Atlantic City Golf

After a trip around the block today, the Atlantic City Gofler learned that parking for the ShopRite LPGA Classic has moved to Stockton from the Galloway Township Municipal Building. Instead of making a right off the Garden State Parkway, make a left. Follow this about a mile look for the big sign on the right for Stockton. There are also lots of LPGA signs too.

Atlantic City's primary source of revenue is derived from tourism and as such, holiday weekends are where Atlantic City thrives. As a result, golf can be a timely proposition during the holidays. Memorial Day weekend is notoriously the start of the summer tourist season, and for many travelers coming to Atlantic City, it is often their first round of the year. It is remarkable how few golfers take the time to do any practicing what-so-ever. Combine this with the challenging array of Atlantic City Golf Courses , and as wonderful as this weekend has been, which will continue to be right through the picnics tomorrow, it is a bad weekend to play golf (picky prick isn't he). Most courses will designate a round to be timed at 4 hours 15 minutes, yet only the most hoity-toity courses will enforce such a limit (and even they will be lenient). The Atlantic City Golfer assumes that the courses simply don't want to offend or interrupt many tourists rounds by a course marshal fo...

Almost as fast as the Atlantic City Golfer wrote the post on a blustery week ahead for Atlantic City Golf , the forecast has changed, and in dramatic fashion. The outlook for the start of the ShopRite LPGA Classic looks much as it did at last year's event; warm/hot, sticky and greatly subsiding winds. With a quick couple hundred balls at Blue Heron today, it was clear that the climate here has changed dramatically. Spring felt over, at least for the moment. To open the ShopRite LPGA Classic's ceremonies on March 23rd, a "Women's Forum" was held. I know not yet the details for this event, but they will be forthcoming. So, the next couple of days are prep for the volunteers and the arrival of the players. Monday is the start of the qualifying round and practice rounds for the players who have already qualified. Excitement squared!

Ever true of Atlantic City Golf in the spring, the wind is gusting and the temperatures cool. With the start of the Atlantic City ShopRite LPGA Classic coming up in the next couple of days, the wind could certainly be a factor. The ladies will be teeing it up on the Bay Course at Seaview which overlooks Atlantic City and as you might expect, the bay (Reeds Bay and Absecon Bay to be exact). The forecast for the weekend is expected to be in the 60-75 degree range but it will play cooler on the bay and even more so if the current 10-20 mph winds continue. There is however, truly great news about the blustery conditions. With these gusts, the bugs will not be a factor. The wind will simply carry them away. If I had my choice between wind or a cocktail of bugs hounding me through a round, there is no doubt which way I would go. During the final two rounds of last year's LPGA Classic, the bugs were considerably more than I was prepared for. But unlike last year, we have had a ...

Can you believe it? The Atlantic City ShopRite LPGA Classic is this week. If you haven't gotten your tickets, take a minute to get them now. This great event raised $1.8 million for local area charities. Help continue these charitable efforts that make a tangible contribution to the Greater Atlantic City Area. You can purchase your tickets online from their secure website at: http://www.shopritelpga.org . You can also call an order your tickets at 609-383-8330.

As you may or may not have noticed, the Atlantic City Golf website is in the process of a makeover. This has taken all of his time and has left you short on new posts. But, the main shell in place now with much still left to come. The ACGolfer will get back to posting new entries tomorrow and is expected to make an appearance at an Atlantic City Golf Course on Wednesday. Stay tuned there is some great new content on the way.

One of the Atlantic City area's newest golf courses is Vineyard Golf at Renault Winery , located in Egg Harbor City, NJ , about 30 minutes from Atlantic City. The course was built surrounding the winery and the golfer has the chance to actually gaze at the vineyards while they play (but not as much as you might think). When I was younger, most of this area was back woods trails where we would ride our mountain bikes. The area was pristine then, and it still is today, but in a different way. As a young course, it will have years of growing in to itself before it is in full bloom. When the season ended last year, they were still installing the pavement for the golf carts and a separate clubhouse. The clubhouse was nearly done at the time but was not open and the cart paths had a ways to go. At any rate, the course is ready and waiting to be played. The Vineyards is a very nice golf course and from the tips has some real teeth (measuring over 7,000 yards). It has a smooth, clean desig...

