Crystal Springs Golf Club
About
Crystal Springs Golf Club in Hamburg touts a reputation of being not only the most challenging golf course in New Jersey, but also one of the most challenging layouts east of the Mississippi. The site filled with water after its use as a limestone quarry in 1929, which formed the natural springs on the 10th hole that the course is named after. The layout is definitely a shot-maker's course. Carefully sculpted mounding that frames the fairways and greens defines each hole. There is also tall and gnarly rough treacherously guarding the tight fairways. The golf course sits just a few miles from New Jersey's highest point, sprawling across an undulating terrain that makes it difficult to find an even lie. One of the most notably difficult, and subsequently the most talked about, holes is the 11th. The hole is perched atop a cliff overlooking the Windsor Quarry.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 72 | 6816 yards | 73.5 | 139 |
| Blue | 72 | 6395 yards | 71.4 | 132 |
| White | 72 | 5862 yards | 69.1 | 123 |
| White (W) | 72 | 5862 yards | 75.0 | 130 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 5073 yards | 70.1 | 126 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 73.2/148 | 526 | 413 | 416 | 476 | 150 | 375 | 379 | 517 | 154 | 3406 | 399 | 185 | 494 | 164 | 561 | 131 | 416 | 397 | 378 | 3125 | 6531 |
| Blue M: 71.3/144 | 504 | 392 | 376 | 442 | 136 | 356 | 365 | 491 | 142 | 3204 | 369 | 181 | 457 | 132 | 536 | 120 | 390 | 382 | 363 | 2930 | 6134 |
| White M: 69.0/135 W: 74.9/138 | 482 | 333 | 342 | 398 | 123 | 339 | 331 | 456 | 135 | 2939 | 318 | 176 | 417 | 120 | 494 | 112 | 369 | 366 | 326 | 2698 | 5637 |
| Gold M: 66.5/129 | 448 | 313 | 301 | 370 | 109 | 309 | 314 | 421 | 104 | 2689 | 300 | 116 | 383 | 111 | 476 | 93 | 310 | 331 | 302 | 2422 | 5111 |
| Red W: 70.1/127 | 442 | 282 | 297 | 364 | 100 | 280 | 282 | 411 | 90 | 2548 | 279 | 109 | 380 | 97 | 452 | 85 | 305 | 318 | 251 | 2276 | 4824 |
| Handicap | 7 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 12 | |||
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 7 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 15 | 6 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 12 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Snacks, Restaurant, Beverage CartsLodging
Lodging AvailableAvailable Facilities
Showers, LockersAccolades
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Golf Advisor: Top Courses in New Jersey (2015 #8)
Reviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by kenygolf on 09/09/2025
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Photo submitted by u314160297385 on 08/17/2024
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Photo submitted by mstein81 on 08/23/2023
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Photo submitted by mstein81 on 08/23/2023
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Photo submitted by tkochester on 10/28/2022
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Photo submitted by tkochester on 10/28/2022
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Photo submitted by Joel3054231 on 07/29/2021
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#11 Photo submitted by DrOldSchool on 05/15/2014
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Photo submitted by matrixgroupusa on 05/15/2014
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Photo submitted by matrixgroupusa on 05/15/2014
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Photo submitted by ccsing on 10/10/2013
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Photo submitted by ccsing on 10/10/2013
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Photo submitted by ccsing on 10/10/2013
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Photo submitted by ccsing on 10/10/2013
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Photo submitted by ccsing on 10/10/2013
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Photo submitted by ccsing on 10/10/2013
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Photo submitted by u000001831352 on 06/26/2013
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Photo submitted by u000001831352 on 06/26/2013
Tough design with excellent greens
Crystal was in great shape except for two issues: The sand Traps were horrible. Little sand, and they don't look like they've been maintained. They need to use the little riding machines to grrom them and add sand. Very poor. Second issue was that on about 4 or 5 holes, the pin location did not match the pin placement chart. But the rest of the course was in great shape. Very challenging design on each hole.
Beautiful Course, Challenging layout
Crystal Springs is an excellent golf facilities. The course is in excellent condition. The staff is friendly and accommodating.
Nice challenge and layout
The course is a nice challenge for seasoned golfers. Fairways are tight and not flat so they make you think of the next shot always. Greens were in good shape. I would play again..3 hr drive for me. I was behind people that should not have been playing the course which resulted in a 5 hour round. Traps were not raked by anyone.
Interesting vourse
There are lots of houses in the course and the cart path goes sometimes between houses....The surrounding mountains are a real pleasure for the eyes.
It took us 5 hours non stop to finish the 18 holes
Are You A Golf Adventurer?
The first time I played Crystal Springs GC it was a match against two very good golfers/members. I had never seen the course and shot 79 from the back tees to win. It took me years to shoot 79 there again (lol). That day I played conservatively from the tee, hitting 3w, hybrids and long irons to put the ball best as possible, into the middle of the biggest part of tee shot landing areas... taking longer clubs into middle of greens. Hitting a 5 iron left of green on 16 behind a huge mogul was a tough spot. I picked out a cloud to hit to, because from that spot no part of the flag was in view and flopped from the thick rough to 2 feet, straight toward the water of the back right pin., tapping for another unlikely par.
