Royce Brook - East Course - Hillsborough, NJ

[jimboski93]

I traveled down from White Plains to meet up with friends from NYC at Royce Brook this past Saturday. We found a group deal on Thrillist.com which gave us greens fee + cart + 2 drinks + 2 snacks for $65 - great deal.

 

They've got a nice grass range and give you complementary bag with balls for the range. They've also got two large putting / chipping greens - one for everyone, one for members only.

 

I took my cart from the practice green to the starter nearby but found I had driven to the West Course which is for members only. I can say #1 on the private course looked great!

 

We played from the green tees - 6,447 yards - and I can definitely say the course is not long. Two of the par 5s are easily reachable in two, while several of the par 4s leave you the option of cutting the corner on a dogleg and having little left to the green.

The par 5 7th is typical of the other par 5s - the fairway leads out to the left from the tee, then takes a near 90 degree turn back to the right. You can drive over the bunkers at the corner, or if you are a longer hitter, drive to the right of the bunkers. If you hit the ball 275 yards, you've got 125 yards left. I'm guessing the hole's measured yardage at 475 yards is measuring a 200 yard drive down the left part of the fairway, then a layup across the fairway, then a shot to the green.

The par 5 12th is very similar. 275 yard drive over the bunkers where the fairway breaks to the left would leave you ~160 yards left to the green.

 

The carts are equipped with a computer monitor and GPS which was very helpful. There were a few somewhat blind tee shots that gave me a bit of trouble. It was mostly the result of trying to cut a corner on a dogleg hole, but finding out after having hit a "prefect drive" that I had cut it too much and was in the rough. I'd probably do much better having played the course once and not trying to cut it so severly.

 

The greens were generally pretty simple. I had a lot of longer putts that burned the edges because there wasn't a lot of break. The pin on the 18th green though was placed on the side of a roll - I doubt the position was "legal" but whatever.

 

Having played Ballyowen in Hamburg, NJ recently I'd make this comparison:

Rates: Ballyowen $137 / Royce Brook $109

Fescue: Royce Brook's was a lot thicker and more penalizing. I was surprised at how many balls that ended up in the Ballyowen's fescue was findable / advanceable.

Greens: Ballyowen's were much more challenging - harder to two putt from distance.

Layout: Ballyowen gets the nod, but Royce Brook was enjoyable. Particularly in that you could reach two of the Par 5s in two and could hit good drives on par 4s and have an easy approach / better shot a birdie.

Scenery: Ballyowen gets the vote by a landslide.

 

Overall, if I lived equidistant to Ballyowen or Royce Brook, I'd play Ballyowen more even though it is a good deal more expensive. Given that I live 1.5 hours from Royce Brook, I don't think I'll be making the trip again too soon - the course was good, enjoyable, but not great / very memorable. For $65 plus 2 drinks/2 snacks, it's a great deal.