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Hole #1
Par 5
North Jersey opens with a dogleg right par-5, beyond a ridge only the longest hitters can reach from the tee, the fairway falling left short of the rise. The average player will hit his second shot over the ridge into a swale. The green is preceded by flanking bunkers, with a steep falloff to the left. Changes: A new green was built in 1967, at which time the slanting terrain in front of the green was smoothed out some.
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Hole #2
Par 3
The par-3 second plays straight uphill, with a cross bunker some thirty yards ahead of the green. The putting surface, which is flanked by deep side bunkers, has a semi-punchbowl effect, with an exceptionally high rise midway on the right perimeter. Changes: Lengthened to the back and left in 2005.
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Hole #3
Par 4
The third also calls for a drive to the top of a ridge cutting across the hole, this one with a pronounced left-to-right pitch although the green is best approached from the high left side of the fairway. The putting surface is closely guarded by two bunkers left (which you’ll encounter on the ninth hole) and one right, and is divided into separate sectors by a spine cutting from the right side to center-rear. Changes: The fairway once peaked in the middle and was leveled off somewhat in 1952.
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Hole #4
Par 5
This short, relatively narrow par-5 with out-of-bounds along the tree line to the left. The rolling fairway is guarded by one bunker to the right off the tee, and the blind second shot must avoid another to the left about fifty yards from home. The terrain falls to the left in the second-shot landing area, beyond which is bunkered left and across the right front. Changes: The green was enlarged and the greenside bunkers added in 1967, at which time the terrain leading to the green was leveled off somewhat. The original green was contoured much like the present seventeenth. The tee also has been extended back.
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Hole #5
Par 4
The drive on the fifth hole must carry to the top of the ridge cutting diagonally across the hole from the right, directing short hits toward out-of-bounds in the tree line to the left. From the top of the ridge the hole rolls downhill to the green, which is bunkered right and back. The putting surface is punctuated by a mound right of center. Changes: The tee was lengthened in 2005.
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Hole #6
Par 4
The par-4 sixth hole calls for a precisely played drive to the top of a ledge that forms the left side of the fairway. A fade around the tree at the corner of the right dogleg may catch the down slope and find the right rough. The green is protected by a large bunker across its left front, two others out front on the right, and a fourth behind. A small pond fronts the tee. Changes: The hole once played straightaway from a (dangerous) tee to the right of the fifth green. The green was redesigned in 1967; the old green was a punchbowl, with no bunkers. Considerable length was added to the tees in 2005.
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Hole #7
Par 3
The seventh is a short par 3 played from a elevated tee over a pond to a green bunkered across the front and right. The putting surface is two-tiered with the upper deck in a balcony across the rear. Changes: New tees were added in 2005.
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Hole #8
Par 4
The drive on the eighth hole must carry a pond and reach the top of the high ridge crossing the hole 200 yards from the green. The second shot plays downhill to a rolling green bunkered to the right. Changes: A pine to the right side of the fairway 150 yards from the green was removed and replaced by a series of bunkers, which themselves have been removed and replaced by a mounding. The pond was extended in front of the tee in 1992. A bunker short and left of the green was removed in 1994.
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Hole #9
Par 4
The ninth plays uphill from the tee to the blind fairway that falls away at the left side. From the drive zone the hole rolls downhill towards the clubhouse, to a green bunkered twice on the right side. Changes: the fairway once peaked in the middle; it was leveled in 1952. The green has been enlarged.
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Hole #10
Par 4
The tenth plays slightly downhill, falling to the right in the landing area where the hole bends in that same direction. The approach to the back-to-front two-tiered green must be threaded between overhanging trees on either side. The putting surface is protected by two bunkers left and 3 deep bunkers at the right side. Changes: Once a straightaway uphill par 5 with the old green high on the hillside overlooking the eighth green, hidden from view on the second shot; in dryer seasons, if the second shot didn't’ carry the top of the hill, it could roll back down the hill to the golfer’s feet and beyond! The hole was changed to a par 4 in the 1940's and the pines on the right added later on. In 2012 the green was rebuilt to add more cupping locations due to its severity and the pines were removed allowing for sight lines across the property. Tees were added for length and fairway bunkers were added to tighten the driving area in 2012.
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Hole #11
Par 4
The tee shot on the eleventh hole must carry a water hazard extending into the left side of the fairway, and avoid a bunker on the right. The hole plays uphill from the drive zone. The putting surface is bunkered at the left front and well ahead on the right. Changes; the tee once was higher up to the left and there was a five-foot-tall hump in the middle of the fairway 160 yards from the green. The pond in front of the tee was expanded and extended in 1984, and the right greenside and fairway bunkers were added. In 2012, the entire tee complex was restored to add length going back and to the left near the original location.
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Hole #12
Par 4
The twelfth is considered North Jersey’s signature hole. The drive must be played precisely to the top of the ridge, with the landing area narrow and canted to the right. Beyond the crest the hole drops precipitously some 80-100 feet through rough, with a creek cutting diagonally from greenside left across the fairway at the foot of the hill. Changes: There once was a bridge through the woods on the right, from tee to fairway, over a gully. The fairway was leveled gully filled. The old green was smaller and crowned with a gully through the middle, much like the seventeenth rotated ninety degrees.
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Hole #13
Par 3
The par-3 thirteenth hole climbs halfway back up the slope to a ledge green. The creek crosses the hole halfway, before the upslope. Changes: the present green was redesigned in 2002 to allow for cupping positions in the center and right side of the green.
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Hole #14
Par 4
The par- 4 fourteenth is a risk reward tee shot with a fairway bunker pinching the dogleg left. The green is bunkered right and behind, with a large mound at the right front corner. Changes: The hole was once dominated by Mae West, a pair of huge mounds dead center in the fairway, poised to catch a well-hit tee shot. In 2012 the rocky mounds were lowered and a fairway bunker was added. Once two fairways, the fairway now contours around the bunker and in keeping with the blind shot character from the old mounds, it is still a blind shot if laid back too far.
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Hole #15
Par 3
The par-3 fifteenth plays to a slightly elevated green bunkered at its front corners. Changes: the original tee was near the seventeenth green and is still used; an alternate tee was was added in 2007 gaining 15 yards.
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Hole #16
Par 4
The sixteenth tee is set behind a sizable pond, with a bunker to the right of the landing area. The approach is slightly uphill, with another fairway bunker at the end of the fairway 40 yards short of the green. The green is well bunkered deep and to the left with a well contoured green. Changes: The tee originally was an elevated one, to the left rear of the fifteenth green, and the hole was drive and pitch, with no bunkers at all. The lake was built when the new tee was built. In 2012 the green was completely rebuilt to add cupping positions and size. Also in 2012, tees were added for significant length and the fairway bunker at the end of the fairway was added as well.
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Hole #17
Par 5
The seventeenth is a narrow par-5 played from an elevated tee, with a creek (Green Brook) crossing the fairway 275 yards out. The green, which is bunkered right, features an upper front tier some twenty feet deep, beyond which it falls away, with severe undulations towards the right and left rear. Changes: The middle section of the tee is new; the creek once meandered through the fairway, but would overflow is banks, so was straightened and moved further from the tee in 1997. A bunker left of the green was added in 1994.
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Hole #18
Par 4
North Jersey’s home hole calls for a long carry over water to a landing area bunkered three times left. Beyond the bunkers the hole rises sharply to a hidden, fall-away green bunkered left and twice right. Changes: Bunkers were added flanking both sides of the drive zone; those on the right were removed in 1994. The green appears to be the original, although thought to be uncharacteristically large.
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