McCullough's Emerald Golf Links ☆ Follow

McCullough's Emerald Golf Links is an 18-hole, 6,600-yard par 71 layout located just minutes from Atlantic City and Ocean City, New Jersey. Architect Stephen Kay designed 17 holes after famed European courses, with replicas of holes from Saint Andrews, Carnoustie, Prestwick, Gleneagles, Turnberry and others. The course features wide-open fairways, tricky winds, true undulating greens, and remarkable grass mounds and bunkers. Water comes into play on five holes and the region's only 100-foot elevation changes provide distinctive vistas. The course opened in 2002 on a former landfill that was transformed by architect Stephen Kay in a decades-long project spearheaded by city mayor James "Sonny" McCullough.

The signature 7th hole is a tribute to architect Alister McKenzie, who won an award for the design in 1914 but never had the opportunity to build it. It features a three-acre waste area and an island fairway 160 yards wide. Kay routed the tees and greens around more than 150 metal hexagon-shaped methane gas vents, with some hidden by berms in the fairway. The course has ranked among the top courses in New Jersey on Golf Advisor's rankings, reaching #6 in 2023.