| This blind drop to the green awaits on SkyView Golf Club's tough par-5 fourth hole. (Chris Baldwin/WorldGolf.com) |
A blind shot that hits: New Jersey's SkyView Golf Club delivers wows and value
By SPARTA, N.J. - It starts with a shot from a raised tee that's right below the clubhouse lawn. Turn your head as you set up for the tee shot and you might see the backyard grill sizzling and a business man talking into his cell phone.
It's a thoroughly modern clubhouse kind of scene.
But as you get down the rolling fairway at SkyView Golf Club and glance back up at the clubhouse, it reminds you more of the house on the hill in "Psycho" than anything. It's just looming up there as you battle some awkward lies below.
This sudden contrast in scenes is a good primer for what's to come at SkyView. This scenic golf course in central New Jersey - very unexpectedly scenic if your main impression of the Garden State comes from those skyline smoke stack shots in the opening credits of The Sopranos - is capable of pummeling you on a dime too.
There are some holes here that infamous hacker tormentor Pete Dye would dismiss as ridiculous. Heck, just the zany climbs and sudden plummets on the long cart path rides between some holes could make a wimpy soul screech.
Of course, after you play SkyView's fourth hole, you could also end up losing the ability to speak.
No. 4 is a blind dogleg left, 534-yard par 5 with a huge drop down to the green that you cannot see. And that doesn't even begin to give justice to its difficulty level. The fairway runs along a plateau that tilts left and tends to send shots screaming off into the woods. There are all kinds of little hills, bumps and dips to navigate in the fairway.
Prehistoric-looking rock piles run along the side below the sudden blind drop too, effectively shutting off one avenue to the green.
But what's really going to get you is the drop itself. You can't see the green below until you're almost to the edge of the high ridge. SkyView Golf Club first timers often have to run up to the ridge's edge for a clue of what they're facing.
"This hole is insane!" my playing partner half groaned, half marveled.
One New Jersey magazine rated Skyview's fourth hole as the hardest hole in the entire state. It's certainly one of the most memorable.
Which is why you want to make your way out to SkyView. You're not going to forget anything about the day. Not even the drive in. Sparta is only an hour from New York City, but once you get close it seems like a whole different land, with the crammed-together houses of northern New Jersey giving way to a countryside of big billowing trees lining the side of the highway.
On the way to the course, you pass a sign that reads "Last Exit in New Jersey;" it sure seems like the end of the world as you've been experiencing it.
SkyView's an escape from major metro area golf pricing too. Greens fees max out at $60 weekdays, drop to $45 after 11 a.m. and $29 after 3 p.m. That's not even tip money at the fancy high-end private clubs that rule the greater New York market and make it so hard for a golfer visiting the Big Apple for business or vacation to find a good place to tee it up.
For that minor money, you get a golf course that never stops throwing surprises at you. From the fact there is this much foliage and this many trees to lose balls in to the long, long, up and down cart path ride from hole No. 6 to No. 7 that can make you think you traveled all the way to Delaware to the fun, driveable, super downhill par-4 13th hole.
Sure, SkyView might be a little psycho. But by the time you putt out on 18, you'll be convinced it's psycho in a good way.
The Verdict on SkyView Golf Club
If there's a complaint about SkyView, it's the sometimes-confusing layout. The eighth and 15th holes run almost right next to each other, and the 17th green isn't that far away either, which can leave you standing on the tee wondering which of three flags you should be firing at.
Course architect Robert McNeil deserves credit for producing a golf course this distinctive in a hilly area that clearly came with unique challenges (see the hikes between some holes). You're not going to leave SkyView feeling blah about another cookie-cutter golf course. This one's an original, even if it can sometimes seem geared to infuriate.
Those without a good golf sense of humor might want to skip SkyView. Anyone who hates blind shots definitely should.
SkyView isn't for those who detest losing golf balls either. There aren't just tons of trees; there are drops down deep banks in those trees. The upside is that it's easy to find scores of golf balls lost by others.
But if you enjoy golf that's different, a challenge that can make you shake your head in wonder, SkyView's a place you'll want to play again. It's now this golf writer's favorite public golf course in New Jersey.
January 28, 2009
Chris Baldwin keeps one eye on the PGA Tour and another watching golf vacation hotspots and letting travelers in on the best place to vacation.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management.
A blind shot that hits: New Jersey's SkyView Golf Club delivers wows and value
You're not going to leave SkyView feeling blah about another cookie-cutter course. This one's an original, even if it can sometimes seem geared to infuriate. If you enjoy golf that's different, a challenge that can make you shake your head in wonder, SkyView's a place you'll want to play again.
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