Somerset Hills Country Club
August 2023 – Somerset Hills is located in north Jersey and Golf Magazine has it ranked as #43 in the world and #26 in the US (Golf Digest only slightly lower). That is high praise for a club who refuses to get “woke” in order to get any tourney. For that reason, SHCC flies under the radar for most golfers and only the design nerds have generally played or yearn to play it or even know about it.
I’ll dedicate some time to try and do a review below. We got on through a Friars Club outing that was promoted in the Events tab on Thousand Greens. I have been super pleased with Thousand Greens so far (been using it for a little under a year). My home club is rated high enough that I can request play at most clubs and the experience has been great. Then for top-tier clubs like SHCC, here and there you will see Events pop up that you can jump in, I highly recommend the app if you like to try different private clubs.
I played with my brother, my buddy Bill and his friend Steve. I had met Steve just earlier (a member of Baltusrol) when we played Lower together and we set up a time to play Upper right before it closes for the remodel. As he was making a tee time it was great to know I was already in the Baltusrol system as a guest so any time any of you Baltusrol members want to invite me up, I’m easy to find!
So what do I want to blather on about before getting into my review? Since we’re just about ready to kick off the 2023 NFL season, why don’t I give you my five crazy predictions on the season.
- The Bengals will beat the Saints in the Super Bowl. As much as I want the Eagles to get back, they have a brutal schedule and are starting a lot of newbies on D. I think this is the step back year before stepping forward in 2024 and winning it all. The Saints have an easy schedule in a cakewalk of a division and should get homefield advantage throughout. They’ll eke through a soft NFC and get exposed in the Supe.
- Dallas will win the NFC East. I hate saying this more than saying anything but I think Dak will rebound this year. Of course they will choke in the playoffs again.
- Aaron Rodgers is cooked. And the Jets will be a hot mess this year.
- The Giants will regress as well. Don’t know, just not feeling it about Danny Dimes – The G-Men will come to REALLY regret that contract.
- The Cardinals will get the first pick in the draft and Jonathon Gannon will become the Rich Kotite of 21st century coaches and be one and done.
Can’t wait to see how wrong I am and have to add an update regarding my trip to Vegas in February to watch the Eagles win the Supe. To the course.
Taken from Geeked on Golf. That’s actually a pretty good blog to visit for info on top courses.
First hole – One is a long, tough par 4 to kick off your round. We played the course as a shotgun and started on two so played this last. We played the whites so our distance was considerably shorter but still needed over 220 to beat the dogleg and left my drive right behind the apple trees. Great punch out but put my 9 into the right bunkers and could only barely get out, another chip and ended my day with a double.
Second Hole: Par three, 176 from the whites. Treacherous bunker short left. Put a five on the apron for a flip wedge and rimmed out par putt, bogey.
Third Hole: This is from where my drive ended up, about 140 in. Par four playing 363 from the whites. Was driving pretty well all day. At least in the fairway though not long. Another plateau green. Greens were slower than normal – maybe they did that for the tourney. On in reg and three putt for bogey.
Fourth Hole: Called Dolomites. I kept thinking of Men at Work and a dolomite sandwich but we know that is Vegemite so looked it up and it’s a kind of limestone. I think they named it this for the little pimples around the green. All I know is that this is one l-o-n-g golf hole. I bogeyed getting not one but two pops! So that was a net birdie and 3 points for the Stableford tournament.
Seventh Hole: Yeah I know I missed 5 and 6. Five is a short but uphill and when we played into the wind 326-yard par four (bogey) and six is a shortish par five that doglegs right (bogey). The Golfadelphia dude does a good job describing the fifth (with photos) if you want to read about it. And the Gurus call the sixth the best par 5 on the course. The seventh is super long – a 453-yard par four from the whites. Ouchie! I took a double traversing the landscape on the way to the green.
Eighth Hole: 205 yards from the whites. SHCC has one of the best collection of par threes of any course I’ve played. I hate to admit this, but took out my driver – and was short left but at least not in the nasty bunker right. For now. I skulled my chip and voila was in and up and down from there got me another card-wrecking double.
Ninth Hole: This is from the tee. Pretty neat hole. Par five and the tee shot is more intimidating looking than it actually is. I hit a perfect drive for me but my buddy Bill out-drove the fairway and lost it in the fescue around the cross bunkers. I stupidly took out my three wood for the first time all day and joined him three minutes later. Took an ugly seven after we couldn’t find the ball despite seeing exactly where it went in. Below is nine from where I hit it after losing it in the fescue. I know I should’ve re-hit blah-blah-blah but did not collect any points in the Stableford for it so I’m taking the 7!
Tenth Hole: Back-to-back par fives. This is a short one. Drive was right and just short of the bunkers. Great second shot then a duffed chip. Followed by a so-so chip. And a three putt. Yuck, things were not looking good for me. You big hitters should keep it left but do not use a yellow ball, The fairway abuts the driving range and there had to be a hundred yellow range balls in the fairway. Better that than an ugly net though!
Eleventh Hole: Favorite hole on the course. You need a huge drive to beat the dogleg but not so huge as to go into the waste area. I don’t have enough to beat the corner and worse yet, I left it out right and was completely blocked…
Here’s where my drive on 11 ended up. I figured I would try to bend it around the tree but keep a nine in case I didn’t bend it enough. I didn’t and left it just in front of the bunker in front of the pump house and a great 9 onto the green for a par net eagle (again getting two pops here) and a nice +4 Stableford score. Take a good look at the green in the distance. That is twelve that I forgot to take a photo of – despite it being the most visually appealing hole on the course. Grr.
Thirteenth Hole: Pretty boring photo. Damn I wish I took one of 12. But 13 is 393 from the whites. Blind drive. My buddy Bill didn’t see the group ahead of us and his 300+ yard poke rolled up to them. They were all mouthy to the caddie about that, Losers – probably Giants fans! I took a bogey after consecutive pars.
Fourteenth Hole: Comes back up next to 13. I remember on this hole featured a tough green complex (see below). Took a double.
Here’s 14 green. Put it in the sand then barely got out and a three-putt double for me.
Fifteenth Hole: Dogleg right. The great thing about this golf hole is the approach shot with a creek that surrounds the green. See below…
Sixteenth Hole: The final par three. Do not be short right! I actually was just off left but bogeyed.
Seventeenth Hole: Called Quarry. From the tee box we were at you’re very tempted to stay left. In fact this is the hole off the tee you need to aim for the tree you see to the left of the green. But there is another tree left of that – so make sure you get the correct tree. It looks way right off the tee. Bogey.
Eighteenth Hole: The closer at SHCC is not long. We played it to just 301 from the whites. It’s an uphill drive that cants right so keep it left. If you can crest the hill (I did) then you will have a wedge in. Unfortunately I pulled the wedge left but avoided the bunkers. Photo of my approach is below. Took a final bogey for a pretty unsatisfying 95 (I had yet to play one and would double that).
Golf Scrapbook 