Pine Valley Golf Club
Pine Valley Golf Club is one of the most revered golf courses in the world. It has regularly topped Golf Digest's list of top 100 Golf Courses in America . It is located in Pine Valley, New Jersey and is one of the toughest courses of the world.
History of the Course
A group of amateur golfers founded the Pine Valley Golf Club in 1913. They bought 184 acres of rolling, sandy ground deep in the pinelands of southern New Jersey and George Arthur Crump was given the task of designing the course. It is the only course that was designed by him before his demise in 1918.It was a big challenge for Crump and he used all his resources to meet it. Marshlands were drained and 22,000 tree stumps had to be pulled out with special steam-winches and horse-drawn cables. The first 11 holes were opened to the public in 1914. When Crump died, Hole No. 12, 13, 14, and 15 were still not completed. The Pine Valley Golf Club later spread to 623 yards with 416 yards remaining unaltered. It is praised for the constant level of test on every hole, a dream of Crump which he had fulfilled. The course has been redesigned by many well-known architects over the years with Harry Colt, Hugh Wilson, George Thomas, William Flynn, Charles Blair Macdonald, Walter Travis, Robert Hunter, A.W. Tillinghast, Alister MacKenzie, Donald Ross, William Fownes, Charles Alison and Perry Maxwell being some of them.
The Club also has a 10-hole short course designed by Tom Fazio.
Course Trivia
- The Pine Valley Golf Club is a private club with non-members being allowed to play only when they are invited by a member.
- Two members were once suspended for charging guests $10,000 per round.
- Hell's half acre (a barren wasteland on the 7th hole) , The devil's asshole ( an extremely deep bunker on the 10th hole) and the famous 18 th hole are the trademark holes of this course.
- Though regarded as one of the best golf courses in the world the Pine Valley Golf Club has not hosted any major tournament till date as it does not have enough room to accommodate thousands of spectators.
- It has only hosted the Walker Cup, an amateur team competition between the United States and the team of Great Britain and Ireland .
