Beer of the Week

The beer: Stockton Red Maple Coffee Porter

The brewery: Hidden Sands Brewing Company, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey

Description (from Untappd): "Debuting our Collaboration with Stockton University, our Red Maple Coffee Porter using a blend of red maple syrup locally produced and Vermont dark robust maple syrup. Typically conditions on locally roasted Ocean City Coffee Company beans."

Would I buy it again? Unfortunately, I wasn't absolutely blown away by this beer. It was okay, but the coffee aspect really dominated. I didn't get all that much maple syrup here, which is what I was looking for. It wasn't overly bitter or anything, so the maple was doing something, but this beer just felt a little boring.

Review: Old Bridge Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to check out the back nine at Old Bridge, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a very short par 5 at just 465 yards, and it's bunkerless as well. However, there is plenty of trouble to worry about. Not so much on the tee shot, though there is native area lurking right, but beyond that, this is a tough hole. About 300 yards out, a pond eats into the fairway, significantly narrowing the playing corridor as it winds between the water and the high grass right. If you did not hit a good drive and are looking to lay up, you do not have a generous amount of space to work with, which I'm not a huge fan of. You're very much encouraged to go for this green in two if you have any capability to do so, which is fine if you hit a reasonable drive, but not everyone will manage that. This hole feels too trivial for good players and needlessly difficult for not-so-good players.

The tenth hole.

Approaching the tenth green.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a fairly long par 3 at 220 yards where the difficulty can vary wildly depending on where the hole is cut. For our round, the task was pretty straightforward, as the flag was located right of the large bunker that takes up half of the front of the green. Not an easy shot, considering the length, but not a complicated one, and missing short or right leaves a very easy chip. But if that flag is tucked behind the bunker on the left side of the green, all of a sudden the tee shot becomes very tough indeed. A long iron over a bunker is not something to be treated lightly. Of course, you can play out safely right, but that will leave a long putt in prime three-putt range. 

The eleventh hole.

The twelfth hole is the longest par 4 on the course, coming in at 440 yards (and it was into the wind for our round as well). The tee shot is very wide open if you use a 3 wood, but if you want to use driver, the fairway is narrowed by a bunker right and the pond from the tenth hole on the left. Of course, while laying back is safe, you'll be left with a long iron to an undulating green with a bunker left. We didn't get it for our round, but there's a shelf back right of the green that, if the flag was cut back there, would make this hole especially nasty. This is a tough hole, but seeing as Old Bridge is generally a pretty kind golf course, I think this works fine.

The twelfth hole.

Approaching the twelfth green.

The twelfth green.

The thirteenth hole is a par 4 of modest length, playing just 350 yards to a very wide fairway. However, a large bunker from the left pinches in at driver distance, forcing a decision. Do you lay back to the wide portion of the fairway, or do you challenge the bunker? Long hitters can carry it, which will leave a little 50-yard pitch to a wide-open green, as the single greenside bunker is right. Personally, I don't think the risk is worth it, as the hole is so short even using a 3 wood or long iron on the tee will leave a wedge on the second shot. But because the hole isn't very long, it can tease you into making a decision that isn't in your best interest. Honestly, it's a more interesting hole than it appears at first glance.

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole, oddly enough, is an example of the utility of trees. At 555 yards, this is the longest hole on the course, and with scrub, trees, and tall grass right, your eye will naturally be drawn right. Which is fine, but where it becomes an issue is the second shot. The idea here is that, if you're out of position on the tee shot, you're supposed to lay up short of the cross-bunkers cutting across the fairway 125 yards short of the green, which will leave a long, semiblind third shot. But why would you do that when you can just go around the bunkers left? There's nothing over there, and actually, you get a better angle at the green from left of the fairway. A tree or two would block that route off, but for now, the neat cross-bunkers are utterly trivial and this hole is basically just an exercise in not missing right.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

The fifteenth hole is a 200-yard par 3, and if the flag looks a little shorter than usual when you step onto the tee, there's a reason for that. This is a massive Biarritz-style green, where the center is 2-3 feet lower than the two sections at the front and back. It's not a pure Biarritz, I don't think, since the central swale is so large you can put the flag in it and of course bunkers don't flank both sides, but honestly, I'm not going to complain. This is a really fun hole, and an excellent interpretation of a classic template hole.

