Metedeconk National
Just played Metedeconk in August 2021. Our work buddy John got us on through a friend of his who is a member. Keep in mind that in the review below that it was about 100 degrees and 3000% humidity when we played. I broke a sweat putting the tee in the ground on the first tee.
First let’s talk location: Metedeconk is in Jackson, NJ which is in the Pineys by Six Flags/Great Adventure and right off 195. 195 is the border between Giants fans and Eagles fans in NJ. Our office used to be right on the south-side of that line. It was a hoot – half of the office were Eagles fans and the other half Giants fan – this creates a lot of ribbing. I’m pretty sad that I can no longer enjoy Eli and OBJ being Giants. Nothing gave me more happiness than when loss after loss to the Eagles resulted in Eli face…
And of course there is this…
I hate OBJ but God I’ll miss these two clowns! But I digress.
Metedeconk is blessed with some great real estate. First the topography and soil is similar to the hallowed grounds of Pine Valley. Plus, like Pine Valley, Metedeconk is blessed with acreage so each hole is a little island away from the other holes and there are no homes or other encroachments to impact your visual enjoyment. Finally, like PV, you have on-property cabins that you can book. I would love to come back here and stay in the cabins before or after the round. We always did that at Pine Valley and it really enhanced the experience. Not to belabor the PV comparisons but Metedeconk is challenging, too – certainly in the same class as PV and others. While there is not as much native scrub here as you get with Pine Valley, the course is super tight.
So for our sweltering round, we got to enjoy carts as I think the caddie master saw four out of shape guys and said, yeah it’s 100 degrees so I’ll put your fat, sorry asses in a cart. For the most part, I think most golfers walk here. We did have two Jamaican forecaddies and can’t believe they found as many wayward balls as they did in the thick woods. In fact after losing a few in the water/crap on the front. I played the back with one ball the whole way thanks to their keen retriever-like abilities.
Metedeconk has three nines and they mix and match those for your 18. Unlike most courses that added a third nine or full 18 later on, the added nine is not only as good as the original, most would argue it’s the best nine on the course. Well, the 18 we played started on the 19th (or the first of the new nine) and then we played the first nine as the back nine – this is considered the Tournament Course. We played the blues (member tees) which measures nearly 6,700 yards. That was probably too much as the slope from there was a tough 146 – yikes. In hindsight, they offer a member/middle tee combo that measures just over 6,300 with a 143 slope (still tough but not the back breaking 146 from the blues).
Metedeconk is an RTJ course (with an assist by and the new nine designed by Roger Rulewich). Like other RTJ courses I’ve played (and rank highly) Metedeconk lays out all of your trouble right in front of you in the form of bunkers and water features. I generally think his designs are sneaky tough but there is nothing sneaky about this and Spyglass – both are just smash you in the face with a shovel tough.
The first on the Tournament (or 19th) starts you out simply enough. Dogleg left with a bunker protecting the dogleg that only a really big hitter can carry. It’s only 370 yards and the nine handicap. So how did I take a six? Easy, yanked my second shot into the trees beyond and left of the trap. From the Google aerial view, this area looks benign enough. It is not! Deep weeds surround the trees there and any ball yanked into it is feeding the golf gods. Drop three, four on and two putt. Damn. The greens were a little slower than we expected but that may be a result of them not shaving them all the way down owing to the heat and potential damage.
The second gives you your first true sense of the claustrophobia you will feel throughout the rest of the round. Slight dogleg right with a trap right and trees blocking any shot too far over there. The greens weren’t too crazy but most were protected by one or more bunkers.
The third is a 530-yard par five. Another bunker right staring you down from the tee which is carryable. The entire length of the hole is framed by trees and gnarly underbrush. There is a waste area right in front of the elevated green and a nasty greenside bunker to carry but put my third shot to within 10 feet and promptly two-putted for par here. Four is the number one handicap. It’s tight. Ball in the underbrush that even our forecaddies couldn’t find. Double!
Five (or 23) is the first par three. Funny thing about it though, As you see in the picture below, the 12th green from the nine we didn’t play is directly behind the fifth green and at least two of our foursome thought this was the green and couldn’t believe how short they hit it until realizing they were on the correct green.
Six is a shortish par five and 17 is another par three with elevated green, bunker left and schmeggies all around. Got my second par on the eighth (another tight 400+ yard par four) and nine features a green hugging a pond that even if you hit a 250-yard drive off the blues, it’s a 170-yard carry to the green. My partner laid up in great shape so I tried the shot but yanked my five iron a bit so had to chip over the trap from some schmeggies (which I didn’t do well) then two-putt for another double. Ugh a 48 and two lost balls.
The back on the Tournament nine is the original opening nine and whether I started playing better, had the proper amount of Miller Lites, or the nine was a bit easier, I scored much better, Ten, like so many other holes here is tight and has a bunker left to avoid. Eleven is a l-o-n-g par three (190 yards from the blues) that is well bunkered on either side. After a crappy hybrid off the tee, I was able to flip it in close but alas missed the par putt again. Twelve is probably our favorite hole on the course. A 557-yard par five. Two really good shots will get you a long carry over a pond to a tiny green that is canted toward the water with a menacing bunker there to carry as well. I had too much fade on my drive, had to draw a hybrid around some trees (I did) but the distance was a bit much to bite off so I laid up to about 80 yards and flipped a wedge about 10 feet away and yes missed the par putt yet again. The photo below shows where my buddy’s second shot ended up and he put his third into the bunker but chipped in for birdie (and to win the six-hole match as my partner so my putt didn’t matter anyway).
The final six is more of the same, tree-lined, tight, bunkers to avoid on the drive, well-bunkered greens. The highlight for me was the par-three 15th, while it’s the 18th handicap on the course, it was not easy. You need to carry the junk to a well-bunkered, elevated green. I put a hybrid on off the tee and won the hole with a three putt. Sixteen is a short par four with a pond protecting the left-side of the green. Eighteen is a dogleg right with an uphill, heavily bunkered green. I forgot to take a picture but borrowed one from the web so you can see the approach on the final hole/picture below.
In all, Metedeconk is a nearly top 100 golf course IMO. The knock is that some of the holes are repetitive and if they cleared out the scrub under the trees, it would probably make for a more enjoyable round for the average hack. The pros are the conditioning, design, exclusivity, the staff (all of whom are great including the locker room attendant and caddies), and the back patio. If you can get on here, again I recommend a stay in the cabins. If you’re doing a central Jersey golf trip, I recommend you stay closer to the Manasquan/Asbury Park area. If you have the means to get on here, then you can probably get on Manasquan River (played it and very nice) and Hollywood (never played but is a top 100 on a few rankings). This is Nirvana for the Springsteen fans. Meh. The publics closer to Metedeconk aren’t anything to get too pumped up about. If you bring the family, they can spend a day or two at Great Adventure (which is a great park).
Golf Scrapbook 