Golf/Golf Architecture
Hidden Creek: A Walking Tour (w/ Bill Coore)
Last week I was fortunate enough to visit Hidden Creek just outside of Atlantic City, NJ, where Bill Coore and associate David Zinkand were consulting on a possible new tee project at the club. It was a sunny, crisp, early spring day, and after a light lunch with the club’s owner, Roger Hansen, Coore and I walked the course from start to finish. The company was excellent and the conversation casual, just as it was when Bill gave me a tour of Bandon Trails just before the course’s opening day a few years ago.
And just like last time I fumbled around with my camera, notepad and tape recorder trying to keep up. I’ve distilled our conversation into the slideshow above. While I’ve taken a few chronological liberties in the service of the narrative, the material in quotes is a fair representation of Coore’s comments. And, of course, the captions that aren’t in quotes are my own observations. Enjoy!
PS: The slides are timed to cycle pretty rapidly, so I recommend pausing the slideshow and clicking through them manually, in true A/V Club style, since some of the captions are fairly long. Thanks!
Hidden Creek Golf Club. Egg Harbor Township, NJ. Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2002. Superintendent: Jeff Riggs.
Card & Pencil:
+ Hidden Creek is a compelling rendition of English heathland golf in the Jersey pine barrens.
+ Very good hole variety. This took some imagination on this property, which was well-suited for golf but not overloaded with inherently compelling natural features.
+/- A connoisseur’s course all the way, with serious “tilt” value. Those who seek out brawny manmade features and heroic, do-or-die shot values might find Hidden Creek a bit too much “Masterpiece Theatre.”
Tags: Discussion
3 comments for “Hidden Creek: A Walking Tour (w/ Bill Coore)”
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St. Thomas,
Hidden Creek in the Unhidden Raw, just coming out of another South Jersey winter…..
I love this place and if I had a Hidden Creek on the West Coast, I’d travel 100 miles every weekend to play her.
People in New Jersey, NYC and Philadelphia should feel very lucky.
That looks like a gorgeous course. And it’s not even in full bloom yet so to speak.
I played Hidden Creek last month and must say while I expected it to be good it surpassed my expectations. It it a wonderful day of golf and I place it in my top three in NJ.