SHORE GOLF GUIDE | Summer 2024

Showcasing Golf and More at the Jersey Shore

McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links

A Taste of Old-World Championship Golf at the Jersey Shore

McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links offers you a passport to play some of the Old World’s most famous holes right here at the Jersey Shore. The course is a one-of-a-kind and true Irish-Scottish links gem featuring eighteen of the most fun to play holes inspired by many of the most famous British Open and European courses in the world.

Looking and feeling like some of the many hundred-year-old holes they pay homage to, this Stephen Kay design utilizes unique elevations in conjunction with creative Scottish style bunkering, along with fescue grass mounding, multi-leveled and sloping greens.

The open, rolling, and wind driven fairways to recreate the authentic Irish and Scottish golf experience with holes modeled after St. Andrews, Prestwick, Carnoustie, Turnberry, Royal Dornoch, Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, and many others.

McCullough’s Emerald Golf Links is celebrating 22 years serving locals and shore visitors. Enjoy food and drinks at Vagabond, which adjoins the clubhouse and overlooks the sprawling course.

McCullough’s is just minutes away from Ocean City and Margate, located at 3016 Ocean Heights Avenue in Egg Harbor Township. Call 609-926-3900 or go to www. mcculloughsgolf.com

e Shore is Home to Some Great Golf

The Atlantic City region boasts some of the best golf courses in the U.S. In fact, the greater Atlantic City region offers nearly 20 championship-caliber courses within a short 30 minute drive.

Golfweek Magazine puts many of Atlantic City’s courses in the Top 10 New Jersey golf experiences. Our courses represent a wide range of style, design and history. The tranquil beauty of wetlands, stunning bay views, challenging topography with deep ravines, rolling fairways, stretches of sand bunkers and tall pine trees give players so many fun options.

How good is Atlantic City golf? Good enough to earn a "Top 10 Golf Cities in America" designation from ForbesTraveler.com. Most of the area’s courses also made it on to the “best places to play” list in Golf Digest. And, according to GolfDigest.com, “Atlantic City is a terrific low-cost, high-quality golf destination.”

The NJ Shore is the perfect place to wake up, play some challenging holes, eat dinner in a beachside restaurant, then catch a show, then retire for the night.

SHORE GOLF GUIDE

is here to help you discover some of the best golf and other activities the area has to offer. We hope you enjoy this new magazine…and a great round of golf.

Shore Golf was Born at AC Country Club

By William Kelly

Golf came to Atlantic City by train. It came in over the rails that brought many thousands of tourists to Atlantic City daily. Many of the visitors had played golf in Philadelphia where the increasing popularity of the game spurred the construction of new golf courses and developed a new aspect of the sport called “resort golf.” Atlantic City was at one time a sandbar barrier island known as Absecon Island, and used by farmers as a cattlepen before it was developed into a tourist destination when the trains started arriving in 1877. At the time Atlantic City offered fine beaches, a boardwalk and exceptional hotels. But Atlantic City, as of the summer of 1896, did not have a golf course. Some people who had experienced the game at other resorts brought along their own golf equipment, but were left playing in the sand on the beach among the bathers. The lack of a facility to play golf, indeed the lack of a “country club” itself, was a matter thought best addressed by the city’s leading citizens with the establishment of a committee. Most were prosperous Atlantic City hotel owners. This was before the era of public relations or promotion men, as they had to depend on their own ideas, and everyone

seemed to have a different one. Someone mentioned a place where a new game called ‘golf’ was played. It was noted that ‘people of affluence’ were taking up the game. After a long discussion it was deemed the best of all plans submitted.” The name Country Club of Atlantic City was chosen, and a plot of land in Northfield was selected for the site, as it was easily accessible from the boardwalk hotels via trolley lines that ran from Atlantic City to Somers Point and Ocean City. While still under construction, golfers began to play before the official opening on June 18th 1898.

Fairway Bunker Shots Made Easier

By Sean Fawcett

Fairway bunker shots intimidate even experienced golfers, but they are not as tough as you might think. Just remember a couple of key things. First, do not dig your feet into the sand. Digging your feet in lowers your body, and hands, and, in turn, lowers your club head making you hit the sand first behind the ball. You’ll want to dig in on greenside bunker shots because you’ll want to hit the sand first behind the ball to lift it up, gently out and onto the green, but it’s the exact opposite when playing a fairway bunker shot. Your goal in playing a fairway bunker shot is distance. You want to hit

the ball first and hit it cleanly and hard. Make it go as far as you can hit it.

