Review: McCullough's Emerald Golf Links

I recently spent a week on vacation in Cape May, New Jersey. I had a wedding to go to, and I thought, hey, why not take some time off while I'm at it? I was planning on playing more golf then the two rounds I did get in, but friends started showing up who wanted to go to the beach, and to be honest, the weather could have been better. But they were two good rounds at least.

We'll start off with the first round I played, at a replica course south of Atlantic City. Now, if you don't know what that means, a replica course is a golf course that takes famous golf holes from around the world, and throws them all together. Normally, these types of courses are filled with kitschy replicas of the old standards: the 12th at Augusta, the 18th at Pebble Beach, the 17th at TPC Sawgrass, that sort of thing. They're gimmicky, and almost never capture the spirit of the original. But hey, this is Atlantic City we're talking about, and for $47, it was much cheaper than then the other course I played. You'd be hard pressed to find a cheaper round at 10:30 in southern New Jersey.

If you couldn't tell by the name, this particular course sought to replicate holes from the British Isles. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the course wasn't duplicating the obvious choices for the most part. To be honest, they could have made the course exactly the same, but leave the tribute out, and I don't think anyone would catch on. Maybe a very discerning eye with extensive experience playing British courses, but me? No. I certainly recognized course names, but I have no idea what the third hole at Nairn or the second at Southport & Ainsdale look like. I guess it's a way to get away with slightly controversial design features, after all, most golfers wouldn't accept some of the more quirky aspects of the course unless they were conspicuously playing tribute to something else. Anyway, let's get to the golf course.

The first hole is a rendition of the first hole at Royal Portrush. It's a longish par 4 with a small fairway bunker, and a second small bunker left of the green. There is a grass bunker short of the green, but it really doesn't come into play. The greens here are generally fairly interesting, if a bit less extreme then their British counterparts, but unfortunately, the ground was very, very wet the day I played. This is a course you could play the ground game at, but the turf was so soggy it was irrelevant. Drives weren't bouncing, and approach shots certainly weren't either.

The second hole is supposedly an homage to the Biarritz. If you don't know your standard replica holes or are unfamiliar with the work of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, the Biarritz was a par 3 in France that played over a small cove in an oceanside cliff to a very long green with a deep swale perpendicular to the line of play and flanked by two long bunkers. It's a hole that's been duplicated successfully many times. This was not one of those times. Would I have known this was supposed to be a Biarritz had the scorecard not said it was? I honestly don't think I would have. It is that unrecognizable. The flanking bunkers were replaced by two small bunkers left of the green. The flag was in the front, and I honestly don't remember seeing any signature Biarritz swale. So, swing and a miss there, McCullough's.

I guess, if you look closely, there is a little swale.

The third hole is based on the 18th hole at Gleneagles Kings. It's a par 5 with a dramatic downhill tee shot, but the rest of the hole plays uphill. The tee shot has to contend with several bunkers, which are really only an issue when the hole plays into the wind. Guess what the wind was doing the day I played. I didn't go into a bunker, but I was pretty close to the far bunker on the left side. A 490 yard hole, and I'm 40 yards short with a driver and a 4 iron. I can also tell you that if you lay up, you definitely want to do that on the right side. Those two bunkers short left of the green are nasty, and the green will funnel shots in towards the hole. There's a bunker guarding the right side of the fairway in prime lay-up position 50 yards short, so be wary of that. This is a good hole, especially into the wind.

The fourth hole is the aforementioned homage to the third hole at Nairn. It's a short par 4, and the first thing you see on the tee are many bunkers. It's not a long hole, and since it was playing downwind, the temptation is to pull out the driver and get as close to the green as possible. But I think that's not a great idea. There's a bunker in the middle of the fairway, right where a good drive would end up. I used a 3 wood, got myself to a hundred yards, hit the green, and two putted. Nice and simple, and probably how the hole is supposed to be played.

The fifth hole is based on the 16th hole at Carnoustie, a long, nasty par 3 that always plays very tough during the British Open. I suspect this version is not as difficult. It's not an easy hole, of course, no long par 3 is, but I was able to miss wide left (not a bad place to miss), and easily got up and down for par.

The sixth hole is the extremely obscure second at Southport and Ainsdale, and I have to confess, I may have known at one point about this golf course, but I didn't remember it when I played it. There's a ditch that cuts the hole about 240 yards from the green, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, that nice bunker in the middle of the fairway about 300 yards from the tee is pointless. I laid up short of the ditch, maybe under ideal conditions I could clear it, but conditions were not ideal. On the other hand, it makes the second shot a lot more interesting. It gives you a lot more bunkers to think about, and you have to really think about where you want to lay up, or if you want to pull out the 3 wood and go for it. I did not do that. I laid up again, hit a 60 yard wedge to 15 feet, and left the birdie putt 3 inches short. Oh well.

The seventh hole is McCullough's calling card, a version of Alistair Mackenzie's prize winning par 4 he drew for the 1914 Country Life magazine golf design contest. It involves an alternate fairway, and a huge waste bunker. And you know what? The lighting decided to be terrible, so I'll be honest, the pictures aren't great. But it's a good hole, just as long as you play from the appropriate set of tees. Too short, and the hole becomes a joke. From the back, it was a tough tee shot onto the island fairway, and a mid iron to the green. I almost birdied the hole, I played just a little too much break on my birdie putt. Would have been nice.

