Pine Valley Golf Club

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golf_facility_name = Pine Valley Golf Club


location = Pine Valley, New Jersey
establishment = 1913
type = Private
holes = 18
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designer1 = George Arthur Crump
par1 = 70
length1 = 6999 (championship tees)
rating1 = 75.2
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Pine Valley Golf Club is a golf course in Pine Valley, New Jersey, Camden County, in southern New Jersey. It is regularly ranked the number one course in "Golf Digest's" list of America's 100 greatest courses. [ [http://www.golfdigest.com/rankings/courses/greatest/2007/100greatestcourses_gd200705 America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses/2007-08: America's 100 Greatest: golfdigest.com ] ]

History

Pine Valley was founded in 1913 by a group of amateur golfers from Philadelphia. They purchased 184 acres (0.7 km²) of rolling, sandy ground deep in the pinelands of southern New Jersey, and gave George Arthur Crump, who knew the area from hunting expeditions, the opportunity to design the course. This was Crump's first and only golf course design, and he set himself some idiosyncratic principles: no hole should be laid out parallel to the next; no more than two consecutive holes should play in the same direction; and players shouldn't be able to see any hole other than the one they were playing. He also felt that a round of golf on his course should require a player to use every club in the bag.

The site was challenging and the project became something of an obsession for Crump, who sold his hotel in Philadelphia and ploughed his money into the course. Marshlands had to be drained and 22,000 tree stumps had to be pulled out with special steam-winches and horse-drawn cables. This was all done at a time when many golf courses were still built with minimal earth moving, and the course was called "Crump's Folly" by some. The first eleven holes opened unofficially in 1914, but when Crump died in 1918 four holes - #12, #13, #14, #15 - were incomplete.

Pine Valley later spread to 623 acres (2.5 km²), of which 416 acres (1.7 km²) remain virgin woodland. Since Crump's death, alterations have been made by several other leading golf course designers. The club also has a ten hole short course designed by Tom Fazio and Ernest Ransome III. It is a private club, and non-members can only play if invited and accompanied by a member. Two members were once suspended for charging guests $10,000 a round.

Like many golf clubs, Pine Valley throughout its history has prohibited women from playing or entering. However, women are now allowed to play the course after 12:00 PM on Sundays. [Lorne Rubenstein, "Woods's wedding has golf press chirping," "Toronto Globe and Mail", October 6, 2004, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041006/RUBE06/TPSports/Columnists]

The Course

"Pine Valley Slope, Rating, and Yardage"

Pine Valley Golf Club is praised for the consistent level of challenge and conditioning on each hole, requiring thoughtful placement of the ball from tee to green. Among its many accolades, Pine Valley has arguably the best collection of par fives and par threes in the world. The course prides itself in being one of the toughest challenges in all of golf, with a slope of 155 from the championship tees. Pine Valley's trademarks are "Hell's half acre" (a barren wasteland on the 7th hole which is probably the largest non sea-side bunker in the world), "The devil's asshole" (an extremely deep bunker on the 10th hole), and the famous 18th, which incorporates many different elements of golf into one spectacular finishing hole.

*Yardage, slope and rating are accurate as of 8/2/07

Entrance

There are 2 entrances into pine valley. The most famous one is hidden on East Atlantic Ave behind the Clementon Lake Park. After you pass the waterpark you will see a road about 50 ft from the waterpark sign make a left on that road (which is E Atlantic Ave) and follow the road all the way to the dead end, you will see a dirt parking lot and a RR crossing on your right with the gate entrance. Proceed past the RR tracks and drive up to the guard house, where you better pray that your name is on the clipboard. The other gate is mostly for people employed by the golf course hidden on East 3rd Avenue in Pine Hill.

Membership

It is close to impossible to get a membership at the club. It's not how much money you have, it's who you know. Membership is by invitational from the board of directors only. The only way a guest is allowed into the club is if they are invited by a member and accompanied by one. Tiger Woods hasn't even played there yet, although he has been invited.Facts|date=July 2008

Tournaments at Pine Valley

Although it is regarded as one of the greatest courses in the world, Pine Valley has not played host to any major professional golf tournaments. This is because there is not enough room on the course to accommodate tens of thousands of spectators. In fact, the only time Pine Valley has ever had mainstream exposure was a 1962 Shell's Wonderful World of Golf match between Gene Littler and Byron Nelson. The club does allow the public in for one day in late September every year to watch the Crump Cup, a nationally recognized tournament featuring elite Mid-Amateur players. [http://www.ausgolf.com.au/ramsey2.htm]

Pine Valley also played host to the Walker Cup, an amateur competition between teams from the United States and Great Britain & Ireland, in 1936 and 1985.

Awards and Rankings

"Pine Valley Awards and Rankings"

[ [http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses/golf-course.asp?course=7468 Pine Valley Golf Club | Pine Valley Golf Course ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.golfclubatlas.com/pinevalley1.html Golf Club Atlas] - a well illustrated course guide
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&layer=&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=39.788654,-74.972463&spn=0.023644,0.039911&z=15&iwloc=A Aerial photos]