The Links at Brigantine Course Review: A Solid Atlantic City Golf Course

This review of the Links at Brigantine as originally published in March 2013. You want to see a good example of how much your writing can improve over time? Just read this, one of the very first articles I ever published on Breaking Eighty 🙂

Last week I took off to spend a few days in New York.  My good friend James Clear invited me out there to attend a fashion week runway show, and let’s be real, when else am I going to have the opportunity to do that?

After the event however I had a few more days to kill, and my buddy Dan invited me out to his shore house in Brigantine, New Jersey.

For those of you who have never heard of Brigantine, it’s literally 5 minutes from Atlantic City.

As such, The Links at Brigantine is the closest course to Atlantic City, so if you find yourself in need of a break from your debaucherous gambling trip – this may be your go-to spot.

First Impressions of the Links at Brigantine

This summer Dan was out in my hometown of Portland, and we played one of my favorite local courses, so it was only natural that we play his home course.  He’s talked up Brigantine for months so I was excited to get out and play it.

The course is located on the Bay side of Brigantine island, and upon pulling up you can tell it’s a true links-style course.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of links-style courses.  I always seem to find the tall grass, and generally prefer the more heavily wooded courses of the Northwest.  That being said, our round at Brigantine was a great time.

The last couple months have been a little rough for me, as I’ve developed a nasty slice out of nowhere.  I’m slowly coming around, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t terrified to play this course, which while short at 6215 from the whites (about 6500 from the tips), still punishes you for errant shots.

This was the first round I’ve ever played on the east coast, but it seems as though many of the courses there require to use a cart (which is included in the green fee).  Our second round of the trip at Mays Landing was the same way, and generally, I only see this at resort courses on the west coast.

Either way the GPS-enabled carts were great.

Playing Brigantine

Because I know the course is relatively short, and my driver has been, well, unruly I decided to leave it in the bag for awhile and tee off with a 3 hybrid.  215 yards in the center of the fairway isn’t a bad way to start.

I parred the par 5 hole, while my buddy Dan lost a ball and found the sand on his way to finishing with a double.

Hmm, maybe this round won’t be so bad after all.

Ha.

The second hole starts to show why Brigantine is an interesting course.  The seemingly short par 4 doesn’t give you much room to work off the tee.  If you aren’t in the center of the fairway, you’ll be probably be taking a a penalty stroke.  6 iron for the win.

A few weeks earlier apparently they hosted some kind of semi-pro tournament and firmed up the greens.  I landed the front of the green  on my approach only to have it rocket up in the air and then roll off into the deep cut. I chopped it out and 2 putted for a bogey while Dan chipped in for birdie.

If all the greens were like this, it was going to be a rough day.

They were.

I continued battling through the first 7 holes.  Had a couple missed chances, but all in all wasn’t playing terrible by my standards and was +5 through 7.  Maybe this would be the day I’d finally break 85?

Kiss of death.

8 and 9? Double, double.

The Back Nine at the Links at Brigantine

I’d finished the front right at my average of 45, and figured I’d use the back as a fresh start.  No such luck. Triple on the 10th – and it only got worse from there.

One thing about playing Brigantine is there is a lot of water, and apparently the mosquitos love it.  There were mosquitos all over the course, and I was getting itchy by the time we walked off the 1st green.

We even had bug spray, but these bad boys were persistent.

There really isn’t much to talk about on the back.  I simply wasn’t being tactical with my shots, got a little lazy in terms of course management, and only ended up with one par.  However, on the 167 yard par 3 15.  I had a nice tee shot, and then lipped out my birdie putt.Back on track?

Nah, finished out double, double, bogey.

So, Should You Play the Links at Brigantine?

Brigantine has some pretty well-designed holes, and some killer greens.  The course was more suburban than I expected with homes lining many of the fairways.  That said, I liked that the course didn’t lap fairways.  You couldn’t see most of the course from other holes, which I’ve always felt adds to the experience of being out there on your own.

The course itself actually wasn’t in great shape, with some dirt patches in the rough, and the greens that were set up for Tiger.Would I play Brigantine again? Absolutely.  Not only because I know Dan and I will be making it back out there at some point, but because it was a great change of pace from the courses I’m used to playing.  Check it out on your next trip to Atlantic City, but personally I’d avoid playing at peak times in the summer, as I think $75-85 is a little steep for this course.

If you can play it for $60 or less, especially considering that’s with a cart, then go for it and remember to bring your bug spray!

Oh, and make sure you stay for the view at the end of the day 🙂