The other thing to remember is to take two longer clubs and swing 70%. Swing mostly with your upper body and take a shorter backswing and swing a little easier and let the longer golf club help you get the added distance. For instance, if you are 150 yards out, and you would normally hit a seven iron from there from the fairway, take a five iron and swing about three-quarters as hard as you would from the grass.

Be sure to practice. Like all golf shots, you’ll need to hit a lot of these kinds of shots before you get good at hitting them and develop confidence. The more you do easier they will become.

The Place to Play at the South Jersey Shore

When Arnie met Winnie: Golf’s love story

By William Kelly

Before he died, Arnold Palmer dedicated a park to his late wife, Winnie, granting her wish that the land remain undeveloped, and epitomizing a love story that continues to enamor the game of golf. When and where they met became an historic occasion, and their adventures together on the PGA Tour, which attracted millions of new fans to the game, added their everlasting love story to the legacy of the game.

The time and place are set in stone. It was September of 1954, at Shawnee-on-Delaware, big band leader Fred Waring’s Pocono, Pennsylvania resort. But social circumstances and the state of the game of golf at the time would

create a situation that would change the nature of the game.

Three local players with strong ties to the Jersey Shore – great amateur Howard Everett, who lived on the Atlantic City Country Club (ACCC) course, along with Mays Landing Country Club professional Stan Dudas and Ron Ward of Wildwood, both of whom would later become ACCC golf pros were there at the time.

Howard Everett worked at Shawnee as a publicist for Fred Waring, whose popular radio show featured his orchestra playing live from his resort, Shawnee-on-Delaware. Waring’s annual golf tournament was the social event of the season, and it was Everett’s job to make

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it a success, but nobody could have predicted what would transpire.

Everett was a throwback to another era, when the best players were amateurs. He knew Palmer from playing against him in match play during the 1948 Pennsylvania Amateur (Everett defeated Palmer, lost to Art Wall).

“I invited Palmer to Shawnee before he won the Amateur,” Everett recalled in an interview shortly before he died. Palmer later acknowledged that he had previously declined invitations to Fred Waring’s tournament because he couldn’t afford to go, but after winning the US Amateur Golf Championship, and having a steady job selling paint, he made Shawnee his first tournament as the new champion.

“And that’s when he met Winnie,” said Everett, “and so I was in the thick of the beginning of that romance. But the story goes back much further than that. It all goes back to Atlantic City.”

In 1950 Bucky Worsham was the pro at Atlantic City, and Arnold Palmer was a Coast Guardsman stationed in Cape May, not far away. Palmer had been close friends with Bucky’s younger brother Buddy Worsham, who came from a family of fine golfers (brother Lew won the 1947 US Open). Arnie and Buddy Worsham both went to Wake Forest on golf scholarships and were roommates, but when Buddy died suddenly in a car accident, Palmer quit school and enlisted in the Coast Guard.

While stationed at Cape May, Palmer laid out his first course and played at a number of Jersey Shore clubs, including the Wildwood Country Club, Somers Point-Ocean City (now Greate Bay) and Atlantic City Country Club, where Bucky Worsham, the older brother of his late best friend, was the pro.

Shawnee is a dramatic, 27-hole course, with 24 of the holes on an island on the Delaware River. The Buckwood Inn was built a few years after the course was laid out, making it a popular resort. In 1913 Shawnee was the host of one of the most famous golf tournaments in the country, which attracted most of the US Open field and set the stage for what would become known as “The Greatest Game.”

In 1943 longtime Shawnee owner C.C. Worthington sold the Buckwood Inn and the golf course to big band leader Fred Waring, who renamed it the Shawnee Inn. That’s where Stan Dudas comes in. Dudas was another witness to when Arnie met Winnie. Dudas quit school in the ninth grade and left his Simpson, Pa., coal mining hometown an aimless runaway, until he was picked up hitchhiking by Fred Waring. Dudas didn’t know what he wanted to do; it could be anything other than working in a coal mine.