The eighth hole is based on the old 10th hole at Turnberry. The one by the lighthouse. This is a par 4, with a pond instead of an ocean, and trees right. I'll tell you, I have such a pathological hatred of trees, I saw them and immediately thought "Nope, don't want to go in those!" So, I hooked it into the water instead. Good job. Anyway, without the majesty of Ailsa Craig and the other things that make Turnberry Turnberry, this is just a hole with a pond on it. Not one of the better offerings here. Also, it was at this point the weather turned Scottish on me and it started to rain, something it did off and on for the rest of the round.

The ninth hole is a par 3 based on the 10th at Royal Dornoch, and I didn't get any pictures of this one. It plays downhill to a green sharply sloped from back to front, and fronted by several deep bunkers. 

The tenth hole is based on the 14th at Royal Dornoch, otherwise known as Foxy. I feel bad that I only got one picture of this hole, it's a really good one. No bunkers, the challenge comes from the undulations and the semi-blind nature of the second. I spent my entire time hacking around on the right side, and was lucky to make double. I was 5 over on 8, 9, and 10, it was by far the worst stretch of the round, considering I was only 5 over for the other 15 holes.

The eleventh hole is based on the 12th hole at Gleneagles Kings, and I enjoyed this hole a lot. I really like blind tee shots aimed at unique features. Giving an aiming flag? Eh. Giving an aiming tower? Now we're talking. And this is a steep hill the drive has to ascend. And hey, I even birdied this hole. Nice way to stop the bleeding.

The twelfth hole is based on the 3rd at Royal County Down, and reading from the description on the McCullough's website, the "tee shot at Royal County Down encourages one to come down the left side of the fairway". And boy did I listen. Actually, I was right next to the 11th tee. But it was fairly open down there, and I was able to get on the green and make par.

The thirteenth hole is based on the 5th at Gleneagles Queens. This was definitely my favorite green on the course. There's this big giant swale taking up a quarter of the front of the green, with a high portion horseshoeing around it. If you're not on the correct side of the green and have to putt around the dip, it's honestly impossible to make the putt. The closer you aim to the hole, the more it breaks, and trust me, you don't want the ball to roll down to the lower level. I was in that exact situation, I hit an excellent shot, but I was on the wrong side of the green, and I was very happy to get my first putt to two feet above the hole. It's not something I would enjoy playing on every course, and it might get annoying if I played the course a lot, but for a one-time thing, it was fun.

The fourteenth hole is based on the 14th at St. Andrews, and surprisingly, that's the only hole from St. Andrews this course features. The course with the most representation is actually Royal Dornoch, with 3 holes, though Gleneagles combines for 3 as well. Anyway, this is the Long hole, and while features have been softened, like the formidable Hell bunker, the hole plays in a similar fashion. Don't go right, avoid the big fairway bunker on the second, pitch on, 2 putt. This is a par 5, but it's not exactly a birdie opportunity, especially in soft conditions.

The fifteenth hole is one of two holes routed through trees, and is inspired by the the 5th at Royal Dornoch. It's a short par 4 that doglegs sharply to the right, and features many bunkers near the green. It's driveable, but there are so many bunkers surrounding the green, it's not the greatest idea in the world. I tried to split the difference, I didn't lay up, but I didn't exactly aim at the green, and was rewarded by nearly going in a small pond. There isn't normally a pond there, but there was on that day. Thanks rain! It's got a tricky green too, if you don't use it right. Very undulating, but if you do use it well, you can probably work shots in towards the hole.

The sixteenth hole is based on the 8th at Royal Troon. Yes, the Postage Stamp makes an appearance. Gotta have a few staples, anyway. There's not much to say, it's a short par 3 surrounded by bunkers. I went in one of them, and was faced with the absolute worst lie I've ever had. The ball was three quarters buried, it was all I could do to move the ball. So, I got a double on this hole. Reason #15793 for why the Postage Stamp is so famous.

The seventeenth hole is based on the 11th at Waterville. Another obscure choice, though at least I've heard of Waterville. It's a par 5 with a couple of fescued mounds in the middle of the fairway at the top of a crest. The tee shot is blind, and the second shot plays slightly downhill. Again, I didn't get any pictures. Hit a bad drive, and made a bogey after pulling my long third shot way left of the green.

The eighteenth hole is based on the 4th at Prestwick. What is a creek and out of bounds there becomes a pond here. I learned my lesson after the 8th, my drive was way, way left. It was just left of the fairway bunker on the left side of the fairway. It made the second kind of tough, having to go straight over the greenside bunkers, but because the hole is so short, it wasn't that bad. I only had a sand wedge in hand.

So, what did I think of the course? Well, I think I would enjoy playing the originals a lot more than a bunch of imitations in an unsuiting climate and soil. But it wasn't a bad course, and I enjoyed it. It was at its best when it wasn't trying to accommodate the average golfer. I wanted more thrown at me, I wanted it to embrace its goofier nature. And like I said, for $47 at 10:30 on a Tuesday, it was pretty good value for money. If I ever go back to the Atlantic City area, I probably wouldn't play it again, there are courses that I didn't get to that I would probably like more, but it wasn't bad at all.