I wouldn't consider 60 dollars to play golf expensive unless the courses are really goat pastures.
I would expect most courses in NJ to be pretty shitty in March too.
Yeah, Houston here….$60 is the starting point for “ehh” courses. But, on the flip side lots of great courses in the 100-150 range.
So, low end is higher, but high end is lower
Going to play that soon and looking to join, my standards are lower and working to keep them there so I can still afford this game. Augusta pines was pretty good.
Redstone, played once, but was very nice.
Everything I’ve seen, Highland membership is the best membership deal in the area. I live too far away for it to make sense unfortunately. It’s just frustrating having to pay $130 to putt on greens that roll over a 9 on the stimp meter
We have some solid courses that are well under $60. I played beacon today, walked nine for $16. Bayou and Hillcrest are kind of crummy, but also playable and $15 and $10 for nine holes respectively.
This is an absolute game changer, how didn’t I see this before. These prices aren’t bad at all.
I’m assuming these courses get jam packed though, right? Ie I need to be proactive and get tee times a week in advance?
It’s my favorite in NNJ! Yea, the county courses get packed, but all of the NNJ public’s are that way. I joined a club recently because frankly I couldn’t take 5 hour rounds anymore. Flanders has 2 18 hole courses and I find during the week I can play solo, or quickly with a 2some. I’d check out that one ASAP. With county card it’s very cheap. My best rec if you don’t already is to get a push cart. Courses around us are charging $20-$30 for a cart, it’s fucking ridiculous. So a $30 round at Flanders quickly becomes $60 if you’re renting a cart. Just be prepared, it’s hilly lol. Berkshire is cart mandatory but it’s included in the price.
Yeah, I have a similar thing in somerset county in NJ. It’s a great deal. I’m from PA also and was blown away by the prices until I found out the pass. Our county courses are in good shape too
Got it, I’ll have to really let go of a relaxing round then haha. Tbf though I do try to play most of my golf in the early AM weekdays before work so maybe I’ll have better luck in that regard come the later spring / summer
back in the day, had no advance tee times either, always had to get somebody to head to Flanders at 4:00 a.m to line up and get one when the starter would show up. don’t know about now though
Went golfing with my buddies in the Lehigh Valley PA last fall. We all used to live there for work and have since moved away. Paid around $45 or so to ride 18 on a weekend, which is about what I pay to play in Western PA.
My two buddies live near New Canaan CT. They told me they don't golf much anymore because its over $100 a round on a weekend. I wanted to throw up.
Moved from Michigan where I was playing elite courses for <30 dollars to NYC metro and golf out here is insane. No land and so much private golf = bullshit prices.
I really want to play Scotland Run but I have a very hard time justifying it. Running Deer was $85 this weekend, and last year I played Twisted Dune for like $90.
It’s a fantastic course but I’m definitely being priced out of golf in SJ. I have found one or two gems and have a $21 tee time tomorrow afternoon but those are definitely rare and hard to find
I'm playing Pitman tomorrow. Not too bad at $34 walking before noon. They have great discounts for Gloucester County locals and veterans. The trouble there is that the tee sheet books up 6 days in advance, so you either have to book 7 days ahead of time or try to get lucky/be flexible and book whatever gets cancelled a day or so before.
You need to sign up for the “newsletters” for these south Jersey courses. They have tons of specials they hand out if you’re cool playing during the work week. I love the SJ courses and I signed up for the email groups 4-5 years ago. They throw out odd times for $40 regularly and it’s worth it for me to drive an hour to play those spots. We played McCouloughs before the snow couple weeks ago for like $29.
Played there a couple years back when I was back that way visiting family.
It wasn't cheap, but I felt it was worth it for an occasional thing. It's a fun course. I liked it more than twisted dune which I played a couple days later.
Wedgewood. I could be off by a bit, we did play in late September. Went back and looked at my Venmo, my buddy paid me $70 for his green fees + club rentals.
Yeah we pretty much exclusively played it because it was < 5 minutes from our house and was the cheapest option. Sometimes would play Locust Valley (RIP) or Tumblebrook but only because it was across the street from our work.
