Atlantic City Country Club
As singer Michael Buble might croon, It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for golf in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Thanks to an innovative and visionary program driven by the state’s governor, Chris Christie and the Casino Redevelopment Department, the city that never sleeps is finally being marketed as a golf destination. What with 19 superb daily fee layouts to choose from, the golf is grand in Atlantic City. And, of course there are the casinos, nightlife, the famous Boardwalk, almost 150 restaurants, beaches, fishing, sightseeing, shopping and a whole lot of other things the area has got going for itself.
According to Tom Sullivan, president of the Greater Atlantic City Golf Association and General Manager of McCullough’s Emerald Links, “We have great golf courses in our portfolio, from high end clubs to affordable courses and everything in between. We have such a great diversity and history with our courses (that grew from seven to 19) in our Association. We have Atlantic City Country Club that hosted six USGA championships, Seaview, where Sam Snead won his first PGA, and Brigantine Golf Links, where Harry Vardon and Walter Hagen used to tune up their games before heading over the play the British Open. There are a number of fabulous new courses, and our members run from Cape May National in the south to Sea Oaks Golf Club in the north of the Atlantic City area”
Sullivan said one of the major factors Atlantic City has working in its favor is that it is within easy driving distance of the major metropolitan areas along the East Coast.“We’re the best kept secret on the East Coast. If you look at the top golf destinations like Myrtle Beach, or Ocean City, Md. they do a great job of marketing to the golfer. Atlantic City has a great golf product that is on par with those destinations. Our greens fees and golf experience is comparable with those destinations. What Atlantic City can offer is a better experience beyond the golf course. We have never before been able to launch a strategic marketing program of this magnitude. With the momentum created by the Do AC Campaign, this was a perfect time to capitalize on getting out the message that AC is a great place to play golf.”
GACGA has the advantage of being able to offer golfers a wide variety of accommodations-from budget rooms to full scale suites. In AC alone there are 150 world renowned restaurants, entertainment and nightlife choices abound, as do amenities like spas, shopping and other recreational activities. Such offerings within the close proximity of great golf courses is hard to find anywhere else.
Said Sullivan, “The thing that always hurt is that people didn’t know about the great golf here. They knew about the casinos and the Boardwalk but now we are going to be known for more than the gaming, as a real vacation destination that has so much to offer. Ron Jaworski (former National Football league quarterback and ESPN analyst) owns two courses in the GACGA and he has become a great ambassador for us. We are very excited about the future of Atlantic City golf.”
The GACGA is working with three firms that are custom tailoring packages to fit the desires and needs of those wishing to spend a weekend or a week or more in the Atlantic City area.
“One firm is amenity-based, another is price sensitive and the other balances those two things,” said Sullivan.
Visit www.GACGA.com and start booking your action-packed golf trip now.
