How much money would you pay to walk around Augusta National with no ropes and no restrictions? We’re not even talking about watching professional golfers — or even members — play around the Georgia Jewel; just to have the opportunity to walk to holes, tee to green, and take it all in?
Does $25 sound too steep?
That’s the price Pine Valley Golf Club is asking for when they open their usually-closed doors to the public on Sunday, Sept. 25. You’ll be able to walk the course, tee to green, uninhibited. The only catch is you have to play the golf in your mind. Erik Matuszewski of Forbes explains.
It tends to cost a pretty penny to stroll outside the ropes at one of the best and most picturesque golf courses in the world. Imagine if you could experience one of golf’s most exclusive clubs more intimately and at a fraction of the price.
Well, you can.
This weekend, on the 25th, the public is again invited to visit Pine Valley for the final matches of the 92nd George Arthur Crump Memorial Tournament. The event is held in honor of the course’s founder, who brought together celebrated architects such as A.W. Tillinghast, Hugh Wilson, George C. Thomas Jr., Walter Travis and H.S. Colt to build the stunningly strategic course amid the sandy soil and pine trees of South Jersey.
For those who are passionate about the game and most likely will never get the chance to play at Pine Valley, it’s a don’t-miss opportunity.
I’ve lived in New Jersey my entire life and written about golf for decades, but have yet to tee it up at Pine Valley, which is about as private as private clubs get. That said, I’ve eagerly visited the course now a handful of times for the Crump Memorial Tournament, where there are no gallery ropes to keep fans at a distance. If you don’t want to follow the final matches themselves, you can simply walk the course, from the middle of the perfectly manicured fairways to the challenging, complex and undulating greens.
Pine Valley routinely tops many golf publications’ list of the best course in the world and its features are typically reserved for well-timed photographs and whispered about in social circles. In the same way that many people will never even step foot onto Augusta National’s hallowed grounds, much less play it, a loophole has been created and it’s one you should take advantage of.
[Forbes]
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