Our 9 favorite courses you can play on the Jersey Shore

Full disclosure, my parents have a shore house that is all of 8 minutes from Shark River, so this is where I play most of my golf when I’m down there. But I wouldn’t keep going back if I didn’t love it, and if it wasn’t such a challenge. Shark opens with a pair of 420-yard-plus par 4s, the first of which requires a draw and the second a fade. Execute on either and you will have a great look into the green. Fail and you’re staring at an In’N Out Double-Double start. But then it lulls you back to sleep with a par 3, a driveable par 4, another short par 4 and a gettable par 5. By the time you eventually bounce back, though, the closing finish pounds you over the head, starting with No. 15, which I believe is one of the most difficult holes in N.J. No. 16, a par 4, plays 450 from the tips and the 18th is a 586-yard par 5 that plays about 700 yards. I’ve shot mid-70s here and low-90s, likely within the same month. It’s always in great shape and the mix of extremely difficult and extremely gettable holes never gets old. Afterward, make sure to hit up Kelly's Tavern right up the road for the coldest post-round beer known to mankind. --CP

Ballamor—formerly a private club and now part of the Ottinger Golf Group—is the perfect addition to any Atlantic City-area golf trip. Built by Ed Ault and Thomas E. Davis on 350 acres of rolling land, wide fairways and large, interesting green complexes are a great test for all levels of player. In a sneaky area of good public golf, Ballamor stands out as one of the best in South Jersey. --Stephen Hennessey, dep. managing editor

If you’re doing a little weekend trip to Atlantic City, or you can’t find a tee time anywhere else and don’t mind a drive, Twisted Dune is a must. I’ve heard rumors that they’ve put the kibosh on this and/or limited it, but my first two times playing Twisted, I was told it was BYO beer so I did and the first thing the cart guys did was bring out a massive Home Depot bucket full of ice to keep the beers cold the entire day. If you aren’t sold by that, just wait until you get on the golf course, which is among the most unique in the state. The sandy, links-style layout designed by Archie Struthers feels like it belongs out in Oregon at Bandon Dunes or down in Florida at Streamsong as opposed to the Garden State. It can be brutally hard especially if the wind is up but, like most links courses, it rewards good shots and punishes bad ones. Once you finish off the mammoth, 495-yard par-4 18th (No. 1 handicap), make the 20-minute trip to A.C. and keep the party rolling. --CP

I never even knew this place existed until about four or five years ago when Steve suggested it, and now it’s become a go-to spot, particularly because it’s the perfect halfway point between Long Beach Island (where my cousin and uncle have beach house) and the Monmouth County area (where my parents' house is). It’s on the pricey side, but weekend morning tee times are gettable and there are three 9s, which keeps play flowing on busy Saturdays and Sundays. The Ridge 9 is my favorite, though both Links and Pines are just as good and each 9 features non-stop risk-reward that can allow the good player to take it deep if they’ve got it going. --CP

Chuck Springs is the rare 36-hole facility where you don’t care which 18 you play because they are both equally good. It also has a full range (uncommon for the Monmouth County Courses) and a huge putting green next to the clubhouse you can complete your warm up on before heading out. Both North and South require a short drive over a bridge to get to the first tee, which makes you feel like you are completely away from it all for four-plus hours. Every club in the bag will get use on both courses, which each feature multiple par 5s where both eagle and double are very much in play and a number of par 3s that require less than 6-iron (more of these, please). Both are also very inviting off the tee while also providing you with several shot options to set up the best possible approach in. Have never and will never have a bad time at Charleston Springs. --CP

Shore Gate is a challenging, target-heavy golf course—likely inspired by nearby Galloway National with a hint of Pine Valley—that's very popular with Avalon vacationers. Penal, deep bunkers as well as tall pines with pine straw and sand present a strong challenge to public golfers. It's a former member of Golf Digest's Best Courses in New Jersey but still among the very best public options in South Jersey. --SH

In my opinion, the best-designed golf course down the Jersey Shore. Major shoutout to Robert Trent Jones. Hard to get the boys to get there, though, as it is on the more expensive side for the Monmouth County Course. As it should be. Hominy is challenging enough to have hosted some big-time events over the years—1983 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 1995 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links—but not so challenging as to punish the weekend warrior. You better be able to shape shots and carry some bunkers off the tee, though. Hominy doesn’t favor the drawer or the fader, it favors the player willing to take on some obstacles and be rewarded with much shorter shots into the greens. --CP