N.J. county commissioner says consolidation of elite golf course ‘town’ with neighbor was long overdue

Christopher Inexperienced has under no circumstances performed an formal round at a person of the premiere golfing programs in the entire world, which just transpires to be in his hometown.

He did participate in a spherical or two about 30 a long time in the past when he was a caddy at the Pine Valley Golf Club, a tremendous exceptional, personal haunt for the loaded, well-known, and perfectly linked. But that was when no 1 was on the lookout.

The club, in truth, was extra than a club. It was, until eventually the 1st of this calendar year, its individual municipality, with a borough council, police force and a pair of employees, including safety guards, to oversee the 600 or so acres of densely wooded hills punctuated by a single of the most coveted shrines of golfing in the globe.

But Eco-friendly, 60, however just can’t action foot on the house, which is wholly owned by the club – even although he is now mayor of Pine Hill, the borough Pine Valley consolidated with on Jan. 1.

Camden County officers are lauding the consolidation as a value-conserving go that was extensive overdue.

“Making Camden County a far more economical spot to reside relies on us consolidating products and services and cutting down the myriad redundancies in government companies in tiny cities that have much less than 100 residents,” Camden County Commission Director Louis Cappelli wrote in an e-mail to NJ Progress Media. “Basically, it boggles my head that we had two municipalities that are essentially just golf classes with a couple of properties on them.”

The other municipality Cappelli was referring to is Tavistock, which has three homes and much less than 10 citizens. It also has a private golf study course, but has a general public restaurant and banquet corridor. It marked its 100th anniversary past 12 months.

On Wednesday, the state submitted a civil legal rights criticism versus Pine Valley Golf Club, alleging it violated New Jersey’s Regulation In opposition to Discrimination by banning gals from starting to be users and limiting their capacity to golf and to entry club amenities.

When Pine Valley was its individual borough, it also proficiently limited dwelling ownership to only adult men. The director of state Workplace of Civil Legal rights in 2019 had peppered then Pine Valley borough officials with queries about “limitations on house ownership,” according to 157 web pages of files acquired by NJ Advance Media in 2021.

The club resolved to enable females to be users in 2021, right before the merger with Pine Hill. Point out officials mentioned Wednesday these insurance policies modified only soon after the point out released its investigation. Club officers did not react to calls, texts or e-mail looking for comment.

As a outcome of the merger with Pine Valley, Pine Hill bought a $10 million tax ratable that has translated into $1 million in added tax earnings this 12 months, explained Eco-friendly, who spoke to NJ Advance Media prior to state officials declared the submitting of the civil legal rights complaint.

The borough was by now offering municipal expert services, this kind of as police, firefighters and EMS, as element of a shared services settlement for the residents of considerably less than two dozen properties in the previous Pine Valley local community. Most of the complete-time staff of Pine Valley, which includes the longtime law enforcement chief, retired or ended up laid off.

The consolidation also gave Pine Hill two non-public golf programs. The 3.87-sq.-mile Pine Hill Borough was previously property to the former Pine Hill Golfing Club, bought by the Trump Business in 2009 and renamed Trump Countrywide Golfing Club Philadelphia.

“Before we have been a blue-collar group and we experienced (Trump Nationwide Golfing Club Philadelphia),” Green told NJ Advance Media. “Now, we’re nonetheless blue collar but we have both equally.

“The most important force again citizens have is, ‘Why just cannot we engage in golfing there?’”

The median home worth in Pine Hill is $135,000, according to present-day census facts. The regular assessment in Pine Valley is virtually $600,000.

Inexperienced reported most of the recent Pine Valley club customers do not linger in city soon after a spherical, and the 10 residents who in fact dwell there typically hold a minimal profile.

“Day in and out, we do not know who most of the inhabitants are,” mentioned Environmentally friendly, a beverage corporation IT manager. “We might see them at the neighborhood Wawa.”

Eco-friendly reported he is aware of Michael Kennedy, the former mayor of Pine Valley. They show up at the exact same church, St. Simon Stock Parish in close by Berlin Borough. He stated it wasn’t strange to see him at Mass. Initiatives by NJ Advance Media to arrive at Kennedy were not prosperous.

Environmentally friendly mentioned he feels Pine Valley people voted past slide to consolidate, in section, since of the time commitment demanded to provide on the Borough Council and other boards.

Green mentioned there are 17 properties and 3 resident “dormitories,” identical to motels, in Pine Valley now. That’s three much less residences than the 23 that ended up cited in the community files from 2019.

Inexperienced stated he thinks the golfing club is phasing out housing, but referred further more concerns to the club President Charley Raudenbush, who did not reply to multiple requests for remark from NJ Progress Media for this report.

Environmentally friendly claimed he is assured there was no pending litigation versus the borough of Pine Valley before the two boroughs consolidated, including he stated he only sees an upside to including a 2nd non-public golfing club to the borough.

Trump Nationwide Golfing Club Philadelphia, whilst also non-public, is not approximately as exclusive, or highly rated, as Pine Valley in golfing publications. Pine Valley was rated very first between 100 class in America by Golf Digest in 2021. Augusta Countrywide, the property of the Masters Tournament, was ranked No. 2. There were being no Trump golfing programs rated in the top rated 100. Trump Countrywide Golfing Club Philadelphia was rated No. 20 of 25 in New Jersey by the journal, though Pine Valley was ranked No. 1.

Inexperienced said previous President Donald Trump did not pay a visit to the residence even though he was in office environment. But previous Vice President Dan Quayle often flew in by helicopter to Pine Valley when he was in workplace, and Eco-friendly was often on hand. He was a volunteer firefighter and they were demanded to be on duty in scenario of unexpected emergency.

“He would come in and land on the practice vary,” Green claimed. “All of sudden, the Solution Company would arrive in and be all over the place. It was anything to see.”

Green stated he at the time caddied for “a person who received the U.S. Open,” but couldn’t bear in mind his name. He claimed he also carried the bag for former Flyers star Rick Tocchet.

He said he bought the position there from his brother-in-legislation, who got his career from Green’s father-in-legislation. He mentioned they’ve swapped tales around the yrs about the well-known folks they’ve viewed or listened to about passing as a result of.

“There applied to be a Catholic church two blocks from the back entrance,” Eco-friendly claimed. “People reported it was not that strange to see Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra in there on a Sunday in advance of they teed off.”

There had been also stories about the gangster Al Capone enjoying the course in the 1930s. A hideaway he was rumored to have, a 36-acre estate in Pine Hill overlooking the study course, marketed for $1.3 million in 2019.

“It has been a great practical experience, and at the stop of the working day, it labored out perfectly for everybody,” Eco-friendly stated.

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Bill Duhart may be reached at [email protected].