Welcome to Preakness Valley Golf Course

Golfers often are willing to travel significant distances in search of an enjoyable experience. But having a high-quality public course in your hometown is a tremendous benefit to a golf enthusiast.

Totowa golfers are among that fortunate group. Preakness Valley Golf Course is a 36-hole facility partially located within the borough and operated by the Passaic County government. As a result of a facelift costing close to $3 million, Preakness Valley is now one of the top public courses in the region.

And the operators of the course are not resting on their laurels. “We’re continually improving,” says Marty Vybihal, the head golf professional and general manager at Preakness Valley. Vybihal says current work includes upgrades to irrigation and drainage to fix issues revealed by this past summer’s heavy rains.

While some golfers are putting away their clubs for the winter at this time, Preakness Valley remains busy throughout the year. Vybihal notes the course is open every day that it is playable, except on Christmas and New Year’s Day. On a decent day in the winter, he says 60 to 100 players will show up to hit the links. “They’re hardcore,” Vybihal says.

The restaurant and bar located at the course, known as In the Drink, is also open year-round. Operated by a separate entity, the restaurant offers home-style cooking, live music on weekends and special events.

Not long ago, the vibe around the golf course (then known as Passaic County Golf Course) was far different. Course conditions were poor, with plastic mats at some tees. Few events took place at the facility and nearly all of the players were county residents taking advantage of the discounted price.

Vybihal says that began to change five or six years ago, when county leaders decided the facility needed improvement. “It was a total philosophy change,” he says. Course upgrades included new tee boxes and new bunkers, along with an overall improvement in upkeep.

In 2016, Preakness Valley opened its new full-service driving range. No longer would golfers need to go to a nearby private range to warm up before a round. “It’s been a very popular addition,” says Vybihal. The driving range enabled Preakness Valley to host four weeks of kids’ clinics this past summer, with about 150 children participating. It also makes possible ladies’ clinics that take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Last year, the county made a further commitment by hiring Vybihal, the first golf pro in many years to be employed at the course. He brought nearly three decades of experience as a pro at clubs around New Jersey, and continued the dedication to improving the golfing experience at Preakness Valley.

One of Vybihal’s ideas was to extend the 18th hole at Preakness Valley’s West course, converting it from a par-4 to a par-5. This changed the overall par for the West course from 69 to 70, a seemingly small alteration that Vybihal says makes a big difference. “A par-69 sounds like an ‘executive’ course to a lot of people,” he says. “They want to bring their outings to a full-length course.” Vybihal says the change has made the facility a more popular location for such events.

All of the changes have also allowed Preakness Valley to host competitive tournaments, including a New Jersey assistant golf professionals event. Vybihal says those tournaments almost always take place at private clubs, and Preakness Valley was the only public course to host one this year.

The course also played host to two junior tournaments this year, featuring about 130 competitors each. And Preakness Valley is the home course for all of Passaic County’s 12 high school varsity golf programs in the spring.

Preakness Valley is a much busier venue than in past years, and for good reason. Vybihal says, “It’s now one of the best public golf values in northern New Jersey and the surrounding area.” That’s especially true for county residents, who can pay a small price for an annual county card that provides discounted greens fees. Card sales for 2019 begin on January 2, and Vybihal says he expects to see many of the regulars come to the clubhouse in the first days of the new year to buy their cards.\

Another key benefit of the county card is early access to book tee times, a more valuable privilege as word of the improvements at the course has brought in an increasing flow of golfers from outside the county. Preakness Valley Golf Course may be a lot more popular now than a few years ago, but it’s still Totowa’s hometown course—a course many others would love to call their own.