Waring talked Dudas into going with him to Shawnee, where Dudas quickly gravitated to the pro shop. There he earned tips for cleaning clubs and learned lessons in golf and life from Harry Obitz, the pro at the time, and his assistant Spec Hannon. Spec had been a caddy for Walter Hagen and Harry and Spec taught Dudas to play golf. After a few years Fred Waring thought he was good and sent young Dudas, then only 17, out on the winter pro tour, paying his way. Returning to Shawnee to work every summer, Stan Dudas was young, but a player in the golf game at Shawnee when Arnold Palmer arrived to play in this special tournament.

As Howard Everett recalled, “At the time I was working publicity for Fred Waring and I had invited Arnie ahead of time to participate in this tournament

that Waring called the Young Masters. I had invited him before he won the US Amateur. After winning the national amateur championship Palmer said he intended to stay an amateur, like (Francis) Ouimet and Everett, and looked forward to playing in the next Walker Cup in England.”

In his autobiography, “A Golfer’s Life,” Palmer wrote that he hadn’t decided to turn pro, even after winning the US Amateur. “I like selling paint,” Palmer said. “I have no intention of turning professional. I am very happy and my new title automatically puts me on the Walker Cup team.”

Besides publicists Howard Everett and Stan Dudas, Ron Ward was another young assistant golf pro at Shawnee. Ward recalled, “...I got to Shawnee on June 2 of 1952, and I left there about the middle of October, 1960. Howard

Everett was kind of a general manager. Fred Waring liked him. I always said that Howard Everett was one of the original Arnold Palmers, because as an amateur he was really good, and he was a good looking guy, and he could really wack the hell out of that ball.”

As for how Arnie met Winnie, Ward says, “Here’s what happened. Arnold Palmer was working for a guy named Bill Wehnes, who was in the paint business. So anyway, Arnie wins the national amateur out of the blue,” recalls Ward. “He wasn’t expected to win it, he wasn’t favored like Tiger Woods was, but he won the national amateur championship and then comes to play this little tournament at Shawnee.”

As Ward recalls the situation, “Fred Warning, who owned the place, had a daughter named Dixie, and Dixie’s buddy was Winnie Walzer.

Swing Easy when it’s Breezy

By Sean Fawcett

Playing golf in high winds is tough enough, but don’t make it harder by overcompensating. That’s often the case when hitting into the wind. The natural tendency is to swing harder to get the distance we’re losing by hitting into the wind. The problem is that the wind will balloon the ball upwards into the sky making the shot come up short (and the harder we swing, the higher the ball will go). It’s why airplanes take off into the wind. The air resistance helps to elevate the aircraft. Airplanes need that air pushing back on them to create lift and lift off. Planes need resistance. The other thing which hurts us is that any spin we have put onto the ball, and most occurr accidentally, like with a slice will curve all the more because of the wind’s resistance. You really cannot muscle the

ball through the wind by hitting the club you would normally hit from the distance that you are hitting from. You cannot hold back the tide. You have to play with the wind, and especially when it is against you. So, instead of trying to hit a hard pitching wedge from say 110 yards, like you would normally do when the wind isn’t against you, hit a nine iron and swing a little easier. Depending upon the wind speed, you might even have to choke down a little more and take an even longer club, like an eight iron, from that very same distance. Don’t let your ego get into your way. You might even need to use a driver on a 200 yard, or 180 yard, par 3 that’s playing into a three club wind, sometimes. I have had to do that many times, and I wouldn’t have reached the green, or carried the water, if I hadn’t taken the extra club. It’s just the way it goes.

Arnie and Winnie elope as Palmer turns pro

The following is the second part of a two-part story:

By William Kelly

As golfers Arnold Palmer, Stan Dudas and Ronnie Ward were mingling with their fellow golfers at Fred Waring’s Shawnee-on-Delaware Pocono resort, Palmer’s attention drifted to his surroundings.

It was September 1954, and Palmer, fresh off of winning the US Amateur Championship. They were at the Shawnee Inn for the Waite Memorial, an amateur golf invitational sometimes referred to as the Young Masters.

“There were these cute girls around. Fred’s daughter, Dixie, was a cutie pie, and her friend, Winnie, was as cute as a bell,” Ronnie Ward said of the encounter.

It was Winnie Walzer who caught Palmer’s eye.

In his autobiography, “A Golfer’s Life,” Palmer wrote, “the tournament festivities began over Labor Day weekend. We arrived on Monday and checked into the Shawnee Inn. I immediately went out on the golf course to play a practice round, and as I was coming back into the inn, I saw a couple of pretty girls coming down the stairway that led to the main lobby.

