Long Drive

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 approachable. We later paired up with the Atlantic City High School Golf Coach and a fellow Gym teacher. I, being my early-in-the-season-lazy-self, road while he walked. $28 for a county resident to ride :-)

Green Tree Golf Course is a municipal course where county residents get a discount. It is a great course for the beginner to learn golf and to a large extent, is mostly walkers. It is a woodsy course that doesn't necessarily need a driver. There is a great deal of strategically place swampy water that provides most of the difficulty on the course. The course can be very wet if there has been a lot of rain, but since we are in something of a drought, the course was dry in and in good condition. The greens were slow with little break, but there were plenty of tough pin placements to make it a challenge.

Because a series of four-somes went off before I arrived, and no one showed up to pair with, I started on the back nine and shot an opening 41 (but played better than that). The slow greens were difficult to adjust to after frequent practice sessions at the lightning fast Seaview Resort & Spa practice facility (The Nick Faldo Golf Institute). I proceeded back to the first tee where I paired up with Gabriel. I finished the back nine with a 38 which brought me in at 79. Had I been able to better judge the green speed on the front nine, it would have been a much better round.

Green Tree is located on Sommers Point - Mays Landing Road (this road, as you might have guessed) connects Sommers Point, NJ and Mays Landing, NJ and takes about 30 minutes from AC, making this a great Atlantic City Golf option. The course provides a challenge for all skill levels and for travelers who are not county residents, the price is still extremely competitive. It is predominantly a locals course and lots of walkers (but there are plenty of riders too). However, I always seem to get paired up with good people (a big plus).