We wrapped up last year’s rendition of the HOTY’s with hope of our course list developing thus making the decisions for these awards more difficult. Never in our dreams could we have imagined what 2025 would bring. Through perseverance, extreme generosity, and strokes of luck, we played 26 new courses in 3 countries including several mainstays at the top of our bucket lists. Needless to say, picking our favorite holes of the year became nearly impossible!
Par 3
Mike- This one was easy for me, a hole I’ve been dying to play and one that is beautiful, complex, and devilish.
#2 at Somerset Hills is a rare Tillanghast Redan hole but a beast, 205 yards with seemingly nowhere good to miss. The green moves right to left and front to back with a drop off on the front while bunkers lurk everywhere. It’s an all world par 3 and likely my favorite I’ve ever played.
Shayne- The definition of a lifelong bucket list hole, standing at the 16th tee at Sleepy Hollow leaves you with no choice but to stop for a moment (or many) and take it all in. It’s the type of place that leaves you in disbelief that you’re there, and grip your club tighter not wanting to mess up what could be a once in a lifetime shot you’ve envisioned in your head many times.
Par 4
Mike- This was admittedly a really tough call as there were lots of great par 4s that came to mind, but something kept pulling me back to the “Plateau” 9th hole at Bayonne Golf Club. This hole combines beauty, strategy, and exhilaration perfectly and has been in my mind since I played it.
The tee shot is full of risk or reward, soaring over the 8th fairway to a diagonal running elevated fairway. How much of the fairway you want to cut off is up to you, but it is a daring proposition when a group is on the 8th hole below spectating you on the tee box!
Great drives up the right side will leave you with a short iron into a green classily framed by pot bunkers. The longest hitters can take a go at the green off the tee as well. I loved this hole (no bias that I birdied it I promise) and it wins a very tight competition for my favorite par 4 of the year.
Shayne- If you can’t tell, Sleepy left quite the impression on me and it more than lived up to the massive hype I had for it going in. The 15th is a marvelous 457 yard par 4, the tee shot pretty wide open and forgiving with the exception of the far right. You’ll be faced with as exhilarating an approach as you’ll find, a long iron or wood into….a surprise.
The green sits well below the fairway with a tall flag providing the only marker, a punchbowl green similar to the one found at Fishers Island and I think that’s about it. A dramatic funnel down then left to right corrals approach shots and feeds them to the pin. It’s a fantastic, fun par 4 I could play countless times and never get bored of.
Par 5
Mike- The 17th at Baltusrol (Lower) is one of the holes that got a major facelift during the Gil Hanse renovation a few years ago. It’s a par 5 with a relatively benign tee shot, but the hole ramps up dramatically from there. Featuring the famous Sahara bunker, an onslaught of visually intimidating traps are abound and define the hole as we approach the green. The before and after photos of the renovation show the impact of Hanse’s work on this hole, turning it into the first of two epic closing holes at Baltusrol.
Shayne- An intimidating par 5, the 7th at Cabot Cliffs takes the win for my favorite par 5 of the year. The tee shot must carry the marsh with threatening bunkers lining the right side punishing those who want to get aggressive. The fairway has a dramatic spine running down it, and bunkers conversely line the left side as we approach the green treading downhill. 2 bunkers guard the front of the green on this dramatic par 5.
Most Picturesque Tee Shot
Mike- The grand reveal at my top bucket list course and one I truly never expected to play. The 6th at The Creek is jaw dropping, dramatic, and beautiful. The Long Island Sound provides the backdrop for a smorgasbord of golf eye candy, holes 6-18 laid out in front of you.
The 6th itself could easily be my par 4 of the year winner, a tumbling hole playing way downhill with a fairway banking left and right leading to a punchbowl green. Such a fun hole, yet I didn’t want to begin my walk after the tee shot, I could stand on the perch overlooking the view below all day.
Shayne- Perhaps the easy answer, but it’d be hard to pick anything but the 16th at Sleepy Hollow. After all, it’s amongst if not the most photographed hole in the world.
Most Difficult
Mike- The 474 yard par 4 4th at the iconic Pinehurst No. 2 is a bear. The entire course methodically tore me apart shot by shot, but this hole combines brawn and hazard in sinister harmony. The hole plays downhill off the tee, but the approach runs back upslope as the fairway pinches to a small green protected by bunkers in front on both sides. Playing 200+ yards for most players, the approach requires perfection and it is easy to see why this is the #1 handicap hole at this brutal (but glorious) test of golf. If you miss the fairway off the tee forget any chance at par, and saving double is an accomplishment.
Shayne- “Survive The First Five”, a term that has become lore around Rembert, SC and the brand new Broomsedge.
Over 2000 yards (!!!) of par 19 golf , the opening stretch of 5 holes at Broomsedge is relentless every shot until it’s over. A quartet of ferocious par 4s followed by a demanding par 3, good luck making it out of here with a scorecard not covered in flames.
Moment of The Year
Mike- I have 2 for this year, a singular shot and an experience. When playing at some of the courses we’ve been able to hit this year you see some pretty crazy names in the locker room. However, I had never been in the group ahead of or behind an NFL franchise icon before. Nor had I stuck an approach to a few feet as said New York Giants quarterback legend watched on, until an October morning at a certain club in New Jersey. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for the detectives reading:
If were a diehard Giants fan I don’t know how I’d have been able to get through the round with composure, but throwing a dart in front of a man who threw plenty en route to defeating Tom Brady in Super Bowls twice will be pretty hard to beat in the memory bank.
The craziest day of the year will likely go down as the best golf day of my life. Growing up in NJ, I have been well aware of the top courses in the state for a long time, and by extreme fortune we were able to knock out the best non Pine Valley day imaginable. Somerset Hills, sprinting (literally) off the 18th green and slamming the trunk to speed 30 minutes (golf shoes still on) to Baltusrol, and arriving 3 minutes before our 2:45 tee time en route to finishing the 18th at dusk. I still can’t believe we pulled that off! I hope to cross the Pine Valley box off my bucket list one day, but I certainly can go to sleep in peace with the craziest 36 of my life in memory.
Shayne- Fortunately for 2025, my moment of the year was a moment of a lifetime- an ace! Getting to celebrate a hole in one at my home course was something I’ll never forget, nor will the sight of dunking a 166 yard shot. Most importantly, I got to experience the moment with my Dad! Now to make this an annual tradition…
