Ballyowen Golf Club
About
Ballyowen Golf Club is an homage to the great Scottish links courses, the place where golf originated. The course sprawls across 250 acres of rolling farmland that overlooks the Walkill River. The layout tumbles through valleys and hills, staying as true as possible to the natural contours of the land. Much like a traditional links golf course, the virtually treeless landscape is accented with craggy knolls. The challenging layout features lush green fairways that contrast beautifully with the pristine white sand bunkers and golden patches of rough that border the greensides. There are also water hazards that come into play on five holes. Ballyowen has earned the title of New Jersey's top public course and Golfweek has even ranked it as one of the top 50 courses in the country.
| Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 72 | 7094 yards | 74.1 | 134 |
| Gold | 72 | 6508 yards | 71.5 | 130 |
| Blue | 72 | 6066 yards | 69.4 | 125 |
| Blue (W) | 72 | 6066 yards | 76.4 | 137 |
| White | 72 | 5531 yards | 66.9 | 119 |
| White (W) | 72 | 5531 yards | 72.1 | 129 |
| Red (W) | 72 | 4903 yards | 68.7 | 123 |
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black M: 73.7/140 | 378 | 342 | 567 | 196 | 560 | 203 | 473 | 420 | 423 | 3562 | 513 | 195 | 350 | 395 | 480 | 212 | 451 | 520 | 416 | 3532 | 7094 |
| Gold M: 71.6/133 | 351 | 312 | 546 | 180 | 530 | 174 | 384 | 395 | 393 | 3265 | 482 | 161 | 328 | 360 | 448 | 167 | 420 | 490 | 387 | 3243 | 6508 |
| Blue M: 69.4/129 W: 74.6/137 | 328 | 282 | 505 | 159 | 509 | 159 | 347 | 374 | 364 | 3027 | 460 | 140 | 315 | 338 | 409 | 143 | 394 | 475 | 365 | 3039 | 6066 |
| White M: 66.3/119 W: 71.6/131 | 293 | 271 | 457 | 150 | 459 | 122 | 321 | 330 | 324 | 2727 | 446 | 109 | 286 | 321 | 394 | 111 | 374 | 425 | 338 | 2804 | 5531 |
| Red W: 68.8/124 | 286 | 212 | 423 | 95 | 422 | 107 | 285 | 283 | 282 | 2395 | 396 | 87 | 247 | 303 | 354 | 99 | 355 | 357 | 310 | 2508 | 4903 |
| Handicap | 13 | 11 | 3 | 17 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 6 | |||
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Handicap (W) | 11 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 18 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 8 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
Bar, Snacks, Restaurant, Beverage CartsLodging
Lodging AvailableAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Spa, Showers, LockersReviews
Reviewer Photos
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Photo submitted by u314160982379 on 08/24/2023
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Photo submitted by u314160982379 on 08/24/2023
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Photo submitted by rich4par on 06/07/2023
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Hole 1 Photo submitted by ArtofWar347 on 05/27/2023
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Photo submitted by underqover on 06/23/2021
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Outstanding views Photo submitted by Amirosenfeld1 on 12/18/2019
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Hole 2 Photo submitted by bledsoe2000 on 12/06/2019
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Photo submitted by LICC on 08/25/2019
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Photo submitted by LICC on 08/25/2019
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Photo submitted by LICC on 08/25/2019
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Photo submitted by LICC on 08/25/2019
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Photo submitted by LICC on 08/25/2019
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Photo submitted by LICC on 08/25/2019
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#1 on the railside Photo submitted by Brian8324235 on 06/13/2013
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6th Green Photo submitted by agurango on 05/24/2013
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14th Tee Photo submitted by agurango on 05/24/2013
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13th Fairway Photo submitted by agurango on 05/24/2013
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Ballyowen: view of clubhouse. Photo submitted by Vinh4484263 on 04/23/2013
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Photo submitted by null on 10/04/2012
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Photo submitted by null on 10/04/2012
worth a try if you can get a good deal
i got a great deal, $90 for 2 including greens fees, cart and range balls. had i paid full price i would have been disappointed as the greens are not up to the standard of a top notch private club.