Atlantic City Country Club is situated on the bay overlooking Atlantic City in Northfield, NJ . The location is certainly pristine, and is in part, the reason it has earned its prestigious reputation. Of special note, Atlantic City Country Club, "proudly carries the distinctions of " The Birthplace of the Birdie," as well as being the site where the term '"Eagle' was coined. " A bold admission to say the least. As long as I can remember, Atlantic City Country Club has been private. Recently, with little or no fan fair, it went public and can now be played by anyone with a bankroll on their hip. Established in 1897, the course has been the location of six USGA Major Championship events. For the last several years, the course has been privately owned by Harrah's Hotel & Casino and was only available to high-rollers and the hotel/casino patrons staying at Harrah's, Caesars, Bally's or Showboat. To date, the ACGolfer has not played Atla...

Mays Landing Golf Club is an old time Atlantic City Golf favorite. Historically, this was one of the most played courses by the casino tourists and well-to-do locals. Over the last ten years so many golf high-end golf courses have cropped up in the Atlantic City area, Mays Landing has lost some of its luster and prominence. If you haven't played Mays Landing in a while you will notice a multitude of housing developments that have been added surrounding the course. And today, you will see even more development under way. Mostly a retirement based community surrounding the course, the near vicinity has sprouted many family oriented communities. Even now, there are even more houses being added. The unfortunate part is that attention to the course could be enhanced. Granted, it is mid-May, and the course is just now recovering from a core-punching, but the course plays much as it did more than 20 years ago. With the ever evolving quality of courses the area has to offer, Mays ...

The 2005 Atlantic City ShopRite LPGA Classic was a hot one. We chose the 2005 Season Clubhouse Pass for the family. This gave us access to the Seaview Clubhouse and the event for the entire week. It was a great perk having access to the clubhouse to sit, eat, cool off and to get a welcomed respite from a somewhat buggy affair. Since I went almost every day, it was a great value to boot. The ShopRite LPGA Classic is for sure, the biggest event in Atlantic City Golf all year long. Aside from bringing the biggest names in the LPGA, it provides a needed competitive, professional environment to New Jersey Golf (or more specifically, Southern New Jersey golf). I am anxious to see the roster for this year's event, but as of yet, this information doesn't seem to be on the Atlantic City ShopRite LPGA Classic's website, or on the LPGA's website. There is of course a qualifying round to be run early in the event, but there should be some information regarding the players ...

Golf Course News May 3, 2006 Seaview Resort & Spa announces re-routing of Bay Course "Seaview Resort & Spa, A Marriott Resort, announced that the Bay Course, one of the two Championship courses on property and host of the 2006 ShopRite LPGA Classic, has been strategically re-routed. The new layout for the Bay Course will enable Seaview’s golf management team to . . ." Daily Journal May 2, 2006 New layout doesn't worry defending champ "Organizers of the ShopRite LPGA Classic assured the crowd at the Seaview Marriott Resort Monday that defending champion and world No. 1 Annika Sorenstam . . ." Asbury Park Press Online March 16, 2006 Area fans getting a fine viewing schedule "If you love watching golf in person, then the 2006 season is the one you've been waiting for."

After considering several options yesterday, I decided on an old reliable course, McCullough's Emerald Golf Links . They had a scheduled outing that for one reason or another, didn't make it, so the course was open. After getting there and THEN asking the price, $60 I decided to move on down the street to Harbor Pines . It would have cost $109, but thankfully I didn't have to turn them down since they too were having an outing. My third choice was Mays Landing Golf Club , who it turned out was also having and outing. So, after driving all over the Atlantic City area, I settled on The Atlantic County Green Tree Golf Course . The price simply couldn't be beat. Initially, I was fortunate enough to pair up with a fellow Titleist fan from Atlantic City, but after he quit early, I paired up with a very nice gentleman who does Garage Doors in the Atlantic City area ( Gabriel Garage Doors ). It was a good paring and he was light hearted, good spirited and very approachab...

