Picatinny Golf Course is a military course located inside the gates at Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, NJ. If you are not a member of the military or a civilian employee of the arsenal, you will probably need to be escorted onto the base. As for the course itself, it is a fairly long and flat course that was built in several stages over the years. The first hole is a wide open, relatively short par four, followed by a short easy par three. The rest of the front nine features a mixture of long and short holes, almost all with fairly small greens when compared to other courses. After large rainfalls, the 3rd and 4th holes tend to flood due to poor drainage, so on those days when that happens, you'll be on cart path only. The front nine is also wooded with narrow fairways. On the 10th hole, another relatively short par 3, you have crossed the road headed back to the club house and from there, will meander back and forth within the confines of the base's buildings on the north side as you hit the 15th hole. As you head toward 17, you'll play back across a road to a very small, tight green. The 18th is perhaps the most interesting hole on the course because you are teeing off at a pretty steep angle and still trying to put your shot as far down the fairway as possible because you're hitting back up to an elevated two tier green. Ironically, I have birdied this long tricky par 4 but have NEVER had a par there.
During the height of the season, when the grass is fully green, the course is pretty well maintained and can get crowded. Greens fees are based on different factors. For military, it's based on rank. Civilian DOD employees pay another fee, as do contractors on-base. Military retirees pay based on their retired rank, so there is no one set of standard greens fees. Unlike many other military and public courses, Picatinny does NOT offer a real bargain for twilight greens fees.
I like the course, but I also think that if one plays it a lot, it can get very boring very quickly, so if you do have access, you might want to keep that in mind. Pricewise when compared to Crystal Springs courses in Sussex County it can be a bargain, but otherwise, it is just an average course. read more