LAUREL CREEK COUNTRY CLUB

The rolling terrain of South Jersey's Pine Barrens provides an unexpectedly dramatic canvas for this Edmund Ault design, where towering pines frame elevated tees and force carries over wetlands that punish the wayward. The par-3 16th demands a precise mid-iron over a serpentine creek to a green guarded by ancient oaks, while the closing stretch tests every club in the bag across undulating fairways. For public golf in the Philadelphia suburbs, the conditioning rivals many private clubs, and the strategic bunkering rewards course management over brute force.