Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Come Back Kid @ Medford Lakes Country Club

Medford Lakes Country Club
Oak Drive, Medford Lakes, New Jersey 08055
Yards: 5832, Par 71 (White Tees)
Course Architect: Alex Findlay
Built/Open: 1929
Website: http://www.medfordlakescountryclub.com/
Score: 91 (47 out – 44 in)
Date: September 2, 2009

I played Medford Lakes Country Club again, just two weeks from my first crack at this private club located in Medford Lakes. I have gone to the range numerous times with my kids, played down in Bear Trap Dunes and purchased the driver I used at Bear Trap since my last visit to Medford Lakes. I arrived 35 minutes before our tee time and actually didn’t run around like an idiot. I headed out to the driving range to find zero balls, when back to the pro shop and asked the cranky manager for balls, ‘$3.00 please’. Are you kidding me, the members here have to pay for range balls!! I reluctantly gave him $3 bucks and left for the range. Hit 75% of the mini bag of dirty balls they gave me and off we went to the first tee. I shot an 18 hole score of 91 (102 two weeks ago) on an perfect sunny day in the high 70’s with 7 pars, hitting 7 fairways, 5 greens in regulation and lost 1 ball. My driving is getting better and better with the new Nike SQ Dymo driver with the regular flex shaft. My mid and short iron game was average, my second shots were killing me. My putting was pretty good considering they must have recently aerated the greens since my last visit. Zero - 3 putts, two – 1 putts on the dry / bumpy/top dressed greens. After the round, it felt really nice to have made up 11 strokes from the previous round.

FROM THE WEB SITE: In the late 1920s, Medford Lakes was a vacation community in the New Jersey pines, some 18 miles southeast of Camden. One of its prominent citizens, Leon Todd, believed that a golf course was needed in order to provide residents and summer visitors with a complete range of recreational and sporting opportunities. In 1929 the Medford Lakes Development Company acquired the 115-acre Shrider farm. Alex Findlay, scarcely an unknown quantity in southern New Jersey, was brought in to lay out nine holes. His skillful use of both water and trees gave the course, though on the short side and with few changes in elevation, both interest and charm.

COURSE CONDITION: The teeing areas were green but a little messy from the aeration, the fairways were cut short and in good condition, the ball was sticking without much roll most likely from all the wet weather from the past weekend. The rough was either 2 to 3 inches high which was difficult to get the ball out of, but not impossible. The greens are relatively flat, but slight un-noticeable undulations and the top dressing from the aeration had the ball moving all over the greens.

FACILITIES: MLCC provides practice facilities (driving range, putting and chipping greens), dinning, and pro shop. The range is rather small and tight, but fine for a quick warm up before your round.

SHOT (HOLE) OF THE DAY: Hole 18, 484 yards, Par 5: Drive straight down the middle, 2nd shot, lay up just before the horizontal water hazard, third shot on the green, 50 foot lag putt to 12 inches, tap in for par. A great way to end the round!

SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS: This course is an older traditional course. Little short and a few holes are tight, but the bunkers and water hazards are well placed. The three employees we spoke to in the pro shop were old cranky SOB’s. We felt like a bother to them. My playing partner knew the bartender for 20+ years and was talking to him before the round, he suggested to eat elsewhere after the round because the food was horrible. One bright light, the cart girl (blonde) was super nice, and a 10 out of 10 in the looks department!

GOLFNERDNESS: Real nice course, cranky employees (except the hotty cart girl), seems to be an older membership still. Hole #13 has a house with a tennis court adjacent to the tee box. There were three toddlers on the tennis court beating the shit out of each other screaming at the top of their lungs with no one around, thats what you want to hear while teeing off.

GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT: Keep an eye on the hole layouts at the top of the score card, there are water hazards in some un-expecting locations.

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