Review: Neshanic Valley Golf Course (Meadow Nine)

Michael Hurdzan is not the most celebrated name in golf course design, but the man is a legend of the field nonetheless. He may not have a Cypress Point or National Golf Links of America to his credit, but Erin Hills, Calusa Pines, and Devil's Paintbrush are pretty well known and generally excellent courses, and that's just three courses in a list of hundreds that he and his associate Dana Fry have worked on in some capacity.

Arguably though, Hurdzan's most valuable contribution to the sport is the book Golf Course Architecture: Design, Construction & Restoration, which is nothing less than the most important book on golf course architecture written in the past 90-odd years. It's not exactly the most entertaining thing in the world, but it's jam-packed with valuable information for the budding golf course architect and is worth reading if you're even tangentially related in golf course design. I've read it multiple times, though it has been quite a while. Still, the book certainly left its impression.

When it comes to Hurdzan's actual designs, however, I am much less aware. I actually thought I'd never played a Hurdzan course before Neshanic Valley, a 27-hole facility located in the surprisingly bucolic and rural hills southeast of New York City, but as I was researching, I found that wasn't the case – Little Bennett in central Maryland is also a Hurdzan design. This wasn't quite the special occasion I though it was. Still, even beyond the architect behind the course, Neshanic Valley had a place on Golf.com's best public courses under $100 list, which made me eager to play it.

A slight disclaimer: Neshanic Valley consists of three essentially equal nines – Meadow, Ridge, and Lake, with a shorter executive-style nine for beginners. We played the Meadow and Lake nines, which I feel is not the ideal configuration; I think I would have preferred to swap out the Lake nine for the Ridge nine. In a perfect world, my brothers and I would have played all three of the primary nines, but we lacked the time (and I lacked the energy) to do so. Fall golf has plenty of positives, but long daylight hours is not one of them.

The first hole is not a particularly short hole at 420 yards, but beyond that it's a pretty gentle opener. The fairway is quite wide and there are no bunkers in play, nor is there much in the way of other hazards. You have a green light to use driver and blast away. The second shot is a little trickier, as there's a bunker right and a small mound built into the left-front corner of the green, but it isn't anything too unreasonable.

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is 30 yards shorter than the previous hole, but is noticeably more thought provoking and tricky. There are two bunkers in the landing area, one on each side, pinching the fairway in right where most people will hit their driver. That means you either need to challenge this narrower stretch of fairway or lay up short of it, which will leave you with well over 150 yards into this green. That's not great on a hole that's only 390 yards, and doubly so when you consider the green itself. It's small, fairly undulating with a false front and a falloff on the back section, and well protected by sand. Not a target you want to be approaching with an 8 or 7 iron in hand.

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is a 200-yard par 3 that plays slightly downhill to a green angled from left to right that's sloped from right to left. That makes a fade the prime option here; hitting a draw brings both the right greenside bunker very much into play. The green also falls away slightly for the back third or so, making those back hole locations a bit trickier.

A slightly interesting tidbit: the left-side bunker was added several years after the course opened, sometime between 2010 and 2013. Not sure why, since it doesn't really add much to the hole. I guess it could prevent some golf balls from bouncing into the native area further off to the left, but it just feels like a curious addition.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole is not a long par 5 at 520 yards, and with the fairway being as wide as it is, there's no reason not to use driver. There is a bunker left, but even a mediocre drive can get past that without issue, and the fairway's initially severe right-to-left tilt can also be carried with a good drive. Play it right and you should have a long iron or fairway wood into the green. Three cross bunkers cut across the fairway about 350-400 yards out, but they're only an issue if you've hit a poor tee shot. If you don't quite have the length to reach the green in two, the lay-up is pretty simple, as is the third. If you can go for the green, it's open in front but is flanked by bunkers. Overall though, this hole presents a solid chance at birdie or even eagle. 

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a long par 4 at 460 yards and plays up along the top of a ridge parallel to the previous hole, which is down below. There's a long bunker right, but similar to the bunker on the fourth, it can be carried without much difficulty, making the tee shot easier than it looks. The approach is a mid iron to a green with a small bunker right and a large one about 20 yards short (which we'll get to in a moment), but that doesn't tell the full story. This green is quite small and has some interesting topography to it: the low point is left and roughly midway through, meaning the front half slopes away and the back half is sloped sharply toward this low spot. Back hole locations are obviously difficult because of the semi-tier bisecting the green, but front hole locations are deceptively tricky, as it's tough to get a golf ball to stop. You're really encouraged to hit a low running shot into the green with those front hole locations, which brings that seemingly innocuous not-quite-greenside bunker into play. This is really kind of an interesting hole, despite not looking like much initially.

The fifth hole. The old silo behind the green is a dead giveaway as to what this land was before the golf course was built.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole is a mid-length par 3 that plays uphill to a medium-sized green tilted pretty severely from back left to front right that's protected by bunkers on both sides. Because of that green tilt, left is definitely the worse miss; the right-side bunker is really not that bad. Otherwise, this is a pretty straightforward hole.

The sixth hole.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is a short par 4 at 340 yards, but it plays significantly downhill, which does bring the green into play for longer hitters if the wind is also in your favor. For most people though, this is a drive and pitch par 4. Oddly, the fairway is placed well away from the native area left, mostly taking it out of play while discouraging people from taking the direct line at the green. Because of this, it's pretty obvious that one has to aim away from the green out toward the fairway bunker to get the best angle. And if you're long enough that the fairway bunker isn't a concern, this drive really isn't very interesting, and frankly the second shot isn't much better. The large greenside bunker short and left doesn't come into play much, and the pitch is hit straight along the axis of the green, which is almost perpendicular to the line of play. The concepts to make this a good hole are there, but the fairway just isn't wide enough, unfortunately.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a long par 4 at 445 yards, and while the green lacks the charm of the fifth, there's no question that this hole presents a stern test. The fairway isn't exactly narrow, but it isn't overly generous, and with two bunkers right and a native area left, there isn't a whole lot of wiggle room on the tee shot. A solid drive will leave a short to mid iron to a mid-sized green with fair amount of back-to-front tilt guarded by two bunkers to the left.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is a big, sprawling 575-yard par 5 with a tee shot that plays over a small ravine to a fairway threaded between two bunkers. The one on the left doesn't do much, but the one on the right guards the direct line at the green and is very much in play. Skirt by that and the longest hitters can go for the green in two. Admittedly, for most golfers this is very much a three shot hole, making a bailout left a distinctly smart play.

Let's say that you catch this hole downwind and you've hit a good drive. You have two options with the second shot: Either play safely out right, avoiding the large pond dominating the left third of this hole, or you can go at the green, attempting to carry the water. The pond does end 20 or 30 yards short of the green, so there is space. The green itself is angled from left to right and high on the edges, encouraging shots hit from the left side. Bailing out well to the right of the pond on the second shot is a safe play, but the pitch over the right-side greenside bunker to this green is not an easy proposition. I think, overall, this is a solid hole, but it would be better if it were maybe 40 or 50 yards shorter. In its current state, it asks questions that only really good (ie, really long) golfers can answer. Shortening it up will bring the green into play for more golfers, which would be more fun.

The ninth hole.

Approaching the ninth green.

The ninth green.

That's it for this week, next week we'll take a look at Neshanic Valley's Lake Nine.