A Link To The Origins Of The Game

At The Jersey Shore, Get A True Links Golf Experience At McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links

By Tom McNichol, Contributing Writer

Tom Sullivan has been there since the beginning when Egg Harbor Township, N.J. opted to turn its closed landfill into a golf course that opened in 2002.

The general manager at McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links has seen a golf course corporation come and go, Hurricane Sandy come blowing through and the condition of the golf course improve since Steve Lane came on as the superintendent. And now he’s seen the effect of a global pandemic on his operation.

McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links, a 6,100-yard, par-71 layout, is named for the Egg Harbor Township mayor, James “Sonny” McCullough, who pushed to turn an expiring landfill into a golf course. The property’s former life as a landfill makes it the highest point in Atlantic County, which, combined with its proximity to the ocean, made it the perfect spot to create a links-style course.

Golf course architect Stephen Kay turned 17 holes into a homage to various great links designs in Europe, some on the continent, but primarily from the famous linksland courses of England and Scotland. The signature seventh hole at McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links adopts a design created by Alister MacKenzie, who collaborated with Bobby Jones to design the Augusta National Golf Club that golf fans have become so familiar with watching the Masters every April, although MacKenzie was never able to incorporate the hole into any of his golf courses.

The result is a resort golf course between Atlantic City and Ocean City that offers a unique challenge.

“There’s elevation changes and rolling hills and because we’re so high up, the wind is always a factor,” Sullivan said as he and his staff started gearing up for “the season” with Memorial Day weekend just a few days away.

A year ago, with COVID protocols from New Jersey shifting with each issuance of another executive order, Sullivan was just hoping to have a season. Golf, though, would not just survive the pandemic, it would thrive and Sullivan and his team learned a few lessons from COVID that will continue to be part of the McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links experience for years to come.

“We’ve experimented with eight- and nine-minute intervals in our tee times in the past,” Sullivan said. “For a short period we were only allowed to have 16-minute intervals, which didn’t work out too well But when we really got going in mid-June, we settled on 10-minute intervals and that’s really worked out from a pace-of-play standpoint, which is something we’ve always been aware of.

“We had discussed pre-pay for tee times and curbside pickup at the bag drop, but we were always worried the customers wouldn’t like it. But we were forced to do those things because of COVID and people adjusted to it, so we’re going to continue to do those things.”

By mid-summer of last year, golf was booming. There simply weren’t a whole lot of entertainment or athletic outlets available in the midst of the pandemic. People who had once abandoned the game because they felt it simply took too much time to play a round suddenly had time on their hands.

“There just weren’t a whole lot of options when it came to things you could do safely, maybe biking, tennis, you could go to the beach, but golf was definitely something you could do safely,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan noticed his numbers start to

tick up in July and August, but they were traditionally strong months at the Jersey Shore. But that was followed by the best September McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links had ever had and then the best October and the best November and December and January until several snow events slowed things down a little in February.

It appeared that some people whose children were still going to school virtually in the fall simply opted to stay at the beach after the unofficial end of summer Labor Day weekend.

“I’m optimistic because there are signs that club sales are up,” Sullivan said. “The National Golf Foundation sees a five-year bubble for golf. Phil (Mickelson) winning the PGA will help. My big indicator for us, I think, will be how we do in September and October this year.”

Sullivan is quick to credit his superintendent, Lane, for keeping McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links in consistently good condition.

“I think the course is in as good a condition as it’s ever been,” Sullivan said, noting that there were at least five greens that weren’t in the best of shape when he turned to Lane in 2010.

Sullivan employs “dynamic pricing,” which accounts for factors like the time of the year, the day of the week, the time of day, even weather conditions when it comes to what you’ll pay to play McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links.

“I think people have started to get used to paying that way,” Sullivan said of the dynamic pricing concept.

Sullivan sees McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links’ affordability as a one of the strengths of the overall operation.

“I think we’ve established a good niche at the Shore as one of the more affordable courses,” Sullivan said. “You know it’s going to be a little higher to play on Memorial Day weekend, but later in the day, you can get a pretty nice deal.”

McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links is trying to get away from weekend outings because it limits the amount of regular play. Sullivan hopes to see some of the outings that went by the wayside during the pandemic start to come back in 2021, but he’d like to limit them, as much as possible, to Monday through Thursday.

McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links leases out its food and beverage operation to Vagabond, a popular eatery in nearby Atlantic City. When outdoor dining became the only dining in 2020, Vagabond was more than ready.

“They had built this huge deck years ago, so the transition to outdoor dining was very successful,” Sullivan said. “A lot of restaurants had to quickly put down a small concrete area, but the deck here was already in place.”

A visit to McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links’ website, www.mculloughsgolf.com, reveals some of its most popular deals.

“Our big seller is a 10-Round Card that goes for $399 and there are other options, including a Five-Round Card and a 7-Daya-Week card,” Sullivan said.

McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links also offers a Member Card that starts at $400.

Pace of play is very important to Sullivan and his team. If his staff notices an area of the golf course that is slowing down play, they’ll make an adjustment.

“If we notice an area of rough that people are slowing down to look for balls, we’ll cut the rough more,” Sullivan said

If you’re looking for a real links-golf setting at a golf course that really values pace of play and affordability, McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links might be what you’re looking for this summer at the Jersey Shore and maybe even in the fall. TSG

For more information about McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links, call 609.926.3900 or visit

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