Peddie Golf Club

About Peddie Golf Club

Peddie started as a farm. Walter C. Black's 44-acre nursery became a nine-hole course in 1923, when his son-in-law C. Stanley Stults and a group of local businessmen laid it out around the Christmas tree farm, the orchards and the nursery stock. When the Depression hit they couldn't cover the upkeep and taxes, so they "sold" the course to the Peddie School for $1.00, in exchange for Black and his wife keeping their house.

The nine stayed largely as it was until 1952, when superintendent and pro Burtis Parker added another nine on the rest of the nursery and the neighboring Thompson land. He saved the nursery's trees as he went: maples, spruce, pine, oaks, elms, chestnuts, apples, magnolias, and the original Christmas tree farm, which the club says was the first in New Jersey. Eight of today's greens are from the 1923 nine. In the 1960s and '70s tees were enlarged and three holes reworked for a bigger parking lot and a new clubhouse, and irrigation came in 1984.

It's short, 6,278 yards from the back tees, but the club is clear about where it bites: narrow fairways, small greens and big trees. The par 72 is built from an unusual five par 3s and five par 5s. The par 3s are short (the 3rd is 115 yards and the 5th 121), yet the club notes few players take advantage of them, and the par 5s are hard to pick up strokes on too. The scorecard asks for a four-hour round.

It's one of 75 courses Yoink watches in the Northern & Central New Jersey area, and the closest alternative is Clearbrook Golf Club, about 5 miles away — handy when your first choice is booked solid.

Booking a tee time at Peddie Golf Club

The club's own site is built around memberships (full, weekday with weekend afternoons, young professional and junior), and members walk free seven days a week. It doesn't describe public tee times, so call the club at (609) 490-7542 before you plan a round.

How to get a tee time at Peddie Golf Club