Today we’re going to take 18 holes around the Pine Valley Golf Club New Jersey, which is the best Pine Valley Golf Club in the world. It seems that their are at least half a dozen Pine Valley Golf Club’s that I am aware of, but why settle for the rest when you can enjoy the best. And the Pine Valley Golf Club NJ is the best of the best, and I mean the best in the world. In 2009 as many of you might know, the Pine Valley Golf Course was ranked number 2 out of the “Top 100 courses in the US and the World” by Golf Magazine. Now that’s saying something. So let’s take a look at this world number 1 golf course and find out exactly what puts it above the rest.
The Pine Valley Golf Club was founded by a few amateur golfers from Philadelphia in 1913 and is situated on about 416 acres in the pine lands of Southern New Jersey. A vast majority of those acres are virgin woodlands. This golf course is the first and only designed by George Crump, and in fact it was his magnum opus in many ways as he pretty much dedicated himself to the creation of this course. At the time of opening the Pine Valley Golf Course was considered the most challenging golf course in the world. There are probably some reasons for this as Crump gave himself some difficult tasks when designing this course. For example, he was determined that no 2 holes should be parallel to one another and that no 2 consecutive holes should play in the same direction. He was also determined to ensure that no other hole should be visible from the hole that was being played and he wanted a round of the golf course to require the use of every golf club in the player’s bag. You can imagine there are a lot of lost golf balls here.
The championship course of the Pine Valley Golf Club is a par 70 at 7047 yards with a slope of 155 and a rating of 75.2. The regular Pine Valley Golf Course is a par 70 at 6532 yards offering a slope of 153 and a difficulty rating of 72.7. The most renowned of the holes on this golf course is “Hell’s half acre”, the par 5 7th hole offering the world’s largest non-seaside bunker and also the par 3 10th hole known as “The devil’s asshole” offering an extremely deep bunker. The 18th also offers an extremely complex and spectacular finishing hole.
The Pine Valley Golf Club is an excessively exclusive golf course and to obtain Pine Valley Golf Club membership requires 2 things. Firstly that you are male, and secondly that you are invited by the board of directors. Privacy of members is kept highly secret but it is estimate that there are 1300 members around the world. Women are allowed to play the course on Sunday afternoons and the only other way for men to play is to be invited and accompanied by a member. Failing that, take a look at the terrific Painted Desert Golf Course in Nevada which in my opinion gives the Pine Valley Golf Club a run for its money, and it’s public!