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FEATURED
GOLF COURSE: HARBOR PINES GOLF CLUB
500 St. Andrews Drive
Egg Harbor Twp., NJ 08234
609-927-0006
Alan B. Nichols
Golf Writer
Harbor Pines Golf Club spares no expense
in offering one of the best groomed courses anywhere in the Garden
State. Owing to its relatively short rough and its superb manicuring,
Harbor Pines is promoted as "reminiscent of Augusta National."
That may be a stretch, but you should definitely include Harbor
Pines on your must-play list.
The club is situated very conveniently on Ocean Heights Blvd. in
Egg Harbor Township off Exit 30 of the Parkway. Alternatively, it
is a short 25-minute drive south on Route 9 from Absecon.
Home grown designer Stephen Kay routed a fine layout
through the dense pines and around 17 acres of lakes. The course
is the epicenter of an upscale real estate project comprising some
6500 acres. The seven and eight-figure homes are being carefully
planned to protect the environment and appeal to the most discriminating
home buyers.
On largely flat terrain, the course features huge impeccably groomed
bent grass greens with modest slopes (unlike Augusta), and wide
bent grass fairways. Water comes into play on no less than eight
holes and, though the bunkers are large, there is less sand here
than you might expect. On a layout measuring from 5099 to a modest
6827 yards from the tips, golfers of all stripes can enjoy their
rounds. This is a very modern course in every sense of the word
except it has no tricks. It is a throwback to good old-fashioned
"what you see is what you get" golf. Five sets of tees
testify that no level of golfer was left out of the design plan.
The front side meanders through pristine pine forest and offers
some outstanding holes including my favorite, the almost 90 degree
dogleg right 400-yard (370 from the whites) 4th. It is
followed by a much longer par 4 5th which doglegs right
around a lake. The backside features a very short par 4 requiring
a water carry off the tee, a brutishly long par 4 17th,
and a short par 5 finishing hole aimed at bringing smiles to all
golfers. Homes line most of the backside holes.
Harbor Pines offers an elegant 20,000-square foot clubhouse, excellent
food, and fine instruction at a top quality practice facility.
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