“One of them was Dixie Waring, Fred’s daughter. But it was the quieter, prettier, dark-haired one that really caught my eye. She had smoky good looks, and her demeanor had a clear sheen of class.”

Dudas recalled that they played some

golf and then mingled around the clubhouse until at some point Palmer just blurted out, “Who is that girl?,” speaking about Winnie Walzer.

“When Arnie met Winnie, it was love at first sight,” said golfer Howard Everett, but there still had to be formal introductions.

Fred (Waring) had a secretary, Cora Ballard, who was good at things like that,” said Ward, “and she probably introduced them formally.”

“All these years later it amuses me how many people claim they had the critical hand in bringing us together,” said Palmer.

“Winnie, I began to learn that night, was unlike any girl I ever met; not just pretty and comfortable in almost any social situation, but also smart, well traveled. She had pluck and ambition, and she didn’t suffer vain or pretentious fools easily.

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Seaview Golf Club

The Jersey Shore Classic opened more than 100 years ago and has long been the home of the best golf in the region. Situated in Galloway Township, Seaview offers two courses, the historic Bay course designed by Hall of Fame architects Hugh Wilson (Merion) and Donald Ross (Pinehurst) and the Pines Course, managed by TROON, a world-wide leader in the golf resort industry. Local and visiting golfers enjoy

first class amenities and memorable vistas all year long.

The Seaview Golf Club is host course of the ShopRite LPGA Classic. It’s also where the World Golf Hall of Famer, Sam Snead, won the 1942 PGA Championship. The course was a favorite of U.S. presidents Warren G. Harding and Dwight D. Eisenhower. A strong tradition of excellence lives on at Seaview Golf Club for new generations to enjoy.

Bay Course

“Her mother, Mary, was something of a sweet social butterfly who may have entertained hopes that Winifred would become a proper debutante in due course, but feisty Winnie Walzer wanted none of that. We became inseparable for the rest of the week.”

The electricity between Arnie and Winnie didn’t go unnoticed and even played into the odds on the tournament.

“Arnie’s walking around holding Winnie’s hand, and I’m betting against him in the tournament,” recalled Ward, “because my boss, the golf pro Harry Obitz, always said, ‘Don’t mix girls and golf.’ So during the tournament I bet against Arnie. But he could hold Winnie’s hand and still beat everybody, and he won (the tournament).”

“Nobody had to bring us together or promote the match,” noted Palmer. “By Friday night my amateur partner, Tommy Sheehan, and I were leading the tournament; but more importantly, I was completely taken with Winnie Walzer and a plan was forming in my brain. At the dinner, I reached under the table and took her hand and said, ‘What would you think if I asked you to get married?’”

“The question appeared to startle her, though only for a second or two. ‘Well, I don’t know. This is so sudden. Can I have a day to think about it?’ she replied.”

“‘Not too long,’ I said to her. ‘I have places to go.’ I told her my grand plan: we would get married in the spring and use the Walker Cup tournament (in England) as our honeymoon.”

Palmer said it’s no surprise that word quickly leaked out about the proposal.

But things had changed in the meantime. For one, while Palmer won the money to buy Winnie an engagement ring by playing his boss and a few friends over three rounds at Pine Valley, he suddenly decided to turn pro.

As Ron Ward points out, “Back in those days it was better to stay amateur because there wasn’t that much money in turning pro, so amateurs stayed amateurs, they didn’t turn pro.”

But for a guy like Palmer and Walter Hagan ahead of him, he could envision the ability to take his game, and golf itself, to another level.

But how to break the news to Winnie?

“We met in the afternoon. I told her I was turning professional, certainly before the start of the new tour season out West. England and the Walker Cup were out; the uncertain life of a tour rookie’s bride was in. Her face fell, but she didn’t seem as upset as I thought she might be at this idea.”

So instead of getting married in a big church wedding with a reception with all their friends and family back at the country club, they eloped to Falls Church, Va., not far from the home of Palmer’s sister, Cheech, where they were married.

As Palmer put it, “We spent our honeymoon night at a trucker’s motel

off the Breezewood exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It wasn’t terribly romantic, and in retrospect, it makes me realize what a true gem I had found in Winifred Walzer. Here was this classy, educated, beautiful girl who risked her father’s eternal wrath and gave up her girlhood wedding dreams. and goodness knows what else, to follow a guy who’d never made a plugged nickel as a professional golfer.”

