CK4 and I took off work on Friday to drive down to the shore to play Cape May National. It was about an hour and a half with no traffic from Philly. The rate was $65 bucks and we teed of at 1:15. Twilight rates are 50 bucks after 2:30. My first issue with the course was the prices for drinks, food and range balls. 6+ dollars for range balls and 3.75 for a hot dog. We got there at 12:30 and so hoping to get off early but the course was pretty crowded for a Friday midday. We hit some balls and practiced on their enormous practice green which is a real treat because you can chip on it. The staff was borderline incompetent and for some bizarre reason they have a shortage of golf carts. As people finished 18 they would drive to the starter, he’d wash the car (for no reason) and than send off the next group. We had a 1:16 tee time and teed off about 15 minutes late knowing that it was going to be a slow round.

Aside from those little nuisances the course is in fantastic shape. Green fairways, greener greens and this is even with a lack of rain. Another point to note was that there wasn’t even a 90 degree rule and your cart couldn’t leave the cart path which makes the round a tad slower. We played from the blue tees and there is even a set of black tees. The blues played tougher than the whites as it added about 600 yards and was right near 6,600 which makes for some long holes. I won’t go hole for hole but this course really makes you hit good shots. The holes are challenging and as our playing partner Lou said “you’ll be making a lot of donations to the golf course in the way of golf balls.” This proved true as I think I probably lost a half dozen balls but found another dozen. We shot 98 and 101 which wasn’t so hot but if you aren’t keeping the ball straight you are going to be adding strokes to your score. I actually was at 38 on the back coming to hole 18 but got a 9 to blow it up. After 18 we played a few more holes but it’s a pretty draining course. On one of the par 5’s on the back I had a nice drive up the chute and than a 4 iron that had me within 15 feet for eagle. Naturally I flew it too far past, missed the birdie, and than missed the par put. I hit the ball pretty well but still too inconsistent to put up any good number. Overall I’d give the course a 9 out of 10 in terms of difficulty and fairness but my real rating drops to an 8 with everything considered (cart path, value). I think at 65 bucks it’s reasonably priced for a shore course.