Tee Time

For golfers on a budget, a Mercer County golf card is a stroke of good luck.

By: Edmund Karam
   Although the game of golf, invented in Scotland in the 15th century, was originally intended for the enjoyment of all classes, it has up until recently been considered the exclusive providence of the well-heeled and well-connected.
   Not so in Mercer County, where residents who may not be able to afford country club memberships are entitled to play their choice of three, soon to be four, exceptional courses of varying character for exceedingly reasonably priced greens fees.
   Each of the county’s three public golf courses — Mercer Oaks, Princeton Country Club, and Mountain View Golf Course — has a distinct character and provides unique challenges for Mercer County’s 8,000 pros, putters, duffers and hackers of all ages. And a new clubhouse facility at the Mercer Oaks course in West Windsor is becoming an attractive spot for both social and business meetings.
   Rated 3½ stars by "Golf Digest," Mercer Oaks Golf Course in West Windsor has matured into a challenging, well-manicured and maintained public links course since it first opened in 1991. The longest of the three county courses at over 7,000 yards from championship tees, Mercer Oaks requires considerable drives straight down the middle of the fairway. The par-4, ninth hole requires a well-managed tee shot followed by a dramatic approach shot over a pond to reach the green. Many guests who choose to have their cocktail reception on the veranda overlooking the green may mistake the splashing plop of a misplaced 9-iron for the sound of a jumping fish.
   Also worth mentioning is the signature seventeenth hole. Perched on top of an elevated tee box with a breathtaking view of Mercer Lake (especially beautiful in the fall), golfers must bang a considerable drive straight down the middle in order to set up a mid-iron approach shot over an arm of Lake Mercer. The outcome of many a friendly game can change in an instant on this hole.
   Most businessmen would proclaim that a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at the office. With the addition of the new clubhouse and its catering and meeting facilities, now the area’s golfers can realize the best of both worlds.
   The newly constructed clubhouse, a $2 million facility that replaced a trailer serving as a temporary clubhouse since the course opened, consists of a pro shop, bar and grill, meeting rooms and a banquet hall. The Mercer County Park Commission has entered into an agreement with Michael Mosner of Lakeside Catering to operate the concessions at Mercer Oaks, and as of April 1, the bar and grill at Princeton Country Club.
   Although 80 percent of all booked functions are social in nature, Lakeside Catering plans to reach out to the local business community by offering a comfortable meeting setup and high-tech AV equipment.
   Open from April to December and closed on Mondays, except for tournaments, Mercer Oaks hosts roughly 50,000 rounds a year. Rated a "best value" by NJGolf.com, this track has provided enjoyable rounds with reasonable green fees for county golfers of all skill and income levels for over a decade (see golf listing, pg ).
   Those unfamiliar with the Princeton Country Club, another of the county’s courses, assume this to be the exclusive domain of blue bloods in blazers who greet each other with clench-jawed formality. In fact, it is nothing of the sort. It has been a public track since 1975, when the county purchased the course from a private owner. Located just west of Route 1, behind the Mercer Mall, bisected by the Delaware Canal, PCC is a favorite among seniors, high school golf school team members and any golfer who is prepared for tight, tree-lined fairways and small, elevated greens. The course measures 5,845 yards with a par of 70.
   Most county golfers would rate PCC as the easiest of the three courses, yet it has a slope rating of 121 from the white tees. Although there are many tricky holes on the course for the player who can’t find the short grass with his drive, the par-3, thirteenth hole is especially precarious. Canal path walkers and bikers best beware! Its tee shot requires one to hit over the canal and find a hidden green marked only by an elongated flagstick.
   The Princeton Country Club is the only one of the three County courses that does not accept tee times; it is first come first serve. It is open year round and sees 40,000 rounds a year — that’s a lot of golf balls knocking tree trunks and lining the bottom of the Delaware Canal.
   Mountain View Golf Course is located on Bear Tavern Road in Ewing, just off I-95, but there is only one hole on the course from where you can glimpse the highway.
   The name of the course captures it’s character: constructed by the county workforce in the late 1950s and opened in 1962, Mountain View’s 6,220 yards feature many holes with elevated tee boxes that offer lush, cross-cut fairways. The course requires a trek over hill and dale, river and stream. The back nine starts off with two par-5s and ends with a 5, so you better grab a PowerBar at the turn in the snack bar and grill.
   The course, open year round, hosts approximately 50,000 rounds annually, and has a slope rating of 119.
   Whether you plan on playing any one of Mercer County’s existing courses or the new Mercer Oaks East course slated to open late this summer, most golfers would admit that holding a Mercer County golf card is an enjoyable and affordable stroke of good luck!