Mercer Oaks Golf Course - West Course

No water in the ball washers. Hitting off matts. Matts without tees. One cart girl for 2 courses. And none of that is as important as course conditions. I don't mind paying a top rate if the course delivers top conditions. None of those other issues would've mattered had the course been in great shape. But it sucked. It's a disgrace to the game of golf that courses like this one get away with charging $80 to play 3 days after aerating the course. What miserable conditions. I don't care that it's a "muni" course. NJ county courses in general are not very good. They are geared towards residents who get great rates to play. As a result, courses are over played with little concern for guests without county cards. Avoid this course. It's an absolute dog track.

I have moved to the central NJ/Mercer County area last year and have played this course a few times already in 2017. I play often in Atlanta when visiting the in-laws and wherever I can play.

First, the course is fun to play. The holes are all different from the White tees (71/131) around 6100 yards. Most tee shots are straight with several dog legs and blind landing areas. The only thing I wish the course had were more hills. Mercer Oaks East has a bit more undulations on the fairways. For reference, I shot high-80s the first couple times, then shot 76 the last time around.

The wind was rough the last few times I played this course and each time it was blowing from different directions. For example, Hole 6 is a straight par 4. First time I played it, I hit a solid drive down the middle to the 150 yard marker. Second time into the wind, 170 yards away. Third time, 125 left.

The back 9 looks and feels different from the front 9 so it's appealing from a variety standpoint. Given it's been the winter and now early April, there were no ball washers or trash cans anywhere by the tee boxes. No marshals to be found.

Two complaints - My first complaint is the pace of play. There are a lot of hackers out there. Personally, I think they should play more of Princeton Country Club to get better but these hackers are teeing off from the Blues on West. Slows the round down. But who am I to complain? Everyone's gotta start somewhere.

Second complaint - a lot of goose dung. Like everywhere. They've done a better job of cleaning it up but it's a bit distracting if you're walking. See photos for examples of it.

Oh and the sand is not in good shape yet. I hope they improve this with the winter weather loosening up. Overall, I give the rating 3.75 stars, not full 4 stars yet. I hope the quality improves with the weather.

Course was in good shape for the time of year. Had some slow 2-some's in front of us that we're playing at leisure but let us play through. 3.5 hour round!

This is a good course to play for the price and it is challenging in its own way like playing here a lot

Easy layout. Good condition this time of the year.

Very friendly staff. Wasn't happy with just one group's slow play. I'd like to comeback in spring.

tremendous value unique holes for mid winter this course and greens were fantastic

Course was in great shape for February. Would like to play again in the Spring. Staff was very friendly.

Understaffed course - marshal does his best but extrememy slow play persists.

Golfers playing wrong tee for skill level and hitting multiple tee shots per player is the main cause. Marshall should stay with group and/or have them skip a hole ir two or remove them from course.

Liked the layout. Nice holes around water but rain overnight made the course pretty wet. Some tees were muddy and there was a big puddle in the middle of the first green near the cup - tough to putt around that . Otherwise, really liked the course. Looking forward to playing it again under better conditions.

4.5 *

I love this place

I want play again

There was a group holding 5 groups up. The staff tried to help by moving them but never came back to move them along even further. Waiting on tee boxes for 10 minutes at every hole is just wrong

My home is about 1 hour+ away from this course. But because this course is almost always has good condition and the staffs are so nice I play this course a few times in a year. This course has not disappointed me yet. I would like this course to anyone.

The course layout was good. It looks as if it is kept trimmed and clean throughout. Would definitely recommend this course.

Played this course a few times a year, it's always been in good shape. This time, the greens were bumpy, the fairways and and dirt in rough. Very disappointed in the conditions.

Played the West course today great layout and in great shape from the Pro shop to the starter this is no doubt one of the best County Facilities you will find! It features a West and an East course the West is a oak lined course with a challenging design and the East course is a links course that is equally challenging which ever course you choose they are both beautifully manicured with awesome greens that roll out true and will challenge your touch. I would recommend a trip from as far as a 50 mile radius you will not be disappointed!!

Course is great would recommend it and wI'll play it again.

The only issue I have is with golf now charges they have gotten too excessive to the point where I'm going to use a different site to reserve golf.

It's too bad that one bad experience trumps multiple good ones. Let's ignore the fact that the recently aerated greens were in horrible shape (I can deal with that) and the tread marks on the greens were the least of our worries. Inwas shocked that the fairways were in terrible condition and the tee boxes were even worse. It never been like this before. I don't recall in any past rounds that this was an issue. Did I mention that they were watering the greens throughout our round? Nothing like a good shower on the 18th hole.

So check-in was good. We were a group of 3 on a Friday and we noticed a single who was about to tee off so we invited him to join our group. Seemed like a great guy so just as we're about to tee off when the starter (who wasn't there) comes over and says our "fourth" HAS to join the twosome in front of us, that we should mind our own business and that we've already been assigned another fourth. Fine. Whatever. His attitude and language was unprofessional and far worse than that, but you get the point. So we started the round with a sour taste in our mouth and the course conditions didn't make things any better. And our new "fourth" was a single for obvious reasons and relatively unpleasant.

So easily the rudest starter I've ever encountered. Terrible course conditions. But to end on a positive note. Coolers on the course are plentiful and filled with COLD water. Beer cart staff were awesome. Beer prices also AWESOME. But won't be going back anytime soon because while the course will recover, the starter was such an A** that I don't see a reason to return. I would end by saying this is typically a great place play. East or West. But today was the perfect storm of what can be bad was bad.