The fifteenth hole.

If you're playing the sixteenth hole from all the way back, it's a bit of a brute at 455 yards. For most people, it's a modest 375-yard par 4. Once again, this hole could use some trees, and not just because it shortens the hole. The next tee is almost literally on the direct line between the sixteenth tee and green, and placed quite close to where intrepid golfers like me, playing from the 375-yard tees, will have their driver end up. It's a little hazardous, not going to lie.

If you're playing from the back tees, it's not so much of an issue, and the hole plays much more as it's supposed to. There isn't any trouble on the tee shot, but the second shot is a different story, as there's a pond lurking left of the green. The slopes right do feed in toward the green, so a nice running draw is the ideal shot to hit on your second shot. The green itself is medium sized and typically undulating.

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole is a mid-length par 4 where a fairway bunker pinches the fairway at about 260 yards. It can be carried by long hitters, who by aiming down the left side can avoid having to worry about the trees right. They're basically out of range, so you don't have to worry much about losing a golf ball, but they can still block out people who hit big slices from going at the green on their second shot. The green here is small for this course, though being surrounded by fairway does make it appear smaller. The green slopes from left to right and has two tiers, front and back, with a knob dominating the right-middle portion.

The seventeenth hole.

Approaching the seventeenth green.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole is 415 yards, and while I wouldn't call this a difficult hole, per se, it's definitely not a birdie opportunity. There are two bunkers right of the landing area, but it's the second shot where things get difficult. The green is large, but it is incredibly rumpled and undulating, with knobs and hollows all over. There are no straight putts on this green, and the peril of three putting is always present. It's also the most well-bunkered green on the course, with the left side in particular guarded by three bunkers. A front-left hole location would be a nasty one. 

The eighteenth hole.

Approaching the eighteenth green.

The eighteenth green.

Old Bridge is really a course that relies on its greens. From tee to green, I would call the layout above average but certainly nothing to write home about. But once you reach the green, the game is elevated significantly. They're not the best greens I've ever seen, but they're a lot of fun. I especially like the Biarritz green at the fifteenth, but some other noteworthy greens include the final hole, the seventh, and the third. 

Also, it's just nice to have a new golf course being built that isn't a $500 destination course, or just flat-out private. Particularly one even mildly close to my neck of the woods. The rates are a little pricy, but this is a new golf course in a state with pretty high cost of living. It's $70 to walk on weekdays and $90 on weekends. Old Bridge isn't going to win any value contests, but I don't think it's absolutely unreasonable. At the very least, there is a walking rate, and this course is quite walkable. 

All things considered, I would play Old Bridge again. Not on a weekend, but a weekday round sounds nice, and I do think the greens are worth seeing. It's a fun round, and I'm glad I played here.

Review: Old Bridge Golf Club (Part 1)

There were two golf courses I really wanted to see on my recent Garden State sojourn. I've already explained why Francis Byrne fell through, which made the round at Old Bridge Golf Club, located directly south of NYC across Raritan Bay, all the more urgent. I wasn't about to miss out on both golf courses I'd come for.

It's been 15 years since golf courses were being built at any reasonable rate in the United States, but the new developments have not been geographically well dispersed. Some states have seen lots of love, while others have seen very little. And unfortunately, the Northeast has, as a whole, been left behind. Plenty of restorations and renovations, to be sure, but very few genuinely new golf courses. Even Inness was previously a golf course, though it bears little, if any, resemblance to what came before.

Old Bridge is an exception. There was no golf course here before, it's brand new in every sense of the word, having opened in April 2024 to ... well, not much fanfare at all. It's not a golf course to capture attention; it's of modest length (just 6,500 yards) and was designed by a relative no-name. Stephen Kay is not exactly a household name in the golf course design business, though he is quite prolific in New Jersey. As a matter of fact, of the four New Jersey golf courses I've reviewed in the past few months, he had a hand in three of them (he designed Old Bridge and Architects, and oversaw the renovation of Hendricks Field). He also did McCullough's, which I reviewed way back in 2017. This is the first course of his where he was allowed a free hand, so let's find out how good Mr. Kay is when he's behind the wheel.

