Pine Barrens Golf Club

The course at Pine Barrens Golf Club began life in 1998 as a pay-and-play facility until it fell into private ownership a decade later. Designed by Eric Bergstol of Empire Golf Management, this 7,118-yard layout lies within a 420-acre heavily wooded property near Jackson Township, close to the New Jersey Wildlife and Game Refuge.

Waste bunkers totally dominate the design here, with huge expanses of sand found at every hole. Some of the larger traps are actually shoulder deep (and capable of consuming a small person, never mind a golf ball) so golfers suffering from eremikophobia (fear of sand) be warned!

Holes 1 to 9 are where a score can be made, as it’s by far the easier of the two nines. The 389-yard opener and 437-yard 8th are certainly solid par four holes and the short par four 7th, with its narrow approach, is another fine hole on the outward half.

On the back nine, the pace picks up at the heavily-bunkered 10th, culminating in a very strong finishing stretch that starts at the long par three 14th and ends at the 607-yard 18th, where the fairway swings left to the home green.