play. A bunker recovery isn’t the end of the world here, much preferred to anything within the trees.

The Eighteenth is a 422 yard par 4. The bunker complex on the right off the tee is one to avoid if the golfer cares about any kind of respectable score. This means favoring the left side more than might be comfortable and maybe even dabbling into some shot shaping either drawing off of it or fading away from it. The green is slightly uphill with a brief widening off to the right side. All other off green areas are addressed with bunkers. More of an unassuming approach that has the potential to prolong the round if the golfer does not take the approach as seriously as needed.

The back nine is a little more demure in its challenges than the front yet maintains cohesion with the design concepts established early on. I would rank them 18, 13, 16, 11, 12, 14, 10, 17, 15.

Generally, Shore Gate shows enough complexity in challenge to remain interesting with repeat play. Most of this challenge is positional strategy amidst recovery character dominated by bunkers and mounding with the occasional water hazard. A good deal of attention was placed on shaping, giving it very much a modern feel. There are a healthy amount of short par 4’s and dog legs that impart a sense of engagement with the tee shots while most of the approaches account for some modicum of roll out. Regularly ranked as one of the top public courses in New Jersey, Shore Gate does enough to distinguish itself and is worth an occasional look when in the area.

Clubhouse/Pro Shop: Nice areas to relax both inside and out.

Practice area: Driving range right next to the First, as is the putting green and a little short game area.