The first hole, a 360-yard par 4, is a distinctly mild and generous start to the round, at least on the tee shot. The fairway is wide, with two small bunkers left to threaten longer hitters. There's also a pond for the longest golfers, but that won't trouble most. A solid drive will leave a wedge second, and this is where things get a little trickier. While the green is large and guarded by just one small bunker, it is very undulating and separated into distinct sections. Find the wrong section of green and three putting becomes a very distinct possibility. 

The first hole.

Approaching the first green.

The first green.

The second hole is a short, if not quite drivable par 4 at 325 yards, but in sharp contrast to the previous hole, this fairway is narrow and staunchly defended by water, tall grass, and bunkers left along with more sand and forest right. Use driver and you have very little margin for error. Of course, laying up doesn't buy you more space, so I can't say driver is exactly the wrong play here, just unnecessary considering the hole's diminutive length. The green is medium sized and features far fewer rolls and section than the first, so if you do find the fairway with the tee shot, birdie is definitely achievable.

The second hole.

The second green.

The third hole is a short 150-yard par 3 playing to a large, undulating green separated into three distinct sections. Each one of those sections is protected by at least one of the three bunkers dotted around the green. Of course, you could play for the center of the green, but if you end up on the wrong section, two putting will be a tough task, just like on the first hole. Obviously, this is a pretty easy hole either way, but it's not a complete pushover and I will never complain about seeing short par 3s.

The third hole.

The third green.

The fourth hole marks the start of a six-hole stretch that weaves in and out of dense, freshly cut forest. This hole, a short 500-yard par 5 bends gently to the right between the tree lines and two fairway bunkers, one right to catch weak slices and one left to catch hooks. The fairway is pretty wide, which is nice because you do need to hit a solid driver in order to bring the green into view on the second shot. The next shot is gently downhill, with the green tucked into a little hollow about 30 yards behind a bunker. A long iron or fairway wood that just carries that third bunker will bound down nicely onto the green, which is again quite undulating.

The fourth hole.

Approaching the fourth green.

The fourth green.

The fifth hole is a mid-length par 4 that plays uphill to a fairway that's mostly blind, hidden away at the top of the hill out on the open section of the golf course. The hole is bunkerless, but with trees lurking close in driver may not be the automatic choice, though even a mediocre driver will reach the top of the hill, bringing the green into view on the second shot. The green itself is quite large, though there is a pond right to give some danger to the approach. Still, this is not a particularly complex hole.

The fifth hole.

Approaching the fifth green.

The fifth green.

The sixth hole, on the surface, is quite similar to the fourth: Both are par 5s of roughly similar length (this one is 520 yards), both are bounded by trees, and both play gently downhill as they curve off to the right. However, the tee shot here is much trickier, thanks to the narrower gap between the trees and the right-to-left tilt of the fairway. Basically, if you want to hit driver here and bring the green into reach with your second shot, you have to either clip the right trees or hit a fade to hold the fairway.

For those few who can pull that off, the green is medium sized and tucked behind a pair of small bunkers as it projects out into the forest. The rest of us will have to be content with a lay-up that flirts with some mounding about 75 yards short; from there you'll have the best angle to approach the flag. A pitch shot from the right side of the fairway will have to go directly over the bunkers, and that's a tough shot to pull off, especially with unplayable dense forest lurking so close behind.

The sixth hole.

Approaching the sixth green.

The sixth green.

The seventh hole is Old Bridge's first par 3, coming in at 195 yards. The website claims it's a reverse Redan, which I suppose I can vaguely see after the fact, particularly with the mounding left to kick balls in toward the green, but that wasn't the impression I got while playing the hole. While the green does have a front-left to back-right slope to it, it's also got some impressive internal undulations, including but not limited to a trough running through the middle. This is a very tough green to putt. It's a solid par 3, just not a Redan.

The seventh hole.

The seventh green.

The eighth hole is a fairly long par 4 at 425 yards that plays to a wide fairway carved through the forest. There are two bunkers left and the fairway itself is tilted quite sharply from right to left, with the right side particularly canted. To avoid a steeply hanging lie on the second shot, you do need to skirt the two bunkers. A solid drive will leave a short iron into the green, which is large, undulating, and set within a series of mounds, forming a punchbowl of sorts. Slight misses will bounce in toward the green, while bigger misses will be repelled, bounding away into trouble.

