Golf in Berkeley Heights

A two-tiered driving range and two 18-hole miniature-golf courses welcome visitors to Branchburg Family Golf Center’s 27-acre golf complex for game improvement and friendly competition. Each tier at the range comprises more than 30 hitting stalls and features a natural-grass tee area that remains open from April through September. In colder months, 12 recently installed heaters keep golfers cozy or help them sweat off pounds to drop a weight class in golf-cart jousting. Professional instructors roll in when players reach an improvement plateau, offering their keen expertise to develop consistent swings that lead to lower scores.

The center’s two miniature-golf courses summon putts past crashing waterfalls and through lush landscapes, fostering a sense of friendly competition in a pint-sized oasis. When swatting stationary spheres becomes too easy, visitors can head over to the batting facility to work on baseball swings and tackle techniques when charging the mound at a cyborg pitcher.:m]]

Lakeside breezes drift through dense tree lines and across the serpentine fairways of Silver Lake Golf Course’s 18-hole, 6,238-yard layout. Hemmed by mature arbors, the course’s narrow, unforgiving fairways prevent players from aggressively attacking its relatively short holes, encouraging golfers to doff their drivers or modified T-shirt cannons in favor of shorter clubs. Cresting hills give way to scenic views peppered throughout the course, where clubbers can pause to breathe in the fragrant scent of dew-covered grasses or look out onto the rippling waters of Silver Lake, which hugs the sides of multiple fairways. After an afternoon of tireless pin hunting, linksfolk can retire to the outdoor patio or indoor fireside seating of The Veranda Cafe to enjoy an icy beverage and scintillating games of spin-the-divot-tool.:m]]

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 70–72 course
• Length of 6,238 yards from farthest tees
• Course rating of 69.6 from farthest tees
• Slope rating of 116 from farthest tees
• Three tee options available
• Download scorecard here

The pristine, recently renovated fairways at Meadows Golf Club snake around 12 ponds that vary in size and factor into play-making decisions on at least 14 holes. Water makes itself a prevalent threat to golf balls that are afraid to swim on the 9th and 18th holes, where larger ponds loom ominously to finish out the front and back nines. The 9th, a 240-yard uphill par 3, demands steely nerved shots over two ponds: one that stretches past the tee box to the player's center-right and another that runs along the left all the way to the green. On the par 4 18th, players again face down a tee shot over water, this time being forced to keep their drive to the right to avoid water along the length of the fairway, as well as packs of ravenous ball washers that roam the course in search of prey.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 70 course
• 6,345 yards from the back tees
• Three sets of tees

Designed by 10-time PGA Tour winner Mark McCumber, Knob Hill Golf Club’s 18-hole course bobs and weaves through 145 acres of scenic, dense woodland terrain. The first McCumber course to grace the American Northeast, the 6,408-yard layout seamlessly incorporates imposing tree lines and 15 manmade, natural, and caddy-tear ponds into an elegant, golf-clap-worthy fairway chain. The course’s most difficult hole—the 464-yard, par 4 fourth hole—showcases characteristic challenges with a tee shot that must carry a pond and bisect a tree-ensconced fairway on its path to a green fronted by a sandtrap. After rounds, duffers can replenish with a sudsy drink and a nosh from a menu of casual, gourmet fare at The Sycamore Grill, named for the 185-year-old sycamore that casts its shadows on the clubhouse and sheds celebratory leaves for players who score under par.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by Mark McCumber

• 18-hole, par 70 course

• Length of 6,408 yards from the farthest tees

• Course rating of 71.3 from the farthest tees

• Slope rating of 131 from the farthest tees

• Three tee options

• View scorecard here

As part of the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex, located at the historic Chelsea Piers, the Golf Club perches over the same port that once welcomed ships into New York City. Now, golfers tee up in the driving range's 52 heated and weather-protected stalls, which overlook the glinting waters of the Hudson River. Automatic tee-up systems position balls for launch across the 200-yard, net-enclosed fairway. A putting green allows patrons to improve their short game, and two Full Swing simulators encourage them to take hacks in virtual environs, transporting them to famous courses across the country or fifth-grade birthday parties where they missed the piñata.

Children and adults alike can enlist in Golf Club at Chelsea Piers’ classes, which stratify students by experience level. The 13-member coaching staff includes PGA and LPGA professionals, and sessions take place in a 2,000-square-foot teaching facility.

New York magazine reviewed New York Golf Center and named it a Critics' Pick.