Philly golf review: South Jersey’s Centerton GC has something for every kind of golfer

A lot of local golf courses are just one thing. They are long, they are short — they could be tight-wooded courses or a wide open links style layout.

On South Jersey’s Centerton Golf Club, you get a little of everything.

“Every hole gives you something different,” the course’s General Manager Joe DeLuca said. “There are a lot of doglegs left, doglegs right, a lot of fairway bunkers. The greens are sloped away…”

Whether you like to ride your driver for success or prefer to hit your irons, Centerton’s layout and diverse grouping of holes gives every kind of golfer a chance at posting a good score.

“We have a lot of really good memberships,” DeLuca said. “The course is in dynamite shape. It’s one of the most affordable places to play around here and it’s only going to get better.”

Located in Pittsgrove, the course has a few wide open links-style holes — like 14 and 15. It has water you need to carry on holes 10 and 17. And it has the feel of an old style wooded- Philly course, like hole 11.

“The 11th is a great Par 5,” DeLuca said of the longest hole on the course, at 578 from the back tees. “It’s long, you have to hit good shots to get there.”

If your ball striking is good, you’ll need to make sure you’re picking the right club. The ball will really roll at Centerton and could see your perfectly struck approach wind up behind the green.

“Keep the ball below the hole, the greens tend to run out,” the GM said. “Meaning, if you hit a shot at it and the pin’s at the back you want to give yourself room to get it there because it will bounce. If you hit a shot and it hits the green chances are it’s going to go over unless you have a lot of spin on the ball.”

The trek is just a 40 minute drive southeast of the city and, with a new greenskeeper on the payroll, the course conditions should continue to improve.

Local knowledge tip: “The course pretty much sets up in front of you. There’s not really a lot of things to need to worry about. One of the things however, with the amount of rain we’ve gotten is the rough is pretty think. … Keep the ball in the fairway.”

Price range: $25 on a weekday afternoon, $50 on a weekend morning (mention Metro for 20% off)

Website: centertongolf.com