Review: Hidden Creek Golf Club (Part 1)

I've been reviewing golf courses for almost 5 years now, and while I'm not sure of the exact number, I've gone through at least 50 courses. Now though, we have a first. Multiple, in fact, but one is more significant than the others. Hidden Creek Golf Club, located just outside Atlantic City, is a private club. I feel a bit weird reviewing it, considering I'm very much a supporter of all the good things public golf has to offer, but the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of the truly great golf courses in the United States are private. If you want to play the best of what American golf has to offer, you need connections. 

However, there are levels of privacy in this world, and Hidden Creek is not the most exclusive course in the world. It's part of the Dormie Network, a high-end membership organization that includes six courses around the country. As far as I understand, so long as you've got the money, anyone can join, so there's no waiting list, no need to know anyone already inside the club, it's almost more like a very fancy series of golf resorts. So, thanks to my brother who recently got a job at a private club in the Albany area, we were able to get a tee time during our vacation.

Hidden Creek is also significant for me since this is the first golf course I've played that was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, quite possibly the most important golf course architects of the past 30 years. Among other courses, they did Sand Hills, the course that kick-started the minimalist movement in golf course design. Hidden Creek is laid out over sandy, gently rolling terrain in the woods of New Jersey, so while it wasn't quite blessed with the advantageous topography of their most famous work, they had a wonderfully isolated piece of property to lay out a course reminiscent of the heathland courses of England. So, let's find out how Hidden Creek, the first private course I've played in a very long time, compares with the best public courses that I've played. 

As with many golf courses, the first hole at Hidden Creek is a mid-length par 4, playing a bit under 400 yards (if you're using the back rather than championship tees like we were) to a wide-open fairway. So if you've got some first tee jitters, be assured that there's a ton of space out there. That fescue surrounding the fairway is thin, much thinner than it looks, and it's simple enough to find your golf ball and play out of it. That said, you're better off hitting down the left side, as the green is protected by a bunker front right. The green isn't flat, by any means, but it's nothing extreme, and in fact I found Hidden Creek's greens to be deceivingly flat in general.

The first hole.

The first green.

The second hole is 365 yards, and if you choose to use driver, the landing area is pretty tight, as the fairway narrows significantly from its widest point past 250 yards or so, and there are quite a few fairway bunkers scattered around to catch even slightly wayward drives. That said, if you lay up in the widest point of the fairway, there's a central bunker in play that I'm sure sees its fair share of usage. I kind of like that there's no obviously right or wrong play off of the tee , it gives you the freedom to do with this hole as you want. If you do lay back, the green looks pretty small, but there's quite a bit of space once you get past the bunkers and little hills surrounding the fairway. 

The second hole.

Approaching the second green.

The second green.

The third hole is just over 500 yards and is quite a handful. You have a couple options off of the tee, go left where its safer but have a long second where you're potentially blocked out by trees, or head out more to the right, challenging the bunkers and giving you a decent chance to go for the green in two. That's not the challenging part. The difficult part of the the hole is the massive waste bunker right and in front of the green, made from a former quarry. It is not a place you want to end up, so if you're not completely confident that you can carry it, I would recommend laying up out to the left (especially when it plays into the wind like it did for us). That leaves a fairly simple wedge into the green, which is somewhat crowned and has a single smallish bunker to the left. It's a memorable hole, and I like how there's 20 yards or so of space between the waste bunker and the green, so while it's certainly quite a formidable hazard, it does allow for a bit of wiggle room.

The third hole.

Approaching the third green.

The third green.

The fourth hole is just over 200 yards and is a classic Redan. Going directly at the flag, especially the hole location in the picture, is not a great idea. There's very little green to work with that way, and if you pull your shot even a little, you'll be left with a tough chip and very little green to work with. Far better to aim out to the right and hit a nice gentle draw in that takes the slope of the green down toward the hole. This is the third real Redan that I've played and it's the first one that I managed to play correctly, so I'm feeling quite positive about it. I don't know if it's better than the one at Keney Park, but it's definitely better than Charleston Municipal's. Keney Park's Redan is more dramatic and more difficult if you don't hit the green (especially if you come up short), but this one plays firm and fast, just like the rest of the course. Does better soil and better maintenance beat visual flair and drama? I think I have to give the edge to this, but with the caveat that Keney Park was quite thoroughly soaked when I was there, so part of the fun was ruined.

The fourth hole.

The fifth hole is a mid-length par 4 that's pretty straightforward and easy. The fairway's pretty wide, there's no trouble to speak of save for a gradual right-to-left slope. There's a point where fescue cuts in and narrows the fairway to just 10 or so yards, but it's past the point where even long hitters could reach with a driver. There's not much around the green either, though that fescue does make it look like there's much less space than there actually is. It's a great opportunity for birdie.

The fifth hole.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a fairly long par 4 that does play a bit downhill, though it was playing into the wind during our round. While the fairway isn't narrow, it feels narrower because the forest is a bit closer in than on the other holes. I'd recommend the left side; if you stray into the rough on the right side, you may be blocked out by a pine tree that's practically in the fairway. That said, the only greenside bunker is front left, so if the flag is on the left, that may leave a tricky second. 

The sixth hole.

The sixth green. That big bunker right is actually nowhere near the green.

The seventh hole is a pretty flat 165 yard par 3 that's got three small bunkers around the green, which is slightly elevated. A fade is the preferred shot from the tee, but otherwise this isn't anything revolutionary or all that interesting. Not bad, just nothing special.

The seventh hole.

The eighth hole is about 300 yards, which makes it quite reachable, and in fact I think the golfer is encouraged to do so. A lay-up has to contend with that central fairway bunker, and you'd feel really silly going in that on such a short hole. What makes this hole interesting is the green, which is by far the most undulating at Hidden Creek. There's a couple of big mounds in the middle of the green, and if you end up on the wrong side of one of those mounds, something that's very easy to do if you hit the green with your tee shot, you'll have a tough time getting that two-putt birdie. And that's what makes this hole; obviously it's very easy, but if you expect to make birdie and you end up with a par or bogey, you could easily get very frustrated. And that's always a mistake.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is the longest hole at Hidden Creek, playing 560 yards. It's not really reachable for most, which makes the tee shot just a matter of hitting the fairway to set up a good third shot. It's the second shot that's interesting; if you lay back to around 150 yards, the fairway is very wide and very open, but once you get to within 100 yards of the green, the fairway narrows and there are several bunkers around. Having a third shot of 150 yards isn't something most people want, but that is the most risk-free option. Now, if you do have the length to go for the green in two, the hole plays a lot differently. There's mounding that cuts through the fairway right where a drive would end up, but you can go further if you go down the left side. But the trees front left of the green will block you out, meaning you'll need a big hook to get to the green, which is actually quite open to long approaches. Like the second hole, there's no immediately correct way to play the hole.

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.