The eighth hole.

Approaching the eighth green.

The eighth green.

The ninth hole is 170 yards and is one of those "hit the green or else" sort of holes. The green is generous and not hugely complicated, but with water in front, sand left, and dense woods long, there's no room to miss on this par 3. Since the other par 3s are generally pretty kind and easy to play, I don't mind this one being tough.

The ninth hole.

The ninth green.

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

Review: The Architects Golf Club (Part 2)

It's time to take a look at the back nine at Architects, go here to see the front.

The tenth hole is a shortish 375-yard par 4 done in the style of George Thomas. Since I am not a southern Californian, my experience with Mr. Thomas's work is second-hand at best, so I can't really say for certain how well this captures his design essence. It is a solid-enough hole, strategically speaking: Challenge and carry the large, sprawling fairway bunker to the upper fairway, and you'll have just a simple pitch into the green. Bail out left, and you'll have a longer second over a second large bunker. The hole's intent would have worked better if it hadn't been playing straight downwind, making the carry over the fairway bunker almost trivial, but I definitely think this hole would work well the majority of the time.

The tenth hole.

The tenth green.

The eleventh hole is a 540-yard par 5 that became a bit of a backbreaker for our round, as it was pointed straight into the teeth of the wind. The hole is an homage to William Flynn and features a sea of bunkers and fescue in the corner of the fairway as it sweeps from left to right up a big hill. The bunkering is a fairly obvious nod to Shinnecock Hills, though it's much more artistically done there, not to mention more coherent, design-wise. The bunkers here kind of stick out. 

If you can carry the bunker sea, the green does come into range with the second shot, and since it's bunkerless, the reward for a bold carry on the drive is great. If you can't or don't carry the sand, the second shot needs to be threaded between three fairway bunkers guarding the lay-up zone; do that and third will be a pretty easy pitch to a small but straightforward green. The Architects website notes that William Flynn wasn't a big fan of wild greens, which does track with the single Flynn course that I've played.

The eleventh hole.

Approaching the eleventh green.

The eleventh green.

The twelfth hole, if nothing else, certainly possesses a fine view of the hills lining the Delaware River valley. The hole, a 190-yard par 3, is an ode to Charles Banks, the lesser-known member of the MacRaynor trio, and on the surface appears to be a Redan. It's got the bunker scheme and the green is tilted in the appropriate left-to-right fashion, but the green surface lacks the signature front left to back right tilt that encourages a running draw. The green is more subtly bowl shaped, which acts to catch slightly wayward shots and keep them on the green.

Personally, I think they should have shortened this hole by 30 yards, made the green large and wild, and made it a Short. The land is great for an Eden, but since we've already had one and I'm not sure what sort of template hole would work in that spot, we can keep the Macdonald tribute the same. But I will defend my opinion from last week; the eighth should be the Redan and this should be something else.

The twelfth hole.

I don't think there's an architect out there who's been misrepresented more thoroughly by his most well-known golf course than Alister Mackenzie. Mackenzie is far, far more than Augusta National. But that's what we've got here, an homage to Augusta rather than Mackenzie, and it's a terrible homage at that. For one thing, there's nowhere to hit the drive; with a pond left and a large bunker right, the drive is incredibly tight unless you want to hit a long iron. Mackenzie espoused space more than anything, he wanted every golfer to find a way to play his courses. This is not that.

Anyway, if you do thread the needle on this shortish 525-yard par 5, you can go for the green in two, which is a mishmash of the 12th and 13th greens at Augusta. It's got the twelfth's narrowness and the numerous back bunkers and fronting creek of the thirteenth. Unless you have a shortish iron in hand, hitting this green in two is just not feasible, the target is just too small. So, to summarize, this is a terrible attempt at Mackenzie and easily the worst homage Architects has to offer.

The thirteenth hole.

Approaching the thirteenth green.

The thirteenth green.

The fourteenth hole is a very long, if not particularly complex, par 4, playing over 480 yards from all the way back to a rolling fairway with a single bunker right. This is a ode to Perry Maxwell, who I am completely unfamiliar with beyond knowledge of his greens, so I don't know if a wildly undulating fairway with no flat stances to be found checks out. We'll just go with it and turn our attention to the green, which is what Maxwell was known for. The green favors a running approach from the left, fading around the greenside bunker and taking the downslope in toward the middle of the green. As for the famous Maxwell rolls, there was at least an attempt to get them right. I've never experienced them myself, so I don't know how accurate this attempt was, but the fourteenth green is at least not an easy one to putt.

