Fully Renovated East Orange Golf Course Better Than Ever

New general manager/superintendent Juan Casiano expects nothing but the best for the East Orange Golf Course, which has undergone extensive renovations both on the course and at the clubhouse.

East Orange G.C., located in Short Hills and owned by the City of East Orange, is fully re-opened and a must-play venue in northern New Jersey.

“Our goal is to be the best maintained public golf course in northern New Jersey. We’re not there yet, but we’re working towards it,” said Casiano, 42, a graduate of Rutgers Turf School.

The affordable, daily fee course has had a full restoration by noted golf course architect Stephen Kay. After a year-long closure during 2014 and a transitional year in 2015 in which the golf course was open for play during the extensive renovation; the golf course restoration is now complete. Feedback from golfers indicates that it was well worth the wait.

The renovation included: Building two new golf holes, new practice range, new practice putting green, new irrigation system, resodding of all greens with improved bentgrass variety, rebuilding of all tee boxes, redesign and rebuilding of all sand bunkers.

“We are already reaping the benefits of resodding the greens,” Casiano said. “I’m excited to see the transformation of the golf course. As G.M. and superintendent, I love being involved in all aspects at the course. I’m watching it grow up from the ground floor. This is my baby.”

Opened in July was a new 6,000 square foot clubhouse and Par 440 Restaurant & Lounge, which sports one of the top sports bars in the area and will be able to host large meeting groups.

The course plays at 5,600 yards and is a par 70.

“The goal of the renovation was to restore the old-fashioned charm of the golf course and make it appealing to players of all abilities,” said Kay. “We have re-created a player-friendly and aesthetically appealing golf course that is affordable and allows for a relatively brisk pace of play.

“By 2018, under Juan Casiano, East Orange will be one of the best maintained venues in the state. Last year, East Orange was up to 25,000 rounds from 8,000 the year before it closed,” noted Kay, who was a mentor to Casiano at Rutgers.

Kay has designed such New Jersey gems as Blue Heron Pines, Harbor Pines, Scotland Run and The Architect’s Club, oversaw the restoration. He was supported by an expert team consisting of golf course superintendent Casiano, Turco Golf Construction, Maser Engineering and Marziani & Associates Architects.

Rounds increased 65 percent in the first full season of operation (2016) as compared to the year prior to the renovation (2014). Revenue increased 45 percent during that same period.

Kay worked closely with superintendent Casiano throughout the project, as well as contractors Turco Golf Construction, Maser Engineering and Marziani & Associates Architects.

“After years of neglect, the golf course is now a source of pride for the City of East Orange and the Millburn/Short Hills area in which it is located,” said East Orange Mayor Lester Taylor III. “We are pleased and excited to welcome back golfers to East Orange Golf Club, and are confident that they will find it to be an enjoyable golfing experience for people of all ages.”

East Orange Golf Course was originally designed in 1926 by Tom Bendelow, an architect renowned for making golf accessible and affordable for the public. Bendelow’s most famous design was Medinah Country Club in Illinois.

Season Passes are available for East Orange Golf Course. They range from $500 for juniors to $1,500 for individual unlimited. Senior unlimited season passes are $1,000 and individual weekday season passes are $1,200. East Orange residents and employees receive a 25 percent discount on season passes, or a flat daily fee rate of just $18 for weekdays and $20 for weekends.

Another goal was to create a price to value ratio that is difficult, if not impossible, to find in an area that is dominated by upscale private courses. The total yardage was reduced to just under 6,000 yards to accommodate the new practice range, as well as to allow for a brisk pace of play and a level of difficulty that would be appealing to beginners and high handicappers, while still presenting a sufficient challenge for better players.

“There is a need for a course like this,” said Ed Sylvia, Casiano’s top assistant. “There aren’t many public golf courses of this magnitude in this part of the state.”

It was Kay’s suggestion to remove the two holes to accommodate the practice range as an adjacent part of the facility, rather than across the street from the course.

Work started in 2014 and saw the 18-hole course closed for a year, before a partial reopening took place in 2015 while much of the course was still undergoing renovations.

East Orange joins the long list of courses architect Kay has worked on in New Jersey, which includes those at Blue Heron Pines in Egg Harbor City, Scotland Run in Williamsburg, and The Architect’s Club in Phillipsburg.

Kay is Principal of Stephen Kay Golf Course Design. He established his practice in 1983 and has done renovation work at more than 300 golf courses. He has also designed 20 new courses, several of which have received national attention. The Links of North Dakota has been ranked in Golfweek's Top 100 Modern Courses in the U.S., and The Architects Club in New Jersey was named as one of the top 10 new courses of the year in Links Magazine and Sports Illustrated.

Kay has done work in Asia, including India and the Kingdom of Bhutan. He has extensive experience restoring the classic designs of such iconic architects as Donald Ross, AW Tillinghast, Devereux Emmet and Charles Banks.

Kay has long been recognized as one of the region’s preeminent golf course architects. He has designed or renovated more than 25 golf courses in New Jersey alone.