Review: Rock Spring Golf Club (Part 1)

When I wrote my review of Keney Park back in 2018, I mentioned how rare affordable Raynor-style golf courses were. Keney Park is not a Raynor course, but it has several template holes and has that distinctive Raynor look, plus it costs $40. At that time, if you wanted to play a Redan, a Biarritz, a Road, or some of the other classic templates for less than three figures, Keney Park was really your only option.

That is no longer the case, thanks to Rock Spring Golf Club in West Orange, New Jersey, just a few miles outside of New York City. Unlike Keney Park, which is a compelling homage to Raynor, Rock Spring is the genuine article, designed by Seth Raynor in the mid 1920s and completed by his associate Charles Banks after Raynor passed away. That's an impressive pedigree, but Rock Spring is in a neighborhood full of courses with even more impressive histories. In a 30-mile circle, you've got Somerset Hills, Plainfield, Ridgewood, Mountain Ridge, and a little place called Baltusrol, all five represented on Golf.com's top 100 U.S. golf course list. If you approach Rock Spring from the north, you'll pass Essex County Country Club, another Raynor course that's not quite in that top 100, but it's close.

The plethora of great golf courses so close by was a big reason Rock Spring struggled as a private club in the 21st century. It was bought by another nearby private club in 2016, but they thankfully offloaded it to the town of West Orange in 2019 rather than selling to a developer. The town agreed to run the course for 2 years as a municipal facility, making it the only municipal Raynor course in the country. That 2 year aspect had me a bit concerned, as I absolutely wanted to play Rock Spring, but I wasn't sure the course would be around past May 2021. That's why my brother and I ended up there on an unseasonably warm but incredibly dreary day in November last year, just to make sure we could see the place in case some bureaucratic shenanigans took place. Considering the very real threat of incoming rain and the fact that the course was full, even on a weekday in mid-November, I shouldn't have worried for the financial safety of the course, but you can never be too careful.

The first hole is a pretty straightforward drive and pitch par 4. The big pond is an obvious feature, but it doesn't go far enough to come into play. The bunker right of the fairway is more of a threat, but a good solid driver will get you past that. The second shot is a wedge off of a slightly downhill lie to a green guarded by bunkers front left and right. There's also a big dropoff behind the green, so I wouldn't recommend missing there either.

The first hole. It wasn't the best day for golf or photography, but at least it was in the 60s.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole isn't hugely long at 385, but the drive goes straight up a hill, so that adds a bit of distance. The other thing that makes the hole play longer is the pond from the first hole, which shows up again here. It cuts in about 225 yards from the tee and narrows the playing corridor by half. You stay short of that pond, you'll have a short or mid iron into the green, which is small and very well defended with two large bunkers and a false front. I don't know if it's worth the risk of hitting a driver into the narrow section of fairway between the water and trees, especially when that water is blind from the tee, but it's a tough second shot from further back. The invisible pond is also not great, but at the very least you know it's there since you walked past it on the first hole.

A very informative view from the second tee.

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is our first template hole, and it's the big one: a Redan. It's not quite as dramatic as the one at Keney Park, but there is a former quarry short and left of the green, all overgrown with bushes. That's something to avoid, as is the deep bunker also left of the green. The hole location I saw was an easy one, at least when it came to avoiding the hazards. No need for a fancy draw taking the slope from right to left, especially considering how wet the course was. However, that front portion of the green is very sharply tilted, and putts from above the hole are slippery at best, downright impossible at worst. And that's with slow, wet greens.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is the longest par 4 at Rock Spring, and when it's into the wind on a waterlogged golf course, its 445 yards are formidable. There's O.B. left, which you'll obviously want to avoid. Cutting the dogleg is preferable, but a bunker guards the corner, and a big tree will block out any overly ambitious or sliced drives, turning the hole into a three shot affair. Playing this as a par 5 isn't actually the worst idea in the world, because this green is also a template: the Double Plateau. That means that, while the surface is massive, the green is separated into three distinct sections, all at different levels, and putting between sections is a difficult task. Hitting the correct area with a mid or long iron is very difficult, but it's a lot easier with a little wedge. I'm willing to bet there are a lot of three putts after hitting the green in regulation. I won't say to definitely play the fourth as a par 5, but it's going to be a very tough 4.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is also a fairly long par 4 at 430 yards, and it has a slightly uphill and semiblind drive. There are bunkers on both sides of the fairway and O.B. fairly close to the left, but the right bunker is pretty easy to carry. You'll be tempted to bail out right, but that leaves a more difficult second shot, as you'll have to carry a deep greenside bunker to get to the green, which is large but shallower from the right. It has a fair amount of undulation to it, and there's also a bunker and O.B. past the green as well.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is the shortest hole at Rock Spring, which is appropriate, considering this is a Short hole. The hole is 145 yards, so it's no more than a wedge or short iron, but there are bunkers covering two-thirds of the green. It's a big green, but there's plenty of slope there that'll make long putts tough. There was no horseshoe-shaped ridge that usually accompanies Short holes, and I'm not sure if it was a casualty of a design change or was never built.

The sixth hole.

The seventh hole is a mid-length par 4 that swings left and down the hill. The fairway narrows in the landing area, thanks to a bunker on the right side that eats up about half of the fairway. It's not a place you want to be. The second shot is a downhill wedge or short iron to a small green with bunkers left and right and a steep dropoff behind.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is 415 yards, but it plays uphill, so it feels longer than that. The tee shot isn't so much up the hill as it is across the hill, so if you hit a draw, you may find your drive running away into the left rough. I admit, that wasn't a problem in November when nothing was rolling at all, but in normal circumstances I imagine this fairway is pretty tough to stay in. A bunker also cuts into the fairway about 275 yards from the tee, so it may be worth hitting a 3 wood if you're a long hitter. The second is up the hill to a green that's nestled in a little bowl, so if you're a bit wayward the ball will bounce back in toward the green. But if you're not so lucky, the ball will bounce away and you'll have a very tough chip shot into a narrow little green. 

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is the only par 5 on the front nine, and at just under 500 yards it's very reachable in two. But there's a couple of problems with that. One, the bunker that eats into the right side of the fairway, which wouldn't be such a concern if it weren't for the group of trees on the left side of the fairway that overhang and block out quite a bit of the green. Plus, there's a deep bunker front left that you'd have to carry with a low shot, and that's a tall order. You're better off taking the chance with the fairway bunker. You get a better angle and there are no trees. The green is sloped from back left to front right, with the front section of the green falling off dramatically. When the hole is in the front, putts from above the hole are extremely difficult.

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at the back nine.