By Sean Fawcett
Golfing a round at The Shore Club in Cape May Court House is, very simply, one the best golfing experiences anywhere.
Opened way back in 1916, and formerly the Wildwood Golf and Country Club for more than 100 years, The Shore Club, located along the shores of scenic Stone Harbor, is one of the most beautiful and iconic golf clubs in all of South Jersey’s proud, superb and significant golfing history.
“The history of The Shore Club is really incredible,” said Fred Riedel, The Shore Club’s long-time PGA professional, pro emeritus, and golf and membership ambassador. “So much has happened here in 100-plus years. It’s amazing.”
The first-class amenities, including an updated clubhouse, and its new outside dining and entertainment space, make The Shore Club an absolute favorite for its members and guests with its sensational and storied history.
Walking The Shore Club’s first-rate fairways and putting its perfect, push-up putting surfaces, takes you back to the times of golf’s Golden Age of the early 1900s when the game first exploded in popularity, and top Scottish professionals and architects like Donald Ross and Willie Park, Jr., imported the Grand Game to America right here in South Jersey.
Add to that its important and unique connection to The King, Arnold Palmer, and The Shore Club is a true must-play golf course for golf enthusiasts of every age and every playing level.
In 1951, taking a leave from his studies and college golf at Wake Forest University, and following the tragic automobile death of his best friend and Demon Deacon teammate, Bud Worsham, Palmer came to Cape May to undergo basic training for the U.S. Coast Guard.
It was a crucial time for the World Golf Hall of Famer, both personally and professionally. He played The Shore Club, then the Wildwood Golf and Country Club, regularly, honing his game while protecting the Eastern Seaboard and getting over the trauma of the loss of his dear friend.
After the Coast Guard, Palmer won the 1954 USGA Amateur Championship and turned professional in 1955. In all, The King collected seven professional major championship titles, winning the U.S. Open in 1960, the British Open in 1961 and 1962, and earning four Green Jackets in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964.
In 2016, months before his passing, and in recognition of Wildwood Golf and Country Club’s 100th anniversary, Palmer authored a very personal letter of congratulations to the club, thanking it for all his happy memories of playing golf while serving just around the corner in the Coast Guard.
“We are so, so blessed to have that special connection with Mr. Palmer that we have here,” said Riedel. “He only spent about nine months training at the nearby Coast Guard station, but he played a lot of golf here and made friends with so many of our members.”
A huge fan of The King myself, I can just imagine a 20-something Palmer stalking its tree-lined fairways, sinking birdies, and sometimes eagles, all around its classic layout. A major part of the charm of playing The Shore Club is the eerie, but cool, out-of-body-like experience of playing the course, and walking in the footsteps of Palmer, and fellow Hall of Famers like Walter Hagen and Gary Player as well.
Hagen, then the top player in the world, graced The Shore Club in 1923 by playing in an exhibition match against the club’s then head professional, Jimmy Young, and Henry Williams.
Way more recently, Player, one of the 10 best golfers of all-time with both Palmer and Hagen, spent time on the course giving demonstrations and telling stories to all its members and guests.
“The Shore Club is just an incredible place,” said The Shore Club’s LPGA teaching professional Marjorie Jones. “Legends like Gary Player, and obviously Arnold Palmer, having been here, and the course itself, which is just beautiful and a classic, make playing here and working here a real joy.”