The fourteenth hole.

Approaching the fourteenth green.

The fourteenth green.

So prolific was Donald Ross as a designer that Architects deigned to give him a second homage. It's an odd choice to give him a second long par 4, but honestly, I think this hole does the best job of capturing the essence of any architect. The tee shot plays uphill to a plateau fairway where the landing area is blind. From there, the second shot plays down to a medium-size green with a small ridge running in from the back. There are two bunkers short, though they're not actually greenside and thus not too in play if you've hit a solid drive. Ross loved the up-down-up or down-up-down par 4, so this tracks pretty well. It's simple, fun, and more interesting that you'd think. There's a reason Ross got so much work.

The fifteenth hole.

Approaching the fifteenth green.

The fifteenth green.

As the round comes to a close, we actually leave the Golden Age with an homage to Dick Wilson, one of the most prolific architects of the post-WWII era. The sixteenth hole suits his style well, being a long and tough par 4. The hole is a slight dogleg left, with a cluster of bunkers guarding the straight line to the green. From there, the second shot is to a green slightly built up and elevated, and surrounded by six bunkers. It's tough and demanding, which is exactly the sort of hole that became popular in the late 40s and 50s. 

The sixteenth hole.

Approaching the sixteenth green.

The sixteenth green.

The seventeenth hole jumps back to the 20s for an homage to Stanley Thompson, Canada's most well-known golf course designer. Since this is New Jersey, not the Canadian Rockies, this par 3 lacks a certain wow factor that Thompson's most well-known work possesses in spades. No walls of spruce lining the fairway or skyscraping granite peaks in the background here. Still, Thompson was known for his sprawling, complex bunkers, and this 200-yard par 3 certainly has plenty of those. The green here is narrow and angled, making it a tough target in amongst all the sand; it's even tougher considering how open to the wind the hole is. The green itself is not complicated, but I do still think this is a decent hole.

The seventeenth hole.

The seventeenth green.

The eighteenth hole, of course, represents the most well-known golf course architect of them all: Robert Trent Jones. I don't think even Donald Ross can quite compare. Oddly enough, for a man whose work could be notoriously challenging, the eighteenth hole at Architects isn't a back-breaker. The tee shot is tough, with four bunkers pinching in the fairway right at the landing area, but this hole is only 400 yards. You don't need to hit driver. The green is quite large but very undulating, and is protected on all sides by sand. All in all, I actually really like this as a finishing hole; it's tough and demands precision, but since the hole isn't ridiculously long it feels manageable. At least it isn't a 480-yard par 4 with water in play.

The eighteenth hole.

The eighteenth green.

If nothing else, Architects is set upon some very attractive land. This isn't quite the realm of the Delaware Water Gap, which is a bit further north, but still, the front nine in particular has some amazing mountain views.

But of course, Architects came in with an ambition, to provide tribute to the great golf course designers of the Golden Age. Does it do that? Uh, sort of. I can see the intent on a few holes, particularly toward the end of the round, but sometimes the intent and execution are very far apart. The eighth is nothing like a Raynor hole, and while Alister Mackenzie is already rolling in his grave over what's happened to Augusta, the godawful tribute here is surely not easing his pain. Also, and this was a problem with the other tribute course in New Jersey, the greens lacked ambition. This should be a fun concept, and the greens should be wild and wacky to go along with that. The Golden Age architects were almost never ones to shy away from wild greens, Architects shouldn't either.

Also, while conditions were solid, the round definitely cost more than it should; Architects may be physically kind of close to New York City, but the shining center of the universe this is not. The course is fine and fun in places, and I'd definitely call it above average, but it isn't worth the steep price of entry. Also, they make you take carts, which is an immediate red flag. The course is plenty walkable and the cart paths are poorly designed, I promise you my brothers and I spent more time driving our carts out of the way and walking back to our golf balls than we would have if we'd been able to just walk to our shots in the first place. Cut the price in half and let us walk, and maybe I'd think about coming back. But for a hundred dollars plus, absolutely not.