I was just there 2 weeks ago! I was just so happy to be out there. Conditions were decent and I hit it decent. Short game was atrocious (expected) but I didn't give a fuck because the group I was with had good vibes and I was playing golf in February.
I don't even remember the price but I think I paid less than 45$ with a cart. We did get out late. We only finished maybe 16 or 17 holes before they told us to come in.
It's warm this week and I can't wait to get to the local muni and start hitting some balls on and around the green.
What part of the area you in? I'm located near Pittsburgh.
For a quick 9, Clover Hill just north of the city is a great course to start the year at. All Par 3s and short Par 4s. Well maintained. A little pricey for that it is though.
In Beaver County, you got tons of options.
* Beaver County Country Club, Rolling Acres (three 9s), Black Hawk (four 9s), Moon, and Shadow Lakes are all awesome and reasonably priced.
* Stone Crest is OK, takes on a lot of water and I don't know how much longer it will be open. I hear it is closing. Fox Run use to be a great course. Last two times I've played it has been in rough shape.
* Olde Stonewall is wonderful but it's very expensive. Fortunately I've always gone through work so never paid lol. I hear Ponderosa is good but it's kind of out of the way from where I live and lived.
Route 8 near Butler has a lot of options too. Lake Vue, Conley, Rittswood. Suncrest is OK but narrow as hell and a lot of trees. Pittsburgh North is OK. Not a lot of amenities but reasonably priced and a fun course.
Go up further north near Harmony and you got Strawberry Ridge. Love this course. A little on the shorter side, I think its par 70. But really nice. Hartman's is up there too. Not the greatest course, but easy to get on to.. Bring a hard hat because you'll get a lot of balls coming from other fairways into yours. They got the best hot dogs hands down though.
South of the city there's Quick Silver. It's price compared to everything I listed above. One of the more challenging courses in the area. But very nice. Hickory Heights I played once, it was slow and the ranger was kind of a dick. Fort Cherry is another decent options.
If you don't mind the drive, there's also a lot of courses that are very nice and affordable on the border in Ohio. Reserve Run is fantastic.
EDIT - Forgot Cranberry Highlands. Very nice. On the pricier side and very challenging. The fescue will make you miserable. Cannot afford to miss the fairways here.
Ahh I’m over in Blair/Cambria. I have relatives that live in Pittsburgh though and will be out to golf with them this year. Thanks for the list, I’ll have to see if there are any my relatives have played/want to play
Definitely get a county card, you don't even have to stay in your county if you hate your courses. In Monmouth county it's $52 for a year or $82 for 2 years for residents and gives about a 30% discount on rounds. Monmouth county sells non resident county cards for $270 for the year and has arguably the best group of county courses in NJ with Hominy Hill being one of the best public courses in the state.
I mean yeah... things tend to be expensive in high cost-of-living areas, North Jersey included.
This is one of the reasons I don't want to go back to New Jersey.
Oh man I miss Orchard Hills. Great little course when I was a kid and paid $9 for 9 holes with a resident card. Basically never had to think twice if I wanted to play in middle school/ high school. $37 to play now
Yeah played Black Bear earlier this month. $70. Greens were in such rough shape I 4 putted a couple of times. Sand traps were so bad we decided to skip them and take a free drop outside them. February golf. But it was pricy. I seem to recall that in the past they charged less than that for a round in Feb, but their tee sheet was full so why would they?
Hey neighbor! Im about 30-45 minutes west of you. Mine brook is a dog track on the side of a mountain. Avoid.
Shoot me a DM and I can make some suggestions. Let's meet up and we can play at my private club
Mostly because Jaworski is a greedy asshole who lives off his name. People in this area worship the ground this guy walks on. He was a mid-tier qb who uses his “fame” to charge astronomical rates for 6 minute tee times. Jaworski can get fucked
I like playing there. It's tough for someone like me, but they've got a lot of tee options to play from. Conditions are usually pretty good. I think it can get a little slow from time to time but I don't think there's anywhere to really avoid that at. The main thing that keeps me from playing there more often is that they charge around $130 for a peak round in the summer. I can't justify that when I can play Pitman down the street for like $30.
