By Sean Fawcett
Links golf is a unique and very special kind of golf. Golfing a round at the Brigantine Golf Links is simply one of the very best and most enjoyable rounds of links-style golf you’ll get to play anywhere, especially here at the Jersey Shore.
Played on seaside or bayside bordered land like where the game first began in Scotland, true and traditional links courses “link” the land at the water to the town.
Primarily treeless, sandy and often featuring hilly landscapes, links golf challenges golfers to play a style of golf that they almost never have to play at the much more prevalent, tree-lined, park-style golf courses which dominate the American game.
One of the truest links courses in all of the historic Atlantic City golfing scene is the beautiful and fun-to-play Brigantine Golf Links. Opened in 1927, TBGL is a rare gem of a course and a step back in time.
When it was first opened, the Jersey Shore staple was a favorite training ground for many of America’s top professional and amateur players hoping to hone their games before cruising over to compete at the British Open and British Amateur championships.
Besides being a top links course, Brigantine’s links, built by famed Massachusetts-based architect Wayne Stiles (Taconic, Mink Meadows, Putterham Meadows) is, other than the courses in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, one of the only barrier island golf courses on the entire East Coast.
“We’re a unique barrier island golf course,” said Brigantine Golf Links head golf professional Gabriel DeLiberty. “We are the truest example of links-style golf in the entire Atlantic City area.”
You have to contend with the wind on a links course. Even a slight breeze will demand playing low drives and creatively imagined and executed bumps and runs along the ground, with precision chipping and a deft touch with the putter. All those things are things that I like.
Two of the many things about Brigantine I like a lot are the first and 18th holes. Both reachable par 5s, one and 18 give good golfers great chances to begin and close with birdies, while giving all other players possible putts for par.
Playing a touch longer than 450 yards, Brigantine’s first hole, opening the Hagen Nine named for golfing great and World Golf Hall of Famer Walter Hagen, calls for a straight or slightly fading drive short of a tidal creek that crosses the fairway, leaving a shot of about 200 yards to the green. Meanwhile 18, capping the back nine named for British golfing giant and Hall of Famer Harry Vardon, plays straight uphill and back toward the clubhouse with water down to the right to an elevated green.
Hole 15, a par 3, is Brigantine’s signature hole. Framed front and left by a pool and creek, hitting the long and narrow green with a long iron, hybrid or fairway wood in one is a victory in itself.
“Fifteen is a terrific hole,” said DeLiberty. “It’s one of everyone’s favorites. It’s just a great par 3.”
I love 15, but I love just about every hole at Brigantine, I really do. Like a great record with great songs from start to finish, the Brigantine Golf Links is a terrific track that I cannot wait to play any time and any day I can. You will love it, too.
