Scotland Run GC

Williamstown, NJ

www.scotlandrun.com

1999, Stephen Kay
Black 6810, 71.9, 131, 71 
Blue 6516, 71.4, 128, 71 
White 6138, 69.5, 121, 71
Directions:  (25-30 mins from Philly, 70 mins from home)
76W to Walt Whitman to 42 SOUTH
6th light make RIGHT
Fries Mill Rd.
3 mi. to course on L
'09 Fees:  $105 Weekend Prime Time, $95 Weekday, ~$70 twilight
Check their website or sign up for their email list for specials on greens fees
Also, SUMMER PAR-BQ special every Summer Fri. @ 16:30: $49.50 for 9 holes, 1/2 keg and BBQ.

Ranked #15 in Golf World's 2008 Reader's Choice poll

Fat Guy 2010 Season Update:  Played The Run in early April 2010, and like many courses in the area, it's taken a bit of a beating from the heavy snow this past winter and rains this spring.  Many of the former sandy waste areas are now lakes (with re-routed temporary cart paths), and many of the bunkers have puddles of casual water. Many of the former ponds are still a few feet above their former banks, and a few of the fairways still have large puddles of standing water. They should have discounted their early season rates a little further than $78, and with the amount of water still on this course it'll likely still be there through May, if not longer.

Fat Guy Review:  A Must Play's Must Play!  Some may call it gimmicky, but this is my favorite course in the Philly area, and probably the second most fun and unique U.S. course I've ever played (behind Mike Stranz' similar sand barren stunner Tobacco Road in Sanford, NC). Scotland Run is just flat out outstanding. A target masterpiece carved out of the Jersey pine barrens and an old sand quarry. Architect Stephen Kay produced a very imaginative and varied routing with quirky elements borrowed from Old Tom Morris' Prestwick-style layouts. Some unique vistas here, and there' s not much room for error. The course is more X-Box golf than traditional links, featuring pot bunkers, railroad tie walls as crossing hazards, nasty carries over old sand quarry pits 3 stories deep (don't worry-- there's a staircase if you don't clear the carry), dual greens, a rusted-out steamshovel next to a fairway, an old airplane in a sand pit, lots of doglegs, buried-elephant greens, fescue everywhere, and cart paths which spill randomly into acres of flashed-up waste bunkers (how's needing directional signs for carts in a bunker for unique).

Scotland Run is a visual experience and an adventure. Gamblers with no layup in 'em will love the risk/reward style. A select few of the bunkers are brutal, stacked-sod, foreboding spots. I hadn't come backwards out of a bunker since my trip to St. Andrews, so Scotland Run earned its moniker when I came backwards out of 2 of the 4-or-so bunkers here which just about require you to do so. All those bunkers need are names.

Good variety of hole length from the Whites, with everything from a couple all-you-got par-5s, a few shoe-horned doglegs, to a driveable par-4 or two, plus few par-4's at well over 400 yards. Plays long from the Blues. There's a shift in the terrain starting at the par-4 8th, as the pine barrens front 7 gives way to the unique sand-swept back which winds around, over, and through the old quarry pits and lakes. 

There's some airplane engine noise from the small nearby airport, but it's offset by the cool visuals of watching the skydivers parachute to the ground and the planes making low runway approaches over several of the holes. 

Good maintenance (although nobody seems to fix their pitch marks here, making for bumpy dance floors), lots of sandy lies, quick greens.  #18 is a tough risk/reward finishing hole, a great design with maybe the most challenging 2nd shot of any par 5 I've ever played, which is not something you say everyday, and it's a tough shot regardless of if you're laying up or going for it. Gorgeous clubhouse and attentive staff. Value is questionable, I have yet to find a course that's truly worth $105 of my dollars without a stripper being involved. Play it on a twilight or internet/email rate and it's worth the dough. Still, in my opinion, better than a similar layout at Golf Magazine Top 100 You Can Play #9 ranked @ World Woods (Pine Barrens) in Brooksville, FL. You'll never forget it. Rating: 10

Tip:  Check out the attractive halfway house attendants, and summer weekends will usually find a wedding/reception going on at the clubhouse (with all the associated trampily-dressed-to-the-nines Jersey girls).  If you've got a little time to kill after your round, fake like you're considering planning an event at the clubhouse, and ask for Kelly.  Believe me, the eye candy during the walk through will be worth the 30 minute investment.

T&L Golf Review: Kay took the most promising NJ site he's had, and fully realized it's potential. Named for the stream on the northern end of the property, which emerges into a stunning dunescape near the rusted old hulk of a steamshovel which testifies to the site's former life as a sand quarry. Engaging from the get-go (and walkable), the course is contoured to keep you thinking even after you hit the fairway. The dog left par 4 2nd emulates the split greens at the 9th at Pine Valley, and the 18th is a great finishing hole. Downhill off the tee narrowing against water right, turning and climbing to a bunkered, plateaued green.

US Airways Magazine Review: SCOTLAND RUN, a 6,810-yard dunescape in Williamstown, tops the charts of all the New Jersey pine barrens courses in all respects, thanks to Stephen Kay’s trademark scenic signatures, including inset greens framed by a variety of visual trickery and heavily fortified bunkers.

Best Bar Nearby: The huge clubhouse features The Highlander Pub & Grill with good food and outdoor tables overlooking the course. Soups are good, wings are passable. Decent upper-class middle-aged crowd on weekends.

Also, great bar nearby per my buddy Vogey: P.J. Wheelihan's (www.pjspub.com)- Right out of lot, left at 2nd light, 1 mi. on right (past hospital is too far). Good pub atmosphere, nice darkwood bar with multiple plasmas. Seriously hottie hardbody waitresses clad in too-small V-neck baby T's and hip-hugging cotton-lycra pants. Hip hoppin' crowds for happy hour and weekend nights, live tunes, an outdoor patio, and decent wings. They were the official wing provider for the 2009 Philly Wing Bowl, but P.J.'s wings come with a light breading, which is generally a no-no for hardcore wing enthusiasts. The breading is suitably crispy as far as breading goes, but it gives the flavor a bit of a buttery slant up front, with a slightly bitter Tabasco-esque finish. They're missing good tang and aren't quite hot enough.

For those headed back to Philly, hit sportsbar/hotspot Taylor's (formerly Top Dog,Rt. 70, Cherry Hill), Bahama Breeze(Rt. 38, Cherry Hill, 856-317-8317, www.bahamabreeze.com), or cheese-factor restaurant/hotspot Adelphia (near the Deptford Mall).

TravelGolf.com Review: In the little town of Williamstown, N.J., lies one of the most aesthetically pleasing golf courses you might ever see. While most upscale public courses contain a few breath-taking holes, Scotland Run is like a theme park filled with signature golf holes. Once you finish a hole, you can't wait to play the next. In fact, 12 of Scotland Run's 18 holes could stand alone on a calendar as America's greatest golf holes.

Do you think these words are a little too strong? Am I going slightly overboard? Well, maybe I am, but once you play this Stephen Kay design, you will be convinced that Scotland Run Golf Club will become one of the elite public facilities along the East Coast!

Land Rover of North America was so impressed with the waste areas and quarry cliffs of Scotland Run that they filmed a recent television commercial on site. If this wasn't enough, many golf journalists have compared Scotland Run's layout with Pine Valley.

The secret behind Scotland Run's design is the abandoned sand quarry which it was built upon. While southern New Jersey is usually known for its flatlands, dense forests, and abundance of water, 11 of 18 holes run along, around, and through this sand quarry.