Very nice course in great shape
Great course in very good shape rough is thick greens are very tough. Got a great deal on greens fees $55 normal greens fees are very high!!
wear a hat
Course is a fantastic layout. Links course with no trees but punishing rough. Good mix of par 3s, 4s & 5s lengths. Played from the blues at about 6100 yds. Temperature reached 90 degrees and there is no shade. Only negative was the inconsistency of the bunkers. Seems like three different types of sand but of course "you shouldn't hit it there". Greens are medium fast.
Sand traps strategically placed
This is a thinking players course. Traps are strategically place, you need to plan out the next shot. Stay out of fescue,and you got a good chance of shooting a good score. I enjoyed this course,will play again
It took 5 hours and 10 minutes to play 18 holes, the cart rule was 90 degrees!
For the $140 I paid to play to wait on EVERY shot ruins the experience…you just want it to be over! People would look for balls for 5 and six minutes. There were many groups playing from the 6500 yard tees when they hit a good drive, which they didn’t do often it went 175 yards. Every hole had 3 groups on them. I never saw a ranger engage and player, they just dove around seemly obliviously.
Many holes look alike
Overrated. Nice course . Glad I got a good price on Golfnow because otherwise it is way overpriced..
Beautiful course, well maintained, friendly staff, difficult course
Beautiful course, well maintained, friendly staff, difficult course
Excellent course with great deal from Golfnow
Excellent course condition. Tough green to read. Golfnow deal is the best deal to play Ballyowen
Great Course
Very fun course with great views. The greens were not perfect, but with that many rounds a day, they still held up very well. The pace of play was not to bad, think we finished in a lil over four and a half hours. If that was closer to 4 hours, it would have been 10/10.
4.5 Stars
Went on a Monday when the greens were being aerated, so putting was obviously more difficult than usual. Overall the course was in great condition and played easier than normal due to the time of year. Highly recommend this course and will be back to play soon.
overrated course...
Not good condition..average speed green
Just long course not tough because of short weed in spite of link style
Too expensive green fee to play with regular price in case of the current condition
Great Links Course
What a great place.
Early spring play, the greens still recovering from aeration, but the course was in great condition anyway.
Great layout, and with windy conditions, it can be a bear to play. Best played around July when the grasses are up to get the full effect..
Challenging course, nice condition.
Nicely maintained course even early in the season. The greens were recently aerated so were very slow and bumpy but in another two weeks should be perfect. Fairways are fair, bunkers can use some freshening up. The wind was blowing up to 25 mph so even with the short fescue you will lose some balls.
Overall, a nice course with helpful staff.
Great layout
Besides the greens being recently airated the course was in great shape for mid April. Pace of play was tough due to an outing and gusty winds.
great day
Ballyowen is one of my favorite courses. The course plays like some of the links courses I have played in Europe. Even though the greens were aereated (Which we knew before booking), it was a great experience. :)
Grear experience
This course is in great shape considering it is just opening after the winter. Everyone was friendly and accommodating. Be ready for challenging target shooting.
A rare November round
Turned out to be a great day to play. There was a frost delay but we ended up getting out early due to the crew scrambling and getting the first few groups out in a shotgun. We started on two and they easily snuck us in on one after we played 17.
The course was in good shape, though I've seen it better. Fairways and tee boxes were fine. Greens were a bit beat up with ball marks. The rough was not as punishing as normal. Sand traps were in amazing shape considering the weather we've had.
It is a traditional links course with few trees. Bunkers and the rouger can really make scoring well difficult. Without the trees the wind comes in to play.
Exception Course rooted in tradition
When you hear the bagpiper at first tee you really get the sense you are actually in Scotland. Clearly its modeled after traditional Scottish courses and it feels like it. It’s a real pleasure to play here and worth going out of your way. I wish i lived closer i would play this course regularly. I drove about 90 miles (each way) to reach this course and was very glad I Did. I will be back again next season. At which time I Will also play the Nearby crystal springs (which sports the best driving range I have EVER seen)
To give you an idea how classy it is my friend lost his wallet (fell out of cart?) and about half way through the round the snack and beverage cart girl drove up and looked at my friend (and the picture in the wallet) and said: i believe you lost your wallet sir! it was returned to him before he even knew it was lost!
The staff is truly exceptional, one of our friends was stuck in traffic and running late, the starter went out of his way to get us off at the designated tee time and not hold up play.
The course is really nice, bring you’re A game and stick to the fairways or you will lose a lot of balls and decimate your score.
too expensive
The course is over-priced. The fairway conditions were not great. Need to improve.