More About – Plainfield West 9
Find out more about Plainfield West 9 – located at the corner of Woodland and Maple Avenue, directly across from Plainfield Country Club in Edison, NJ. Pro Shop: (908) 769-3672 and open all year round, weather permitting.
Well before Donald Ross created one of his most famous masterpieces at Plainfield Country Club, like many older American clubs, Plainfield originally did not feature golf. Established as the Hillside Tennis Club in the early 1890s, it hired the prolific Scottish golf course architect Tom Bendelow to build their golf course.
In 1898, the Bendelow course opened at 5,239 yards, which at the time was considered quite sufficient yardage for a golf course. In 1916 the club purchased 60 acres of rolling farmland on the southeastern edge of club property and hired Ross to add yardage to the Bendelow layout.
Ross had a better idea –build a new course with him at the design helm. The new course opened in September 1921. Today, the 9-hole “West Nine” course at the Plainfield Country Club facility features 2,503 yards from the original Bendelow-design. The semi-private course is open to public play, with a par of 33.
There are many challenging holes with uneven lies, including three par-3 holes, which play over 150 yards. The golf course is known for its challenging greens! The Pro Shop Phone number is 908-769-3672.
TOM BENDELOW – Golf Course Architect
Thomas “Tom” Bendelow, was one of the pioneer architects of American golf. In a career that spanned slightly more than thirty-five years, he is credited with laying out well over seven hundred golf courses across the United States and Canada. His boundless energy and enthusiasm for the game of golf was conveyed across the country with every course he helped establish and in every community in which he worked.
The landscape of many communities was permanently changed with the introduction of municipal golf courses, of which he was a strong proponent.
Bendelow’s approach to course design was a “naturalist’s approach,” in that he strove to utilize the natural features of the chosen site to its maximum advantage. “If a site had an especially unique feature, rock outcrop, stream, grove of trees, scenic view, he would work his hole placements in such a way as to take full advantage of the features even if that meant working his layout from the middle out,” according to the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
Bendelow, nicknamed “The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf” personally designed twenty-five courses in New Jersey, including the Plainfield West Nine in 1898.
For further information on playing and learning opportunities on the Plainfield West Nine, contact Bill Castner at 908-769-3672, or (917) 208-5197.
Bill Castner, a PGA Master Professional and thirty-five year member of the PGA of America, is the Head Professional at the Plainfield West Nine Golf Club, and is also the Program Director for the First Tee programs at Plainfield.