And so they set out on the pro tour and hitched a trailer to their car like vagabonds. At the same time, television had started to broadcast tournaments. They slowly picked up Arnie’s Army, took golf to primetime, and brought millions of new amateur players into the game. And things have never been quite the same since.

William Kelly is the author of “Birth of the Birdie – The First 100 Years of Golf at Atlantic City Country Club,” and is currently writing “The Flight of the Eagle,” on the growth of golf in America. He can be reached at Billykelly3@gmail.com.

Heritage Golf Links

By Sean Fawcett

e “Play 9” movement is catching on, and one of the best places to play nine is just minutes away from the beach. Heritage Golf Links is located in Upper Township, Cape May County. It’s an easy drive from Ocean City and Sea Isle: just go over the bridge and turn on Route 9. Go south on Route 9 from Ocean City’s 34th Street Bridge. Go north on Route 9 from Sea Isle. With slogans like “Play Nine before Beach Time” and “Play Nine Anytime”, Heritage Golf Links is fast becoming one of the must-play golf courses at the South Jersey Shore.

Lovingly maintained, and with some of the best putting greens at the Shore, Heritage Golf Links is a family run and family friendly. It’s an enjoyable place for everyone to play a quick nine, or an enjoyable 18, any time of the day. Featuring six full-sized par 3s and three ne par 4s, Heritage Links Golf Course is the course for you.

Golfing a Round at The Shore Club

By Sean Fawcett

Golfing a round at The Shore Club in Cape May Court House is, very simply, one the best golfing experiences anywhere.

Opened way back in 1916, and formerly the Wildwood Golf and Country Club for more than 100 years, The Shore Club, located along the shores of scenic Stone Harbor, is one of the most beautiful and iconic golf clubs in all of South Jersey’s proud, superb and significant golfing history.

“The history of The Shore Club is really incredible,” said Fred Riedel, The Shore Club’s long-time PGA professional, pro emeritus, and golf and membership ambassador. “So much has happened here in 100-plus years. It’s amazing.”

The first-class amenities, including an updated clubhouse, and its new outside dining and entertainment space, make The Shore Club an absolute favorite for its members and guests with its sensational and storied history.

Walking The Shore Club’s first-rate fairways and putting its perfect, push-up putting surfaces, takes you back to the times of golf’s Golden Age of the early 1900s when the game first exploded in popularity, and top Scottish professionals and architects like Donald Ross and Willie Park, Jr., imported the Grand Game to America right here in South Jersey.

Add to that its important and unique connection to The King, Arnold Palmer, and The Shore Club is a true must-play golf course for golf enthusiasts of every age and every playing level.

In 1951, taking a leave from his studies and college golf at Wake Forest University, and following the tragic automobile death of his best friend and Demon Deacon teammate, Bud Worsham, Palmer came to Cape May to undergo basic training for the U.S. Coast Guard.

It was a crucial time for the World Golf Hall of Famer, both personally and professionally. He played The Shore Club, then the Wildwood Golf and Country Club, regularly, honing his game while protecting the Eastern Seaboard

and getting over the trauma of the loss of his dear friend.

After the Coast Guard, Palmer won the 1954 USGA Amateur Championship and turned professional in 1955. In all, The King collected seven professional major championship titles, winning the U.S. Open in 1960, the British Open in 1961 and 1962, and earning four Green Jackets in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964.

In 2016, months before his passing, and in recognition of Wildwood Golf and Country Club’s 100th anniversary, Palmer authored a very personal letter of congratulations to the club, thanking it for all his happy memories of playing golf while serving just around the corner in the Coast Guard.

“We are so, so blessed to have that special connection with Mr. Palmer that we have here,” said Riedel. “He only spent about nine months training at the nearby Coast Guard station, but he played a lot of golf here and made friends with so many of our members.”

A huge fan of The King myself, I can just imagine a 20-something Palmer stalking its treelined fairways, sinking birdies, and sometimes eagles, all around its classic layout. A major part of the charm of playing The Shore Club is the eerie, but cool, out-of-body-like experience of playing the course, and walking in the footsteps of Palmer, and fellow Hall of Famers like Walter Hagen and Gary Player as well.

Hagen, then the top player in the world, graced The Shore Club in 1923 by playing in an exhibition match against the club’s then head professional, Jimmy Young, and Henry Williams.

