Old Bridge Golf Club at Rose-Lambertson
Old Bridge Golf Course at Rose-Lambertson is the first new 18-hole golf course to open in New Jersey in 21 years. That unto itself is big news for golfers in the Garden State. While it still needs another two or three years to mature, the course is expected to draw thousands of visitors in 2024. Why? It’s new. It’s also located in Middlesex County, New Jersey which is home to just four 18-hole public golf courses, with Old Bridge being the 5th.
Thanks to the hospitality of Ryan McDonald, the Director of Golf at Old Bridge Golf Club, I was allowed to walk the course one gray, chilly Saturday last November, for a photo essay. Here are some of the highlights.
Course Details
Old Bridge Golf Club is nicknamed “The Rose” in honor of the land’s former owner, Rose Lambertson. It’s a Par 71, 18-hole course that measures 6,509 yards from the furthest tees. The average golfer will play the course at 5,584 yards from the “blue tees.” Designed by award-winning golf course architect, Stephen Kay, the layout of “The Rose” was driven by the existing wetlands and ponds scattered around the farmland. The course combines two vastly different styles of course: parkland style and links style.
A parkland style golf course typically has:
The look and feel of playing in a park
trees lining the fairways
more man-made features like water hazards and higher rough
A links style golf course typically has:
wide open fairways without trees
follows the natural contour of the land
sandy terrain
few to no water hazards
Old Bridge Golf Club Superintendent, Sean Konsavich says, “It’s that combination of parkland and links that makes the course special.”
The parkland holes were inspired by groupings of trees that tower above the fairways on holes 4, 5, 6 and 7, giving that section of the course a “park feel.”
The links holes come into play on holes 1, 2, 3 and the back 9, where the farmland was once cultivated, and the course is wide open, allowing the elements like the wind and sun to come into play.
The Chute
Holes 4 through 7 are nicknamed “The Chute.” This is the area of the golf course where trees line each fairway as it takes the golfers up and down the course for four straight holes. This is where the course takes on its parkland style.
Signature Hole Number 9
The signature hole of Old Bridge Golf Club is number 9. It’s a 165-yard par 3, over water with a horseshoe bunker around the left side of the green. Fescue and trees surround the hole. This hole will challenge golfers to be very accurate with their distance and control off the tee. Hit it short, and it will end up wet. Hit it to the left and it will land in the sand trap. Hit it too long and you’ll end up in the woods.
Challenging Greens
Maybe the most notable feature of Old Bridge Golf Club is the undulating greens. They’re fast and tricky. Some greens, like the 17th hole, allow golfers the choice of chipping or putting from the back apron.
The 15th hole features a 17,000 square foot Biarritz style green! It has a deep valley in the middle of the green. Standing on the tee box can confuse the golfer as to where the green begins and ends.
Regarding the greens, Course Superintendent Sean Konsavich noted, “A lot of your trouble on the course is not the course itself, but it’s just the greens complexes. We kind of set the player up for potentially a lot of 3-putts throughout the round.”
Summary
Overall, Old Bridge Golf Club promises to be a fair and challenging test for golfers of all ages and abilities. In an area of New Jersey that’s been starving for a quality 18-hole golf course, “The Rose” has bloomed at the perfect time. Who better to ask about the course than Superintendent Sean Konsavich “What most people leave here and say is ‘That’s a fun round of golf.’ It’s challenging. And it’s new. It’s not a bad walk. It’s very walkable. Most people are going to come out here and see it’s a good test of golf.”