This fantastic course will challenge you every time with uneven lies, even in fairways after good shots, water hazards, beautiful design and fast, multi-tiered greens. The signature par 3 quarry hole is stunning w/ 80 ft drop. Great finishing holes with long and narrow 17th green and 3 tiered 18th green.
Crystal Springs GC is a unique gift to those who can stay patient, not too greedy off the tee and those who are looking for a challenging golf adventure.
challenging
Course was in great shape very challenging very challenging pin placement. Great time
Great Course
Course was great, one complaint is they had the sprinklers on for most of the time, my tee time was 10:30
Phenomenal course
Can't beat the price at this great a course when playing twilight. Would recommend to everybody
Rates were good but wait a month to play
It's a great course but needs to recover a bit from the harsh winter this year...the greens are still pocked and sandy from aeration in Fall so putting was a bit tough.
Ranger issues and still aerated
Course had 6-somes allowed yes, that is 6 player combinations. Needless to say it was beyond slow. And the ranger did not do much at all stopping this. Finally got ahold of the pro-shop after I called my wife to go in and see them and a pro came out to break up at least one.
In addition, for some holes, there were two three-somes ahead of us that sometimes combined into a three some. There's a halfway house between 7 and 8 the threesome just in front of us stopped and ate lunch there. we passed them and went to next tee (8) nobody we could see on fairway up to green. So we teed off. after we had reached our balls, other threesome came to tee and got upset. We finished 8 quickly and were waiting for 9 (two groups on the tee waiting). Three some came up and started threatening several of us for playing thru them. Outright antagonistic One player in our foursome offered to let them play thru since we were waiting anyway. They wouldn't do that, instead heckling and generally being difficult. Got to 10 and they started in again. I got a ranger to come and he did nothing but did get them to play thru us again so they were with their "friends" so they could play again as a 6-some. Ranger did NOTHING else. It took 3:45 to play first 11+ holes. Finally quit and went back to front nine and swept right thru (1 hour for 8 holes).
Major leave problem and still has (like it had all year) aeration issue on greens. Nice decent course if in shape and rangers do anything but with things like this, I wonder.
Doesn't allow walking at all by anyone.
Great course, tough challenge
Played here many times, greens were in bad shape. They aerated the greens way too late in the year, I would guess it was within the last couple of weeks and they're sandy, bumpy, and slow. Not sure if they'll come in smooth this year since it's already mid November and the cold is coming. But I'm sure they'll be back to great conditions next year.
This course is worth it if you have a golf now hot deal
Played this course in mid October and the greens were being Air rated. Also almost all the fairways were covered with leaves making it very tough to find tee shots. Other than this the course was in great shape. Great scenery, great layout, love the 11th hole. The down side of my round was a slow 4some ahead of my 4some and when I got to the 11th hole a single rider jumped in front of my group. He came out of a house and started playing, also the Rangers were driving around but they did not do anything about this or to speed up. I teed off at 1:51 and played the 18th hole in darkness around 6:30. Besides this, it was a great round on a beautiful course, I got a golf now deal for $42. I would not pay anymore than $42 for this course in the fall, however I played here once in the late morning in the summer and it was a great round. I would defiantly play here again in the spring and I would recommend it to anyone who loves golf, it's a challenging course with the front 9 as a par 37 and a lot of blind shots and thick rough however there are many opportunities to score.
Challenging course
Great course, challenging holes, took some time adjusting to the "mogul" like fairways. Love the scenery especially from the second hole of the classic, a huge drop off par 3 hole. Got a great deal and enjoyed the round. Will definitely come back.
Challenging course
Despite raining the night before the course was in great shape. Played the villages and classic course. Found course to be challenging with most lies not being the same, as in flat. Beautiful scenery made the day that much better. Will play this course again. Enjoyed Classic hole 2 off the granite cliff.
Great course, difficultly is high
This is a great course. I played from the tips and it is tough. You better have a good day driving the ball otherwise your in for a long round. Greens were excellent and if you missed the green long you payed the price.
Good course with hilly fairway
Got delay due to an outing. Front nine was slow. We cruised through back nine until hitting the wall again at 17th hole. The course is not as good as I played before. A lot of spots in fairway and rough got burned. The sand bunkers had a lot of small rocks. They could take care the beautiful course a little better.
Great track off the blacks! Stunning views!
I played as a single with a superb rental set (TaylorMade Tour Preferred irons, stiff flex, SLDR woods). Rattled round under 3 hours despite playing the last 6 holes behind a 4. Really tight driving holes, sometimes hard to see exactly where to hit it, but it's not tricked up in any way off the tees. I recommend playing the Black tees if you're a single figure player. Loved it !
Slow day
Great great course but a 6 hour round ruins ur experience ... No rangers moveing slow players along we waited every hole and would have love to quit but we all game from a long way away .... Theres 7 courses they should let people know the course is severly backed up and put u somewhere else because for a 100$ it should be enjoyable
challenging
i like it it but you cannot do anything after the round.
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