Way more recently, Player, one of the 10 best golfers of all-time with both Palmer and Hagen, spent time on the course giving demonstrations and telling stories to all its members and guests.

“The Shore Club is just an incredible place,” said The Shore Club’s LPGA teaching professional Marjorie Jones. “Legends like Gary Player, and obviously Arnold Palmer, having been here, and the course itself, which is just beautiful and a classic, make playing here and working here a real joy.”

Coastal Chiropractic Acupuncture &

Golfers need strong, flexible, and healthy backs. There might not be another part of the golfer’s body that is more important to the golf swing, and a golfer’s enjoyment of playing the game. So, for help in getting, and keeping, your back, For help in getting and keep your back and game in shape and pain-free, see Fred Chang, DC, L., Ac at Coastal Chiropractic & Acupuncture. Chiropractic adjustments can help in relieving lower back pain that sometimes comes from playing golf. Acupuncture can loosen muscles, reducing the possibilities of strains and sprains. Acupuncture can also alleviate complications of elbow pain commonly suffered by golfers. Located in Galloway and just about a par five away from historic Seaview Country Club, Dr. Fred Chang has your back.

Seaview Hotel & Golf Club Partners with Brix City Brewing to Create Signature Beer to Celebrate 110th Anniversary

Seaview, the New Jersey Shore’s quintessential seaside resort located just outside of Atlantic City, is celebrating 110 years by partnering with New Jersey brewery, Brix City Brewing, to create a signature beer aptly dubbed 1914 IPA. The New England style IPA is now available exclusively at Seaview and pays homage to its long history and world-class golf.

1914 IPA is a 6.5% ABV New England style IPA hopped with Mosaic and El Dorado hops and offers a crisp tropical fruit finish. The 16 ounce can mimics the look of a golf ball, dimples and all, and features Seaview’s distinguishable crest complete with two golf clubs, a pine tree and water ripples, symbolizing its two championship courses, the Pines Course and Bay Course. The beer is now available for $8 at Seaview’s Lobby Bar, Grille Room, the Golf Patio, and on both of Seaview’s championship golf courses via the snack cart.

“1914 IPA was inspired by the rich history of Seaview Golf Club,” said Alvin Cintron, Regional Account Manager at Brix City Brewing. “This beer was designed for cart crushing during an 18-hole session with friends. Pouring a light tangerine color and Dry Hopped with Mosaic and El Dorado, this beer is perfect for the gorgeous South Jersey summer weather.

Seaview Hotel opened in 1914 as a private golf club. Philadelphia businessman, Clarence Geist, was tired of waiting to get on the first tee at a local club, so he

decided to build his own at an estimated $1.5 million. Since then, the hotel has played host to a long list of presidents, rock stars, and golf’s greatest – Grace Kelly hosted her Sweet 16 in the Oval Room in 1945, the Rolling Stones took up residence during their 1989 Steel Wheels Tour, Sam Snead won the 25th PGA Championship, his first of seven, in 1942, etc. The hotel is located on 670 acres along Reed’s Bay and boasts two championship golf courses, the Pines Course and Bay Course. The LPGA is hosted on the Bay Course every year and will return this year June 3-9, 2024.

“We wanted to do something special to commemorate Seaview’s monumental anniversary this year while paying homage to its iconic and storied history and world-class golf,” said Kevin McCarty, Seaview Hotel Director of Food and Beverage. “We raise a toast to all of the luminaries that have walked through these doors the last 110 years, plus our hotel regulars, South Jersey locals and devoted golf club members. Cheers to you!”

“The First Birdie”

By Sean Fawcett

Did you know that term “birdie” was first used right here in Southern New Jersey? It’s true, and it happened one day way back in 1903 at maybe the most historic of all the great South Jersey golf courses, Atlantic City Country Club, founded in 1897, in a December foursome which included two of America’s greatest golf course architects and personalities, A.W. Tillinghast and George Crump.

According to history, the two giants of the game, Tillinghast, architect of two of most famous championship sites Baltusrol and Bethpage Black and Crump, designer of the revered Pine Valley Golf Course were golfing with fellow Philadelphians Bill and Abner Smith. Abner was playing the long par 4 twelfth hole and hit his second shot right at the hole making the score of 3 (one-underpar) an all-but assured formality. The story

continues that someone from the group following that historic swing, either Abner himself, or maybe his brother exclaimed something like “that’s a bird of a shot!”. Thus, the term meaning one shot under par became a local phrase “birdie” and becoming the official vocabulary that all golfers call a score of one shot better than par. The term for two shots under par, “eagle”, was first used at the same club soon after.

