Hominy Hill Golf Course

This is a great muni course, often in good shape, with challenging holes and a great course design by Robert Trent Jones.

What kills it are the employees.

If you aren't familiar with employees of Monmouth county municipal courses - their basic attitude is: "The Customer Comes Last". Often surly towards customers, they would never have jobs on private golf courses. They know, because they are working for a local county government that they answer to no one.

I have played this course more than 10 times, along with other county courses like Shark River, Charleston Springs and Howell Park.

I keep coming back because it's fun to play, but there are some key issues about the course that also make it maddening.

1. Don't expect to ever see a cart girl. They will say that a cart-girl is out there, you might see her once a round. I played yesterday and she never showed up. Bring your own water. They rip you off $3 for a bottle of water at the vending machine. They have public barrels out there if they decide to fill them.

2. I must repeat that the 90% of older employees (those over 40) are jerks towards customers. It's unbelievable. I was playing one time during "Cart Path Only". My cart was on the path, but two wheels were on the grass. A ranger shows up and shouts at us "CART PATH ONLY!!" and points at our wheels. Really? Two of the four wheels are on the grass - not like we were in the middle of the fairway.

3. Don't ever expect a quick pace of play here. It's going to be a five hour round. The rangers rarely do anything to speed up the pace of play.

For example, playing at Charleston Springs they are much nicer employees. It's been this way for years. If I was in charge, I would literally fire everyone and start over.

I keep playing it - only because I have no real choice. I don't belong to a private course. It is worth playing, especially if you can get a county card and save some extra money.

If you ignore the fact that the MCPC totes this as their crown jewel you will see the course in a much better light. I have played nearly all of the county courses and I would say this is not nearly the case. Hominy itself offers a decent challenge. The course is a little on the long end and really excels with its elevation changes. I have noticed that the real wild card here is the wind the course is surrounded mostly by open farm land so where on most days a more manageable breeze turns into a stronger wind. Amenity wise the course is lacking. No snack bar to speak of like the grill room at Charleston Springs. The pro shop is well stocked with anything you would need and some things you don’t. It being a county course there are plenty of people playing that can’t keep the ball down the fairway. I don’t mind this at the least. I mean hey we’ve all been there. What I don’t like about it is that there are two holes that are unprotected along the driving range. I’ve had my bag hit once when walking and my cart hit once on the 1st fairway. The staff is always friendly and accommodating.

I live in Monmouth County and this course is touted as the crown jewel - so I couldn't wait to play. It was very pretty but not as pretty as I expected. The greens were very slow - as echoed by the other 3 in my foursome. disappointing. And not ONE single porta potty or bathroom on the course besides at the turn. When I inquired - the staff said 3 other people asked same thing that day. This IS 2017. I live closer to Howell so I will enjoy playing there.

I played Hominy for the first time last Monday. Our two some picked up a single who played with us for the first 9. Great course and great conditions. Price is great if you are a resident and certainly doable without a county card. Loved the layout and great conditions. Only let down was by the time we got to about the 14th hole we had two slow foursomes backed up in front of us. I did notice a large amount of people walking this course and the day was perfect for it. As someone who typically rides I was almost tempted to walk this one. Hominy is certainly one of my favorite courses in Jersey.

I've heard a lot of positives about this course prior to me playing for the first time. I finally got the chance to play and I was not overly impressed. At least not to the point of the recommendations I received about this course. Having said that, it is a nice course (walkable). My biggest issue here is the pin placement flags. They are all yellow but no way to determine if it's front, middle of back. Even the 3 guys I was paired with who play there regularly, expressed the same thoughts. I was out 144y to middle and I played it as that since it looked like pin was in the middle, but my shot bounced over the flag on the green and then disappeared. As I approached the green the flag was way up front. That would be my one sticky point. Staff was friendly. I was a single walk-on and I was able to get on in about 20 mins.
I would recommend it but I have played nice looking courses.
I will play it again now that I have a better idea of the layout.

This course gets a lot of local hype, Monmouth County calls it their "crown jewel," and they're not wrong. I'd put this course up against any municipal course, anywhere, as far as quality of the actual golf course goes. We had to play it back nine first due to some unannounced drainage maintenance in the 8th fairway (the people at the desk didn't mention anything about it at all when we checked in, just a crew of like six guys digging across the width of the entire hole, with no one there to watch out for them or to instruct the golfer how to proceed).

Anyway, from hole #8 (long, uphill par 4 that should be the #1 on the card) on, I think you'd be very hard pressed to find eleven consecutive nicer golf holes in a municipal system anywhere, and I've played a lot of places around the country. The par 5 14th, followed by a beautiful par 4 uphill left turn, then down the hill par 3, back up for a par 5, just outstanding construction and design. Worth the out of county rate (about $60).

Problem here is the fake "members." The entire area in and around the pro shop seems replete with these guys who think they belong to Trump National down the block. The counter staff is, on its best day, grumpy and seem inconvenienced (I never get this...if you don't like working at 8 in the morning, find something else to do),, on its worst day rude and dismissive. The other BIG problem is their range. Outdated old mat (one long strip), and you can't get a tee into it right to work up your driver. Step off the mat, even by a foot, and the starter's on you to get back on the mat. I'm using a 2 3/4 inch white tee with a driver, not practicing trying to gouge the ball to put spin on it. Lay off.

A friend of mine put it just right: once you're away from the first tee, it's an amazing day. Well worth it.

I'm a member at Hominy Hill GC. I play there on a regular basis. It's one of my favorite courses in NJ. You can expect very good conditions and a consistent pace of play. The course is generally forgiving, with average green speeds. This is a County owned course. There is no food available, just snacks from the cart girl. Green fees are reasonable for county members. It's a great course to walk. There is a generous practice putting area and small range with mats.

Hominy Hill is often listed as one of the top 10 courses in NJ. While I haven't nearly scratched the surface of all the courses in Jersey, I've played at Hominy at least 10 times and each time, I wonder how it can get such high reviews. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful course and worth playing, but I wouldn't call it a top ten.

My one problem with the course is how expensive it is for a county course. Even for players with a county card, it is over $40! Without a county card, you're really starting to pay more than a round here should be worth. There are many other courses that are almost just as nice that you can play for half the price! Plus, if you're looking for a club with a nice practice range and 19th hole, this is definitely not the place. The range is small and not in the best shape and the "19th hole" mine as well not exist.

Beyond those few issues I have, it really is pretty, but also challenging. There are some water carries that can be quite the challenge, especially on the par 3 11th. There are also many dog legs that force you to get pretty strategic and there are many multiple level greens. It's definitely a test, but an interesting and fun one. It is always in excellent condition, except for the bunkers, of which most are filled with rocky, dark sand you shouldn't find on a golf course.

If you can play for $50 or under, it is more than worth it! Also, it's not a difficult walk at all so that can cut your cost. Every time I've played, I've walked, and more than once carrying my bag.