Montclair Golf Club unveils renovated Third Nine

Montclair Golf Club unveiled the Third Nine of its Donald Ross-designed golf course and a new racquet sports complex, part of an ongoing multi-million-dollar club upgrade.

Located in West Orange, New Jersey, Montclair Golf Club features 36 holes in four nine-hole loops that begin and end at the clubhouse. The original course, which opened in 1899, was designed by Tom Bendelow near the present location of today’s First and Second Nines. Ross was commissioned in 1920 to design 27 holes, and in 1928, land was acquired for the Fourth Nine, which was designed by Charles Banks.

Renovation of the Second Nine is scheduled to begin in late July. The final phase, to restore the Fourth Nine — Banks’s holes, which are dramatically different from the Ross 27, featuring huge, elevated greens and big, flat-bottomed bunkers — is scheduled for 2022. 

“The greens have grown in beautifully,” director of course operations Michael Campbell said. “And as you might expect, play levels are at all-time highs.”

“Our members have enthusiastically embraced our new offerings and amenities,” general manager Roger Bacon said. “And while golf saw a resurgence during the pandemic, we’re seeing enhanced participation in camps, racquet sports, culinary and social events.”