The case for NJ's BEST Public Course

This week: The DROP plays what might be the best public golf course in New Jersey, witnesses the Western Golf Association's Community Caddie Program at Weequahic firsthand and previews the 106th New Jersey Open.

— The DROP Podcast

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Days before the 106th New Jersey Open Championship begins, Mike is taking on the host course from the tips with every shot counting.

This is Morris County Golf Club in Morristown, New Jersey, a historic Macdonald-Raynor design playing more than 6,500 yards as a Par 70 from the championship tees. Watch all 18 holes in this quick-paced, ball-in-hole round as Mike plays Morris County for the first time and finds out what he can shoot on one of New Jersey golf’s most important championship stages.

Mike is joined by Head Golf Professional Craig Smith, who provides strategy, local knowledge and insight throughout the round. Craig explains how to approach each hole, where players can find scoring opportunities and which areas of the course can quickly turn a good round in the wrong direction.

Mike has been circling this take for a while. This week, after a round at Francis Byrne Golf Course — the 1928 Charles Banks and Seth Raynor design in Essex County, restored by Stephen Kay — he planted the flag.

This wasn't a casual hot take. He walked through three holes that define the course: the punchbowl second green (rare at a public course that has to maintain it at that level), the principal's nose bunker on 13 that forces a real strategic decision, and the reverse redan 17th that stops you mid-round. His counterarguments to Ballyowen, Neshanic, Shore Gate, Ballamor, and Heron Glen: they're all good. Francis Byrne has everything those courses have plus the architecture. Tim Christ and the Essex County system — backed by the vision of Joseph DiVincenzo — are making it happen.

One practical note Mike included: if you think tea times are impossible to get, the course has partnered with Noteefy. Set your alert, and the moment a slot drops, you get the email. The mid-afternoon windows are underrated on price too.

From Francis Byrne, Mike and Shaq drove 15 minutes to Weequahic. That's where the episode hit another gear entirely.

The Western Golf Association's Community Caddie Program is running at Weequahic on weekend mornings — and the numbers are almost absurd: $75 for an Essex County card holder, $90 for a non-card holder, for a Saturday or Sunday round. Green fee and caddie fee included. You just tip the kid if they earn it.

Co-Host Chris Dymek, who serves as a PGA ambassador on the Evans Scholarship Foundation board put the stakes plainly:

Five Evans scholars have come through Manasquan River alone. The goal is to build the pipeline at public courses too, starting at Weequahic.

Then there's the Great Gorge chapter. Mike played 18 holes of One Club, a Japanese-origin format using a single club, a larger ball, and larger holes across a par-66 layout — and somehow broke the all-time course record. Forty-nine. The previous record was 50. He birdied, eagled, eagled on the first three holes and never looked back.

One Club runs $20 and takes about 90 minutes. David Killin and his crew at Great Gorge have built something legitimately unique in North Jersey — and after a Great Gorge feature and the full David Killin interview from last summer, it's great to see the story keep evolving. Go check the video on YouTube. Worth every second.

The 106th NJ Open Championship starts July 21. Morris County is the venue. And after walking all 18 holes with Craig and Nick, it's clear the course is going to surprise people.

Thursday's episode is an on-site conversation — first tee box, full backdrop — with Craig Smith, head golf professional at Morris County Golf Club, and Nick LeViere, the superintendent who has spent five seasons steering the course toward this moment.

Under 6,600 yards. Par 70. A Macdonald and Raynor design. That combination sounds like a birdie fest until Craig explains the reality: miss the greens by one foot and you're in the bunker banks, which are nastier than the sand itself. The new green on hole 6 — redesigned with architect Jaeger Kovich — went from four or five usable pin locations to 45-50 percent pinnacle coverage. The wine's mouth bunker added on hole 11, 60 yards short of the green on a par 5, now forces layup strategy where there wasn't any before.

The back nine is where rounds unravel. Hole 9 — uphill, narrow, miss it short and the chip is nearly unplayable — is rated the hardest hole on the course. The new hole 17 green (also Kovich) has four distinct quadrants: land in the right one and you're making two, go cross-quadrant and a three-putt is coming. Hole 18 is the only hole where water comes into play — driver down the right, short iron in, birdie opportunity — but the fescue on the right side is as dense as anything on the property.

Craig's predicted winning score: 8-10 under. Nick agrees. The course isn't going to embarrass anyone — it's going to make them think.

Craig is also competing as host professional, which he described as "nerve wracking, that's for sure" and "a dream come true" in the same breath. First time The DROP has done a three-person on-site championship preview. It's the right venue for it.

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Mike called it out loud this week: Francis Byrne is the best public golf course in New Jersey. No qualifiers. No "it depends on the day." Just: architecture, conditions, price, experience — nothing else touches it.

We want to hear your counterargument. Is there a public course in NJ that still hasn't gotten its due?

Reply and make your case.