A True Golf Experience: Liberty National Golf Course

Many of us settle for a simple weekend round of golf played on our home course, whether it be the local municipal track up the road or the country club where we pay a little extra to enjoy every year. As an avid golfer, I find myself playing local courses with the country club treat every now and then, but I couldn’t say that I had ever played a round on a private luxury course, especially not one recently played by the PGA Professionals.  That was until now.

Liberty National Golf Course was the home of the 2013 Barclays Championship and has been rumored to be the site of the 2017 President’s Cup. The course is located near the industrial/shipyard section of New Jersey and was built on a marshland overlooking the New York City skyline. In fact, the skyline is so prevalent that if the pin is in the right location that day, it looks like Lady Liberty is holding the flagstick for you on your tee shot to the short par 3 second hole.

The course designers modeled this beautifully landscaped layout after the royal and ancient traditions of Scotland’s seaside links. And trust me, you’ll pay dearly for all this beauty. Rumor has it that the once $500,000 initiation fee is now about $250,000 and the membership will probably run you over $35,000 per year.

The day I played Liberty National was filled with excitement, great amenities, amazing food, and overall, a royal treat of luxury golf. This round meant more to me than any of the other seven guys in my outing that day, because I had walked these grounds just six months prior for the 2013 Barclays PGA TOUR playoff practice round, where I met great golfers, and enjoyed an amazing behind the scenes experience of PGA TOUR golf. As I tell my story of an incredible golf experience, I’ll share with you why this round of golf, after playing just under 100 different courses in over 300 rounds over the last six years, was my favorite round of golf yet.

Arrival

As we pulled into the facility, we were immediately greeted by security who confirmed our reservation with the name of  the club member we knew, and slowly drove down a short winding road that overlooked a parking lot below. I referenced to the rest of the party in my car that this lot was filled with over 100 black BMW 750 sedans on Playoff Day, in parking spots labeled “Tiger Woods” or “Brandt Snedeker.”  We weren’t headed for that lot, but instead pulled up front to a circle area made of cobblestones in front of a building walled with tall glass windows. Next to all of the black Range Rovers, someone greeted me too take my clubs and park my car below in the lot where the legends walked among us last August.

I walked through the clubhouse where I stocked up on as many Liberty National tees as I could grab, a pencil, and a free yardage book. The breakfast spread was out in the dinning room with a choice of tea, coffee, scones, bagels or fresh fruit. Standing and starring through the glass at the 18^th hole, a weird sense of confusion set in as the grandstands holding hundreds of fans on that hot day in August were no longer visible.

We headed out the range; where Adam Scott hit some post round practice balls with caddie Steve Williams to await the results that Sunday – they later found it that he was victorious. It was yet another victory for Scott in a year where he won the Masters and made the most money of his career, and it was was celebrated in the spot I was about to hit a few golf balls!

Round 4 Recap: The Barclays 2013

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The Range

Pro v1 “Range Balls” at Liberty National GC

On a crisp early morning, our caddies stood behind us on the empty range as we emptied a few practice Titleist Pro V1 balls by our feet to warm up. After a few pokes, we tested out the greens which I would love to play a game of billiards on – yes they were still in amazing shape after a horrible Northeast winter. My caddie for the day even stood nearby holding my clubs offering me to change clubs without even moving a muscle. It was this level of top-notch service that made me feel like a pro for the day. Did I mention every ball on the range was a Titleist Pro V1?

#GoTime

Finally the moment I have been waiting for…tee off. Although they were long gone I could still feel the eyes of the gallery watching me tee off. I remember seeing Rickie Fowler walking towards me to start his practice round on this tee box and now it was my turn to walk in those footsteps. So, after months of waiting, I finally stepped up to the first tee on the first hole and smacked my drive off the Liberty tees boxes, which measured just shy of 6300 yards.

The Course and My Round

My tee shot on the Par 3 14th

It was a discouraging start, as the first two holes were used to snap the jitters that took control over me at the start. I knew I wasn’t playing for any prizes but in my mind I felt as if I was on TOUR that day and was easily convinced this track would chew me up. The fairways were evenly mowed and looked like centerfield at Yankee Stadium for a playoff game.

Tiger wasn’t loving me that day at the Barclays.

My nerves quickly faded as I stepped up to hole number three, a short par 4, and drove the ball about 265 yards up the right side of the fairway to almost the exact spot where Tiger Woods gave me an evil stare for pointing a camera in his face.

It was from this spot that I stuck a short wedge to within 5 feet from the pin and two putted for my first par of the day. After that, everything about my game began to click.

After a couple of solid holes, we headed over the the 6^th hole, a short par 5 with lots of water just about 285 yards off on the right. I remember the location between holes 5 and 6 well as it was the ideal spot to say hello to a few players at the Barclays. I remember like it was yesterday snapping up all those memorable photos and autographs (see below).

As we made the turn onto the back nine our caddie opened the door to a small guesthouse where a well-dressed gentleman was sitting inside with the Golf Channel playing on the TV. We were informed to help ourselves to any candy, power bars, soda, water, and beer for some quick energy to finish up the second half of round. What a cool surprise, and a much-needed snack!

The 18^th hole came quickly as we didn’t wait once that day, which was the best part of playing on an empty course. As I teed off on 18, I realized that about 414 yards ahead of me was a green where some of the most famous people in the world have shook hands to wish a “good game” to their fellow playing partners.

I finished strong and a big meal waited in the clubhouse where so many celebrities have been seen dining including Eli Manning, Rudy Giuliani, Robert Kraft, and rumors of Justin Timberlake and Samuel L. Jackson. We even spotted NHL Hockey great Mario Lemieux across the room enjoying a pre-round meal before heading out the course.

After lunch I washed up, grabbed a few more tees from the pro shop and headed back out the roundabout where my car awaited me. My clubs were nearby at the bag drop and the whole process took less than one minute before I was on my way home.

This course is truly amazing and the experience was like no other. For me, Liberty National earns 5-stars for every category.

Conclusion

I highly recommend any golf fan out there to go to a PGA TOUR event during either the practice round and/or the actual tournament. Walk the course among all the great players, grab some autographs and take loads of photos of everything around you. After that, go back and play the course if you have the chance and try and re-live some of those magical moments you witnessed from the PGA TOUR event, and even create some of your own golf memories like I did. I love that I can now say that I “parred the same hole I saw Tiger Woods make par on.”

There are a lot of bucket list courses open to public that can fulfill this fantasy including Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass. I plan to visit these courses to both play and attend similar Pro events in the near future.

Here is a last bit of advice: visit the course for the TOUR event on a Sunday and plan to play it the next day if its open and available. You’ll get an even more pro experience with the course being in top shape.

As of now, my experience at Liberty National is by the far the most memorable round of golf that I have ever played.