Welcome to Pine Valley; a divine golfing experience
The Pine Valley Golf Club, a golf course in southern New Jersey, has been ranked as the top golf course in the world year after year. The highly exclusive golf course lets the public in only once a year for the Crump Cup Championship’s final day. The course
is known for its difficulty level and there has hardly ever been a player who hasn’t had to swallow the hard pill of failure at Pine Valley.
The Pine Valley course was founded by a few Philadelphian amateur golfers in 1913. Gorge Arthur Crump was picked as the architect for the golf course due to his familiarity with the land and Pine Valley became his first and last golf course design. The site
for the course was extremely challenging but Crump was so passionate about his project that he sold off his hotel in Philadelphia and put all his money, time and energy into the making of the superb course. In 1914, the course opened unofficially with eleven
holes made and ready for use. However, Crump did not get to see his life’s biggest project reach realization as he died in 1918, with the course still four holes short of completion. Since the days of its inception the golf course has seen a number of alterations
by other top golf course designers.
Pine Valley, a private golf course, allows non-members to only play if they are invited to play and are accompanied by a member.
The difficulty level of the course is due to Crump’s truly unique concept of designing the course like an island. The tee, the fairway (despite a width of 50 to 55 yards) and the green are all islands surrounded by dense woods, steep falloffs, scrub, water,
sand; all practically unplayable lies. Players have no room for error while they tack from one island to the other or else it might just cost them the game.
Pine Valley possess a whopping 15 remarkable holes, surely some would argue that the figure is in fact 18. This would not be much of an argument as all 18 holes truly are outstanding. Indeed the word “finest” is one of the most common superlatives used while
talking about any aspect of Crump’s master piece.
Our personal favourite has to be the 1st hole which is said to be the finest 19th hole in golf. The 8,300 square foot green, an extension of the fairway that ends with steep falloffs on all three sides requiring the player to think
his option through carefully with a level head. Should the golfer stay on the front and attempt to putts to get down keeping the width of the front portion of the green in mind? Or should a more daring move to go for the black hole locations at the point where
the green begin to narrow be tried? This is perhaps the best example of the most exciting choices faced by players.
Where we mention the starting hole of the game it would be fitting to also mention the supreme finishing to the best golfing experience. The 430 yard 18th hole, a personal favourite of Mr. Crump, offers an epic ending to the adventure that is
Pine Valley. All the playing surfaces that this hole has to offer have immense scale, from the height of the tee to the expansive width of the fairway. The eye-catching hazards are not the only threats to the players; the subtle left to right slope of the
fairway and sloping green pose a considerable challenge to golfers as well.
Naming Pine Valley as one of the Fab 5 Courses of the world, Dr. Gary Wiren, Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teacher wrote: “Like everyone else who has played it, Pine Valley is one of my favourite courses. The first time I played there, a couple of groups were
waiting at the first tee when we arrived, so we were asked to start on the fifth hole. It's a par 3 requiring a 230-yard shot to a green perched on the side of a steep hill with O.B. to the left. Welcome to Pine Valley! I love the challenges of the greens
and the visual intimidation you face on almost every tee shot. There is a great balance between really long, tough par 4s and drive-and-pitch par 4s -- but those are really tough too!"
Although currently the top ranking course of the world, Pine Valley has not hosted any major professional golf tournaments due to the limited space available which makes it unable to accommodate the numerous fans of the game. Despite the limitations the
space offers and the lack of exposure that has come with it the club refuses to remove any trees and change the layout of the course. The only time that the course has had international attention was in 1962 when it played host to the Shell’s Wonderful World
of Golf match between Gene Littler and Byron Nelson.
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