We seem to have gotten a reprieve from a storm that was heading east and it will be yet another fine day for Altantic City Golf . My first thought for the day is to play Buena Vista Country Club. It sounds like a record label for a latin group, but here in Southern New Jersey it is a fine golf course located about 40 minutes from Atlantic City. As nice as it is, I seem to rarely find myself playing the course. At $39 before 1pm, it is a good deal to boot. Not a particularly hard course, it is a traditional tree-lined course that is relatively strait forward. I forgot to ask if they had core-punch the greens, as it would seem that most courses are doing that this time of year. This may contribute to the lower rates given the weather. At any rate, it is a part of the game this time of year and you will be hard pressed to find an Altantic City Golf Course that is pristine right now.

It is another fine day for Atlantic City Golf. It has been some time since we have had a day like today. However, I won't be playing today; practice instead. I have little dude for the afternoon, so it is off to our secret practice area/playground for Adam. There are few things I like more than practicing while he romps around the practice area.

I didn't have a chance to play White Oaks today. It just didn't work out. Instead, it was 200 balls on the practice range at Blue Heron Pines ( Map ). It seems these days that I spend more time at the range than on the course. There is something missing in this equasion. What is it that golfers look forward to each time they go out? Many of us who play are constantly trying to improve and strengthen our games. But what for? I think all of us who play golf have a burning desire to play competitively at some level. Whether it is with your buddies in a foursome, a Wednesday night scramble, a league or even more, golfers need something to work towards. I often feel in this area, and it may not be localized to the Atlantic City Area, that there is no culmination or event that we work towards. Perhaps it could be the club championship, should I decide to join one again. It simply seems that I am working towards my next round and I never know where that will be until shortly b...

Southern New Jersey has escaped from the windy conditions that have plagued us for the last several weeks (at least temporarily). With an expected 70 degrees and considerably less wind, playing conditions for Atlantic City Golf are at its finest. The only question is, "where to play today?" As is so often the case, it will be tough to escape the pressures of the office, but where there is a will, there is a way. My initial thought for this fine afternoon in Atlantic City is to try Seaview Marriott Resort & Spa . The only problem with Seaview is that they too know how beautiful a day it is and price their rounds accordingly. $99 before 3:00pm is too steep for me. The always affordable, challenging and poorly maintained Frog Rock Golf Course in Hammonton, NJ is an option, but it is not the greatest course for a single to pair up. The most affordable option would have to be Green Tree, an Atlantic County Public Course. This course simply isn't a challenge and a ...

Why aren't our rounds this exciting? Because we aren't good enough to make shots like that under those conditions... Sunday was entirely too busy to watch the conclusion of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans so I had a chance last night to watch it on video. The passion and frustration was apparent in Chris Couch's eyes as he came into the closing holes on Sunday. I had not seen that level of desire in a competitor's eyes in a long time. The intensity in his eyes when he holed out that chip-shot to win, after he had seemingly lost his chance to win outright, was exhilarating. The frustration was equally noticeable in Charles' eyes when he made that shot. And how could you not feel for Fred, who possibly lost one of his last chances at glory on the PGA Tour . We know there will be much more to come from Fred on the Senior Tour, but there is no comparing the two tours. These smaller events truly give the lesser players a fighting chance to make a name for themselves...

Anyone living in the northeast the last couple of weeks are well aware of the blustery conditions facing us. However, the weather has been beautiful. Days in the 60's with sun that won't stop and only a rare, sporadic event of rain over the last several weeks. These conditions make any golfer yearn for the course. When you add the wind factor, you realize just how much this changes the desire to be out on the course. Steady 15-35 mph winds have made Atlantic City Golf an even greater challenge than normal. Friday it was off to McCullough's Emerald Golf Links ( Map ) for a jaunt around the course. I got a late start and there was an outing, which made it even more difficult to get out. After slumming around the clubhouse, they modified me of a three-some that is about to go off on the third hole. I raced out and without any warmup I was teeing off. To say the wind was a factor on Friday is a monumental understatement. Clad in thermals, turtle-neck and a solid windbreaker, ...