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Allaire State Park reviews
4
0
Brand spanking new with room to improve 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Jul 26, 2017
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
Nice property, wooded with some slight elevation gives the course a good feel of technical golf.
Excellently made paver tees. Each one is level and graded or built up on every hole. The pavers are built up with 4x4 timbers and well constructed to have a great tee and will last a very long time.
Several of the holes are awesome shot shaping, with good lines down the fairways, and those lanes are fair and reasonable for the distance. The overall shot selection and variety is very good. There are low ceiling shots, (will be more higher ceiling shots with some pole saw work), left and right turning lanes, straight shots, as well as slightly uphill and slightly downhill (as much as the terrain would allow). Great variety in shape shapes and holes types.
Much of the underbrush, blueberries, grasses, and such has been very well cleaned up and the fairways are in very good shape (especially for a course that opened less than a week ago).
Most holes have log lined paths leading the next tee, and the routing is mostly easy to follow.
Excellently made paver tees. Each one is level and graded or built up on every hole. The pavers are built up with 4x4 timbers and well constructed to have a great tee and will last a very long time.
Several of the holes are awesome shot shaping, with good lines down the fairways, and those lanes are fair and reasonable for the distance. The overall shot selection and variety is very good. There are low ceiling shots, (will be more higher ceiling shots with some pole saw work), left and right turning lanes, straight shots, as well as slightly uphill and slightly downhill (as much as the terrain would allow). Great variety in shape shapes and holes types.
Much of the underbrush, blueberries, grasses, and such has been very well cleaned up and the fairways are in very good shape (especially for a course that opened less than a week ago).
Most holes have log lined paths leading the next tee, and the routing is mostly easy to follow.
Cons:
Its still new, and many of these items are planned to be addressed - and I'll update my review as things progress, and I expect a few of the 'cons' will move to the 'pros' as work continues.
There are a few paths the next tee that might migrate, as there are a few walk back up the fairways that lead you to the front of the next tee, simply moving a few paths will alleviate this. Been there on some of mine, and moving walking paths happens as you are developing a course and see where the foot traffic wants to go might not be where you thought it should go...
Print the course map till signage goes in, directions from hole to hole is mostly easy, but there are about 3-4 places you'll need a map.
There is a good amount of secondary trimming of branches, and pole sawing that is required to allow "clean lanes" on several holes. The holes are structured well, just some secondary cutting will really allow several of the tighter/tougher/luckier holes to become excellent lanes (and thus moving this con to a pro as more holes will have great lines). Pole saw, pole saw, pole saw - and this con becomes a pro as more holes will have great lines....
Some of the holes, felt like mostly the par 4s, have some very tough shot shapes or lanes that were so tight, they felt luckier than skill. One of the designers and I talked as we played yesterday, and this may to be slowly addressed. As we all know, once its cut it can't be put back. My personal feel is the 2nd shot on several of the par 4s needed work on the lanes. You may feel differently.
I would like to see one or two of the par 4s be stretched out to have greater distance variation on the holes. Felt like most of the par 4s were all in the 425-480 range and tight as it gets on some of the lanes, which is why such a shorter hole is a legit par 4.... My personal preference would be to have more clean lane and longer par 4s in a few spots. But again, that is personal preference, and you may feel differently.
Lastly, well is sandy in south/central NJ and there are a lot of ticks there as the course is brand new and the deer like the wild blueberries all over the course. Use permythrin on your clothing before you go, as deet and bug spray don't do much for ticks... This will clean up as the course gets more play/foot traffic.
There are a few paths the next tee that might migrate, as there are a few walk back up the fairways that lead you to the front of the next tee, simply moving a few paths will alleviate this. Been there on some of mine, and moving walking paths happens as you are developing a course and see where the foot traffic wants to go might not be where you thought it should go...
Print the course map till signage goes in, directions from hole to hole is mostly easy, but there are about 3-4 places you'll need a map.
There is a good amount of secondary trimming of branches, and pole sawing that is required to allow "clean lanes" on several holes. The holes are structured well, just some secondary cutting will really allow several of the tighter/tougher/luckier holes to become excellent lanes (and thus moving this con to a pro as more holes will have great lines). Pole saw, pole saw, pole saw - and this con becomes a pro as more holes will have great lines....
Some of the holes, felt like mostly the par 4s, have some very tough shot shapes or lanes that were so tight, they felt luckier than skill. One of the designers and I talked as we played yesterday, and this may to be slowly addressed. As we all know, once its cut it can't be put back. My personal feel is the 2nd shot on several of the par 4s needed work on the lanes. You may feel differently.
I would like to see one or two of the par 4s be stretched out to have greater distance variation on the holes. Felt like most of the par 4s were all in the 425-480 range and tight as it gets on some of the lanes, which is why such a shorter hole is a legit par 4.... My personal preference would be to have more clean lane and longer par 4s in a few spots. But again, that is personal preference, and you may feel differently.
Lastly, well is sandy in south/central NJ and there are a lot of ticks there as the course is brand new and the deer like the wild blueberries all over the course. Use permythrin on your clothing before you go, as deet and bug spray don't do much for ticks... This will clean up as the course gets more play/foot traffic.
Other Thoughts:
I think this course can easily grow into a 3.5 or 4.0 course, and should probably settle in around a 3.75 IMHO; as the bones are there to have several very nice holes with excellent shot lines. Again, its less than a week old... Give it some time. These guys are a great work crew and as we discussed yesterday, I have used the "cons" as a future 'to do' list on the course where it makes sense...
The overall course feels like a good place to learn how to throw shaped lines, develop your wooded game, and force you to learn all the shots - as all manner of throwing style will be used as the variety of shot shape is very very good, and very fair for LHBH and RHBH.
Good use of the the available elevation I saw on the property, as there are several holes that player steeper than they looked form the tee. Good use of the mature wooded area and creating excellent "flow" from hole to hole. Its pretty easy to follow allow in almost every basket to tee (almost, but signage is in the works to fix that too)
Overall a very good start to another new course in New Jersey. Thank you to all those that worked so hard to get it to this point, can't wait to see what you all develop this place into with some time.
The overall course feels like a good place to learn how to throw shaped lines, develop your wooded game, and force you to learn all the shots - as all manner of throwing style will be used as the variety of shot shape is very very good, and very fair for LHBH and RHBH.
Good use of the the available elevation I saw on the property, as there are several holes that player steeper than they looked form the tee. Good use of the mature wooded area and creating excellent "flow" from hole to hole. Its pretty easy to follow allow in almost every basket to tee (almost, but signage is in the works to fix that too)
Overall a very good start to another new course in New Jersey. Thank you to all those that worked so hard to get it to this point, can't wait to see what you all develop this place into with some time.