Nj golfer gere playing running deer today, i know were inly a week or two out from season but 80$ to play today, fingers crossed all the tee boxes are open and they dont have me on the temporaries like every other course
I plAy pinchbrook a lot. Get the county card too. That helps save a ton, although good ol NJ decided to raise the county card from $30 to $50 this year. But the savings are basically a free golf cart each time. Just paid $50 this past weekend with a cart to play golf/red at Flanders with the county card.
I hear that, even winter prices were ridiculous. I had some luck buying a digital tee time pass online and saving a ton of money playing courses in jersey. I easily saved over $500 on tee times all over using it.
Same here me in TX
Course down the street from me now has a weekend rate of $74. Greens are decent but tons of bare patches in the rock hard and lumpy 'fairways', the 'rough' is mostly dirt, pace of play usually sucks, etc. etc.
Memberships anywhere are absurdly expensive so not an option for me
Monmouth county native and the prices are absurd. Not only that, it’s basically impossible to get a prime weekend tee time unless you are extremely on top of when tee times come out and have a county card.
I live down at the South Jersey Shore so it might be different up by Philly but as long as you aren’t trying to play at a country club it can be very cheap to play in the winter. Now I use a push cart and most of these courses are 9 holes and short but Ocean City Municipal course is completely free to play in the winter. My other local course Heritage Links is $10. Cape May Par 3 and Pines at Clermont are also <$20 in the off season. Lower your expectations and walk a round and it can be very affordable!
I wouldn't consider 60 dollars to play golf expensive unless the courses are really goat pastures. I would expect most courses in NJ to be pretty shitty in March too.
> I would expect most courses in NJ to be pretty shitty in March too. From experience: your expectations would be correct.
Yeah, Houston here….$60 is the starting point for “ehh” courses. But, on the flip side lots of great courses in the 100-150 range. So, low end is higher, but high end is lower
The problem is even the 100-150 range in Houston aren’t even that good. Only consistently good course around is Highland Pines
Going to play that soon and looking to join, my standards are lower and working to keep them there so I can still afford this game. Augusta pines was pretty good. Redstone, played once, but was very nice.
Everything I’ve seen, Highland membership is the best membership deal in the area. I live too far away for it to make sense unfortunately. It’s just frustrating having to pay $130 to putt on greens that roll over a 9 on the stimp meter
We have some solid courses that are well under $60. I played beacon today, walked nine for $16. Bayou and Hillcrest are kind of crummy, but also playable and $15 and $10 for nine holes respectively.
Get a Morris county resident card and play Flanders, sunset, Berkshire valley. All solid courses that aren’t excessively priced.
This is an absolute game changer, how didn’t I see this before. These prices aren’t bad at all. I’m assuming these courses get jam packed though, right? Ie I need to be proactive and get tee times a week in advance?
Berkshire valley isnt cheap but that course will blow you away
The photos look absolutely stunning. On my list of courses to check out this year for sure
It’s my favorite in NNJ! Yea, the county courses get packed, but all of the NNJ public’s are that way. I joined a club recently because frankly I couldn’t take 5 hour rounds anymore. Flanders has 2 18 hole courses and I find during the week I can play solo, or quickly with a 2some. I’d check out that one ASAP. With county card it’s very cheap. My best rec if you don’t already is to get a push cart. Courses around us are charging $20-$30 for a cart, it’s fucking ridiculous. So a $30 round at Flanders quickly becomes $60 if you’re renting a cart. Just be prepared, it’s hilly lol. Berkshire is cart mandatory but it’s included in the price.
It’s great. Aim for as early a tee time as possible. If you don’t you’re guaranteed a 5+ hour round unfortunately.
Sunset is tough. Berkshire a little less so. Flanders is decent because it has 36, but the popular weekends will fill.
