Crystal Springs Resort

Greeens were in very good shape. Difficult to read and a bit fast

Honestly wasn’t an awful course. Most of my frustration was pace of place and who we were paired with. Staff was super friendly and gave us a quick layout before we went. Got paired with a single that really had no etiquette, but that’s for later. The course is in good shape and had an interesting mix of holes. 13 was crazy narrow, but that was the story of most holes on this course. Mountain courses aren’t for me, but anyway. I liked the downhill par 3 that was 110 yards. Made you think of which club a few times.

Now to the pace of play. It was backed up bad. We played a 5 hour round mid day on a weekday and that’s crazy. It had just rained so 8 holes were cart path only which is understandable, but on a normal basis 6 holes are cart path only. That really slowed down play. The person we were paired up with was a nice guy but he really annoyed me. Pocket dropped a ball on every hole, drove off when people still needed to tee off and picked up any ball he found, even if it was from our own group. That’s not the courses fault but it was just annoying .

I LOVE THIS COURSE, ITS GREAT!! VERY FUN TO PLAY, VERY WELL KEPT AND THE STAFF IS AWESOME!! AMAZING FAIRWAYS, AMAZING GREENS AND OVERALL BEAUTIFUL!! GO UP TO CRYSTAL SPRINGS AND ENJOY PLAYING AND HAVING A GREAT TIME!! I AM DEFINITELY PLAYING AGAIN!

Unfortunately, while I used to love wild turkey and all of the tracks at crystal springs, it, as well as the other course we played that weekend at CS, were both in abysmal condition. I had encouraged friends to make the trip out because the courses are usually in good shape and I think are a fun challenge. I was absolutely embarrassed to have invited other golfers out there who were disgusted by how bad of shape the greens were in as well as some of the tee boxes/ fairways. I have not played greens this bad all season long as multiple public courses. Not nearly what I had grown to expect from crystal springs in prior years.

Don’t think I’ll be back or be inviting anyone out there until the courses are back in decent shape.

I have an issue with this course mix up and when i go to the contact us part of golfnow website there is no way to contact them. I'd really like to get some help here with this problem.

Made a res for Crystal Springs, drove 1-1/2 hrs to get there. Pro shop tells me there is an outing so he will put me out on Wild Turkey course, $50 please??

There was nobody in charge to help me??

Now i have to figure out how to get my money back.

Nice course but the holes are scattered all over the complex.

Very confusing!

Black Bear be is a moderately challenging golf course. It has really nice surroundings. The course is well maintained and the staff is very accommodating.

Wild Turkey is a fun course to play, but there are two areas where they need a lot of improvement:

1) Pace of play - wasn't horrendous, but it wasn't good. By the third hole there was already a back up as our group pulled up to the tee and the group in front was standing around the beverage cart and had yet to tee off despite the group in front of them already well ahead. We didn't see a ranger throughout the entire round, so it's clear that Crystal Springs/Wild Turkey does not care about enforcing pace of play.

2) Greens - they were quick, but you had to doge what seemed like hundreds of ball marks on every single green. I know they get a lot of play, but it's really a shame that they allow their course to get chewed up like that. This is on the golfers too of course, but the staff made no mention to replace/fill divots or repair ball marks on the greens.

Having played this course a number of times in the past, they always seem to be plagued by the same issues. It's worth playing, but only if you can get a price below $70 or $75. What they normally charge is frankly outrageous. This course is not worth $100. I do recommend playing it, but make sure you get a fair price and you need to expect a slow round, especially on the weekend.

FYI, they started aerating the greens behind us as we were finishing our round so I'd advise staying away for 2-3 weeks. They also have the silly permanent holes where the ball will not fall into the cup all the way, despite being outside where virus transmission is little to none and the virus not being a major problem in NJ at this time.

This course belongs to the "Crystal Spring Resort" group of course. The course is in great condition, aside from the bunkers (given covid its fine). Tee boxes, fairways and greens are exactly what you want when you get out there. Some of the holes are tight and some are open, as you can see from the photos of #4 and #13 I posted. Course definitely requires you to think a lot as far as position and what you should be hitting off the tee. There is a decent amount of elevation change as well, this course is not walkable. Pin placement on a Sunday was a little aggressive for recreational golf but I enjoyed my round despite the rain. My only drawback is the layout can be confusing as the group in front you will constantly be driving past you due to having to U-turn on some of these holes and go back up a hill to the next tee box. I will be back with out question. Definitely a viable option for 75$ @ 7am when the other resort courses were 175 and 150 for around the same time. Dont sleep on Black Bear, this is a great track.

Extremely overpriced and unfriendly staff. The starter demanded to search my cooler upon arrival. There was also a marshall standing off the fairway on the 5th hole who scolded me for driving the cart too close to the other fairway. His walkie talkie was extremely loud when I was trying to hit. He was angry and confrontational for no particular reason. This place would be alot better if they hired a better staff.

The greens are great very hard course to play though. Awesome scenery. The 11th hole is amazing use a club that you can control otherwise you will be dropping a lot.

course was in decent shape, however, pin placement on green had no designation, either by color flag or tag on pin to tell you whether pin was front, middle or back of green. Unless you had a range finder your approach shot could be a difference of 50 yards. Made play frustrating. Would not play again.

Very nice course, like the free range balls and chipping and putting green, nicely manicured all around. Went out as a single and paired w a great pair of guys who played from the black tees while I played from the whites. The round took under 4.5 hours. The front nine seemed much faster than the back when we caught up with the group in front of us...almost right after the snack stand. Thinking about joining but had a bad expertise on Black Bear the other day being matched up w two of the worst golfers I ever played with. Hoping. the higher end of Wild Turkey will prevent this from happening in the future. Intentionally playing in the mid AM to avoid late day or weekend crowds. Will keep yo posted...

I played Black Bear last Thursday. The course was very nice...nicely manicured tees, fairways, greens and rough. I was pleasantly surprised because I had just played Wild Turkey the week before and Black Bear was described as a lesser quality course..but at $55 instead of $80 or $85 for such a nice course was a bargain. The pace was reasonable, we were told the round should take about 4.5 hours...pretty much my limit for a round but we finished in closer to 4.25 hours. Free driving range balls included was a nice bonus. The only problem that really detracted from the quality of the round is that I went out as a single and was matched w 2 of the worst players I ever played with which really ruined the round. They must have shot 120 to 130 taking 2-3 shots to reach the fairway on every hole. I wonder if there is a way to avoid that? I would like to be able to go out as a single or a twosome and not be paired w people that bad. I was working with Tyler and the membership people and thinking about joining but then had second thoughts because of this unenjoyable experience. I know this can be a challenge w public or semi public courses but wonder if the golf concierge service could help eliminate this problem... Playing Wild Turkey again tomorrow, I hope playing the more expensive course will help to elevate this problem