McCullough's Emerald Green Golf Links Review
On my summer vacation I decided to play McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links located Egg Harbor Township, NJ. Every year I go down the shore and try to choose a different course to play located in the Atlantic City area. This year I wanted to try something a little different and thought a links style course would be fun and was I ever right. Pulling up to the course you could tell it was different. The long grass between holes, the rolling and hilly fairways, the numerous amounts of bunkers made it seem and feel like a Scottish or Irish links style course. Not that I have ever been, but I have seen the British Open on T.V. The holes are supposed to be designed after legendary course in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The score card represents what course and hole it is designed after. I must say I didn’t know all of the courses mentioned, but there were a few on there that I knew.
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Location:
McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links 3016 Ocean Heights Avenue Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234 Telephone: 609-926-3900 Website: www.mcculloughsgolf.com |
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Golf Guru Ratings:
Ratings (1 -10):
Manicured: 6
The fairways were just “ok”. However, with that said, I am not sure if that is how they were supposed to be. They seemed to have that brownish tint to them, but were patchy in spots. The rough really wasn’t too thick, so if you did miss a fairway, you weren’t penalized too much for being in the rough; however, too far off the fairway and you could find yourself in some serious fescue. The tee boxes were more than adequate. Finally, the greens were good shape, and well guarded by bunkers.
Facilities: 4
Facilities at this course are really nothing special; the putting green is up by the first hole. We really didn’t have a chance to use it because we were sent to the first hole as soon as we arrived and paid. There is a small pro shop that sells balls, shirts and other golfing needs. Next to the pro shop (in the same building) they did have a bar and dining area, which was nice. Plus we were treated to a complimentary draft with the purchase of our round, which is always nice.
Price: 10
The price of the course is a no brainer for that area. Being that I have played and looked into playing many courses in the Atlantic City area, this course has to be one of the cheaper ones I have come across. That’s not to say that it is cheap, but for the price and the type of course, I think provides tremendous value.
Booking Process:
The booking process is quick and easy. I booked the tee times through the courses website. The system allows you to book tee times fourteen days in advance. It gives you the available times for your searching criteria, and you just need a credit card to hold your tee time.
Overall Golf Experience: 6.5
I had a blast playing this course. It really provided me with the ability to play shots that I normally wouldn’t play on other traditional courses. For example, I was off the green on one hole, just nudged up against the rough. I didn’t feel comfortable chipping the ball up onto the green because if I came up short the ball would roll right back to where I was originally shooting from, and the area I needed to land the ball was small, so I decided to put the ball from about 15 yards off the green which sat up on a plateau. Another shot I was able to play was a punch and run shot. The course offers plenty of instances to play different types of shots which in my opinion make for a fun and eventful day. Although I wasn’t overly impressed with the maintenance on some of the holes, overall it was adequate enough. I guess the real questions is would I recommend the course to someone and would I play it again and the answer would be 100% yes in both cases.
Rates:
Mon - Thurs Fri - Sun
Open $69 $79
Senior (65+) $64
Juniors (17-) $31
Midday (After 1 PM) $56 $66
Twilight (After 3 PM) $41 $51
Moonlight (After 5 PM) $31 $31
Ratings (1 -10):
Manicured: 6
The fairways were just “ok”. However, with that said, I am not sure if that is how they were supposed to be. They seemed to have that brownish tint to them, but were patchy in spots. The rough really wasn’t too thick, so if you did miss a fairway, you weren’t penalized too much for being in the rough; however, too far off the fairway and you could find yourself in some serious fescue. The tee boxes were more than adequate. Finally, the greens were good shape, and well guarded by bunkers.
Facilities: 4
Facilities at this course are really nothing special; the putting green is up by the first hole. We really didn’t have a chance to use it because we were sent to the first hole as soon as we arrived and paid. There is a small pro shop that sells balls, shirts and other golfing needs. Next to the pro shop (in the same building) they did have a bar and dining area, which was nice. Plus we were treated to a complimentary draft with the purchase of our round, which is always nice.
Price: 10
The price of the course is a no brainer for that area. Being that I have played and looked into playing many courses in the Atlantic City area, this course has to be one of the cheaper ones I have come across. That’s not to say that it is cheap, but for the price and the type of course, I think provides tremendous value.
Booking Process:
The booking process is quick and easy. I booked the tee times through the courses website. The system allows you to book tee times fourteen days in advance. It gives you the available times for your searching criteria, and you just need a credit card to hold your tee time.
Overall Golf Experience: 6.5
I had a blast playing this course. It really provided me with the ability to play shots that I normally wouldn’t play on other traditional courses. For example, I was off the green on one hole, just nudged up against the rough. I didn’t feel comfortable chipping the ball up onto the green because if I came up short the ball would roll right back to where I was originally shooting from, and the area I needed to land the ball was small, so I decided to put the ball from about 15 yards off the green which sat up on a plateau. Another shot I was able to play was a punch and run shot. The course offers plenty of instances to play different types of shots which in my opinion make for a fun and eventful day. Although I wasn’t overly impressed with the maintenance on some of the holes, overall it was adequate enough. I guess the real questions is would I recommend the course to someone and would I play it again and the answer would be 100% yes in both cases.
Rates:
Mon - Thurs Fri - Sun
Open $69 $79
Senior (65+) $64
Juniors (17-) $31
Midday (After 1 PM) $56 $66
Twilight (After 3 PM) $41 $51
Moonlight (After 5 PM) $31 $31