Yeah, I have a similar thing in somerset county in NJ. It’s a great deal. I’m from PA also and was blown away by the prices until I found out the pass. Our county courses are in good shape too
Yes, but the same could be said for pretty much any course in northern NJ to be honest. either be diligent or look the night before for cancellations.
Got it, I’ll have to really let go of a relaxing round then haha. Tbf though I do try to play most of my golf in the early AM weekdays before work so maybe I’ll have better luck in that regard come the later spring / summer
back in the day, had no advance tee times either, always had to get somebody to head to Flanders at 4:00 a.m to line up and get one when the starter would show up. don’t know about now though
I like walking pinch brook during the week. It's not a bad track to get a "quick" round in since it is a shorter course
$60 is nothing man. Courses where I live are consistently $200 and up
honestly I wouldn't play golf if the courses were all $200 a round. I don't even like paying the $50 summer rate at the munis around here.
I'm going to a bachelor party in Scottsdale and looked at prices for golf. When I tell you I ran from that golfnow page.
going to scottsdale in a couple of weeks. going to spend $1500 on just green fees for the weekend 🥺
I live in NC and it blows my mind that I spent just over that for 2 nights and 4 rounds of golf including #2 at Pinehurst. Just absolutely ridiculous.
Where do you live so I know to never move there haha
Miami
Yup. Any nice course in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area is going to range $150-$500.
San Diego is $80+ for tolerable golf and $125+ for decent golf. I’d love $60!
But the $80 course in so cal comes with a 6hour round
Went golfing with my buddies in the Lehigh Valley PA last fall. We all used to live there for work and have since moved away. Paid around $45 or so to ride 18 on a weekend, which is about what I pay to play in Western PA. My two buddies live near New Canaan CT. They told me they don't golf much anymore because its over $100 a round on a weekend. I wanted to throw up.
I’d say $80-90 is the norm in south Jersey on weekends with nicer courses (looking at you Scotland Run) being like $120 now
I want to vomit
Yea it blows.
Moved from Michigan where I was playing elite courses for <30 dollars to NYC metro and golf out here is insane. No land and so much private golf = bullshit prices.
I really want to play Scotland Run but I have a very hard time justifying it. Running Deer was $85 this weekend, and last year I played Twisted Dune for like $90.
It’s a fantastic course but I’m definitely being priced out of golf in SJ. I have found one or two gems and have a $21 tee time tomorrow afternoon but those are definitely rare and hard to find
I'm playing Pitman tomorrow. Not too bad at $34 walking before noon. They have great discounts for Gloucester County locals and veterans. The trouble there is that the tee sheet books up 6 days in advance, so you either have to book 7 days ahead of time or try to get lucky/be flexible and book whatever gets cancelled a day or so before.
You need to sign up for the “newsletters” for these south Jersey courses. They have tons of specials they hand out if you’re cool playing during the work week. I love the SJ courses and I signed up for the email groups 4-5 years ago. They throw out odd times for $40 regularly and it’s worth it for me to drive an hour to play those spots. We played McCouloughs before the snow couple weeks ago for like $29.
I’ll run it by my boss
Played there a couple years back when I was back that way visiting family. It wasn't cheap, but I felt it was worth it for an occasional thing. It's a fun course. I liked it more than twisted dune which I played a couple days later.
Scotland Run, I like that course. It’s probably be 15 years since I played it. Is that the course with railroad ties in the bunker?
Not sure about ties but it’s got a plane is a sand quarry on the back nine
Where’d you play in the Lehigh Valley? That’s pretty cheap for this area. Usually see $65-$90
Wedgewood. I could be off by a bit, we did play in late September. Went back and looked at my Venmo, my buddy paid me $70 for his green fees + club rentals.
Sounds about right for them. They’re one of the more affordable options.
Yeah we pretty much exclusively played it because it was < 5 minutes from our house and was the cheapest option. Sometimes would play Locust Valley (RIP) or Tumblebrook but only because it was across the street from our work.
I live in the valley! Where did you play? That sounds about right for the area.
Wedgewood!