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The rise and fall of the Atlantic City Racecourse

By Steffen Klenk

Long before the introduction of casinos in Atlantic City, thoroughbred racing was on the rise. The Atlantic City Race Course was the pinnacle of premiere horse racing in the country.

Atlantic City Race Course was led by the vision of four businessmen, John B. Kelly Sr., Leo Fraser, Fred Scholler and Glendon Robertson. On July 22, 1946, Atlantic City Race Course officially opened to a crowd of over 28,000. Among the attendees included Grace Kelly, daughter of John Kelly, and shareholders Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Sammy Kaye and Harry James.

September 1953 saw the debut of the yearly thoroughbred race, the United Nations Handicap. It was Atlantic City’s first showcase for the best turf runners throughout the country and the world. The annual event saw the success of eleven-time Triple Crown jockey Bill Shoemaker, who led three straight wins from 1957 to 1959. Breeder’s Cup winning horse Steinlen rode to victory in the 1990 Caesars International Handicap.

While Atlantic City Race Course was known for its world-class horse racing, the venue has also played host to a variety of entertainment. From August 1-3, 1969, ACRC hosted the Atlantic City Pop Festival. The three-day rock festival was headlined by Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and B.B. King, amongst a lineup of dozens. Over 110,000 revelers and

approximately 6,000 gate crashers attended the concert, h eld nearly two weeks before Woodstock.

From its inception, Atlantic City Race Course was at the pinnacle in New Jersey. The track drew record crowds of over 33,000 fans in September 7, 1953. In summer 1967, fans wagered over $3.1 million in a single day, the highest betting handle in ACRC history.

The rise of the casino and gaming industry caused attendance to slowly diminish. In 1983, ACRC became the first track in the United States to receive simulcast racing. New Jersey Supreme Court would suspend simulcast operations in 1985, but was later approved in a referendum. There was an effort to bring slot machines to the Atlantic City Race Course in 1998, but the proposal was shot down.

In its later years, Atlantic City Race Course would seldom open for live simulcasts and thoroughbred racing. Several real estate developers and large businesses made attempts in purchasing the 250-acre property, all of which fell through. On May 4, 2012, Atlantic City Race Course held its final live day of racing, drawing a crowd of more than 25,000.

On January 9, 2015, it was formally announced that Atlantic City Race Course would wind down its operations and close its doors for good. While the future of ACRC and the 250-acre property remains unknown, its legacy and impact on our region has been etched into the history books.

The LPGA Shoprite Classic is coming to Town

By Sean Fawcett

It’s that time of year again. It’s time for the ShopRite LPGA Classic at historic Seaview Golf Club.

South African Ashleigh Buhai will look to defend her October 2023 ShopRite LPGA Classic crown from Friday June 7th through Sunday June 9th in Galloway against another, and stellar, world class field which typically includes about 90 of the World’s Top 100 players.

Buhai carded back-to-back 65s in last year’s final two rounds to finish -14.

Past winners of the ShopRite LPGA Classic include LPGA stars Stacy Lewis and Paula Creamer and World Golf Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez, Karrie Webb, Juli Inkster, Annika Sorenstam, Betsy King and Se Ri Pak(1999), as well as CBS GOLF commentator Dottie Pepper.

Photo by Will Prata

More recent champions include England’s Mel Reid(2020), Lexi Thompson(2019), Brooke Henderson(2022) and new World No.1 player, Celine Boutier(2021).

The ShopRite LPGA Classic, which began as the Atlantic City LPGA Classic, has been a Tour leader in charitable contributions over the tournament’s long history. Primary participating sponsors include Acer®, ShopRite, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Rothman Institute Orthopaedics, KIA, Enterprise Rental Car, Black Bear and Snapple.

“It is an honor to have the privilege of hosting the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by ACER annually,” said Seaview’s PGA Director of Golf Alex McGann. “ The opportunity to host the best LPGA Professionals in the world has become a staple for our community and it is amazing to see every year how much our south Jersey community comes out to support the event. The team at the LPGA Tour as well as Outlyr are both fantastic to work with and it really is the kickoff to our season every year. We look forward to having the best of the LPGA Tour back at Seaview June 7-9 this June.”