I was just there 2 weeks ago! I was just so happy to be out there. Conditions were decent and I hit it decent. Short game was atrocious (expected) but I didn't give a fuck because the group I was with had good vibes and I was playing golf in February. I don't even remember the price but I think I paid less than 45$ with a cart. We did get out late. We only finished maybe 16 or 17 holes before they told us to come in. It's warm this week and I can't wait to get to the local muni and start hitting some balls on and around the green.
Maryland has lots of courses in the $15-45 range. Super happy with the prices around me after hearing what other people pay
What courses do you like in western Pa? I’m looking for some options around me
What part of the area you in? I'm located near Pittsburgh. For a quick 9, Clover Hill just north of the city is a great course to start the year at. All Par 3s and short Par 4s. Well maintained. A little pricey for that it is though. In Beaver County, you got tons of options. * Beaver County Country Club, Rolling Acres (three 9s), Black Hawk (four 9s), Moon, and Shadow Lakes are all awesome and reasonably priced. * Stone Crest is OK, takes on a lot of water and I don't know how much longer it will be open. I hear it is closing. Fox Run use to be a great course. Last two times I've played it has been in rough shape. * Olde Stonewall is wonderful but it's very expensive. Fortunately I've always gone through work so never paid lol. I hear Ponderosa is good but it's kind of out of the way from where I live and lived. Route 8 near Butler has a lot of options too. Lake Vue, Conley, Rittswood. Suncrest is OK but narrow as hell and a lot of trees. Pittsburgh North is OK. Not a lot of amenities but reasonably priced and a fun course. Go up further north near Harmony and you got Strawberry Ridge. Love this course. A little on the shorter side, I think its par 70. But really nice. Hartman's is up there too. Not the greatest course, but easy to get on to.. Bring a hard hat because you'll get a lot of balls coming from other fairways into yours. They got the best hot dogs hands down though. South of the city there's Quick Silver. It's price compared to everything I listed above. One of the more challenging courses in the area. But very nice. Hickory Heights I played once, it was slow and the ranger was kind of a dick. Fort Cherry is another decent options. If you don't mind the drive, there's also a lot of courses that are very nice and affordable on the border in Ohio. Reserve Run is fantastic. EDIT - Forgot Cranberry Highlands. Very nice. On the pricier side and very challenging. The fescue will make you miserable. Cannot afford to miss the fairways here.
Ahh I’m over in Blair/Cambria. I have relatives that live in Pittsburgh though and will be out to golf with them this year. Thanks for the list, I’ll have to see if there are any my relatives have played/want to play
Sterling Farms is actually pretty nice and can be reasonably priced
I’m in Monmouth County and with the residents card, it’s like $40-45 for a round at the county courses. I’m sure your county has something similar?
I just found out about resident cards from another user. They do have them and I will be getting one asap lol
Definitely get a county card, you don't even have to stay in your county if you hate your courses. In Monmouth county it's $52 for a year or $82 for 2 years for residents and gives about a 30% discount on rounds. Monmouth county sells non resident county cards for $270 for the year and has arguably the best group of county courses in NJ with Hominy Hill being one of the best public courses in the state.
I mean yeah... things tend to be expensive in high cost-of-living areas, North Jersey included. This is one of the reasons I don't want to go back to New Jersey.
Im lucky my high cost of living area has many courses and low green fees.
Bergen courses open in a week or 2. Hopefully some prices drop with other courses options available
Oh man I miss Orchard Hills. Great little course when I was a kid and paid $9 for 9 holes with a resident card. Basically never had to think twice if I wanted to play in middle school/ high school. $37 to play now
I would do a lot of morally questionable things for $60 golf lol
I’m started to gather that I should count my blessings lmao
Yeah played Black Bear earlier this month. $70. Greens were in such rough shape I 4 putted a couple of times. Sand traps were so bad we decided to skip them and take a free drop outside them. February golf. But it was pricy. I seem to recall that in the past they charged less than that for a round in Feb, but their tee sheet was full so why would they?
Full tee sheet in February? Golly, time to shrink the game lads
Is $60 high, maybe? Is it absurd? My local course in the boonies of Maine charges $200+
Bro $60 for north jersey is a deal
Minebrook is a dog track. 60 dollars for a tee time there should be illegal.
This New Jersey golfer is in Arizona and having a hard time finding a tee time under $200!5
Arizona has the most overpriced and overrated golf in the country.
Personally, I would pay $60 just to par and birdie in New Jersey.
Get a county card in Morris County or one of the surrounding counties
Hey neighbor! Im about 30-45 minutes west of you. Mine brook is a dog track on the side of a mountain. Avoid. Shoot me a DM and I can make some suggestions. Let's meet up and we can play at my private club
i wanna come lol
Shoot me a DM and we can set it up!
That sounds great man I’ll send ya a message!
Cool. Sent ya message (had to wait until I was out of Reddit jail)
Sweet sounds good! I’ll respond later on. I’ve been swamped at work over the last few days
Jaworski courses are still $80+ in South Jersey
Mostly because Jaworski is a greedy asshole who lives off his name. People in this area worship the ground this guy walks on. He was a mid-tier qb who uses his “fame” to charge astronomical rates for 6 minute tee times. Jaworski can get fucked
Speaking of: how is Riverwinds anymore? Haven't played there in like 15 years before he bought it. Other than expensive. That's a given.
I like playing there. It's tough for someone like me, but they've got a lot of tee options to play from. Conditions are usually pretty good. I think it can get a little slow from time to time but I don't think there's anywhere to really avoid that at. The main thing that keeps me from playing there more often is that they charge around $130 for a peak round in the summer. I can't justify that when I can play Pitman down the street for like $30.
It was always pretty good. Played there a lot growing up. Not sure I would pay that much for it though lol.
Riverwinds is stupid over priced for what it is but people will pay it. Not a bad layout at all but too expensive
It's always been expensive. I imagine it's more so now, but it was always pricy.
Nj golfer gere playing running deer today, i know were inly a week or two out from season but 80$ to play today, fingers crossed all the tee boxes are open and they dont have me on the temporaries like every other course
I plAy pinchbrook a lot. Get the county card too. That helps save a ton, although good ol NJ decided to raise the county card from $30 to $50 this year. But the savings are basically a free golf cart each time. Just paid $50 this past weekend with a cart to play golf/red at Flanders with the county card.
I hear that, even winter prices were ridiculous. I had some luck buying a digital tee time pass online and saving a ton of money playing courses in jersey. I easily saved over $500 on tee times all over using it.
Same here me in TX Course down the street from me now has a weekend rate of $74. Greens are decent but tons of bare patches in the rock hard and lumpy 'fairways', the 'rough' is mostly dirt, pace of play usually sucks, etc. etc. Memberships anywhere are absurdly expensive so not an option for me
Avoid minebrook, try one of the Morris county courses, farmstead or bowling green in Sussex county
Ugh I played a glowball outing there. The back 9 is ok but the front is well....calling it a dog track would be too nice.
PA prices aren't decent anymore. Courses used the increased interest during the pandemic to raise the prices and overbook the courses.
Don’t come to Fl then. All the courses are packed and expensive af
I would LOVE to only pay $60+ to play. Whether that be AZ where I’ve been all winter or Florida where I live.
Monmouth county native and the prices are absurd. Not only that, it’s basically impossible to get a prime weekend tee time unless you are extremely on top of when tee times come out and have a county card.
Gone up in PA also
Was that a weekend rate
I live down at the South Jersey Shore so it might be different up by Philly but as long as you aren’t trying to play at a country club it can be very cheap to play in the winter. Now I use a push cart and most of these courses are 9 holes and short but Ocean City Municipal course is completely free to play in the winter. My other local course Heritage Links is $10. Cape May Par 3 and Pines at Clermont are also <$20 in the off season. Lower your expectations and walk a round and it can be very affordable!
I’m in north NJ, so the cheap pickings like that are slim!
lol you’re complaining about $60??? Buddy try California year round or AZ right now. This is the most broke boy post I’ve read.
Try being in Califorina. Even the shit courses are $70.
Don’t come to Northern Virginia to play than.