Hackensack Golf Club delivers vintage Golden Age character and engaging template holes in a stately parkland setting. While not a national pilgrimage, it's a staple for any golfer passionate about New Jersey’s rich golf architecture and club tradition.
Seek out the original Charles Banks blueprints on display in the clubhouse—they reveal the Golden Age DNA revived in the current layout.
Hackensack Golf Club’s course is a showcase of Charles Banks’s Golden Age design—brimming with strategic template holes and bold, expansive green complexes. True to Banks tradition, its routing rewards positioning as much as power, tempting with risk-reward par 5s and exacting with monster par 4s. The 2007-onward Rees Jones renovation, driven by the rediscovery of original Banks plans, has re-energized the historical intent, ensuring penal bunkering, classic green contours, and the field of play all echo the course's 1928 roots.
Charles Banks—known as 'Steamshovel' for his grand-scale earth-moving and imaginative template holes—brought Golden Age play values to life at Hackensack, with Rees Jones’s work further honoring that legacy.
A strong opening par 5, inviting a bold drive to set up a reachable green but punishing wayward shots with penal fairway slopes and deep bunkers. The second shot demands a sharp decision between laying up to the ideal angle or risking a long approach into a classic Banks green swathed in trouble.
Place your drive to the left for the best angle and weigh the risk of going for the green with deep bunkers lurking short and right.
Over-clubbing brings out-of-bounds into play; the approach is flanked by strategic bunkering and a slick, undulating green.
Meticulous private-club grooming with firm, fast greens and traditionally lush fairways.
Generally steady and measured, befitting a private membership—expect little waiting but no rushing.
Classic, tradition-driven, and quietly elite with a clear emphasis on golf over amenities.
Traditional private-club attire required throughout; collared shirts and slacks or tailored shorts expected.
Brush up on the nuances of Redan, Short, and Biarritz designs—you'll encounter all of them in authentic Banks form.
Practice lag putting and varied chipping; the restored greens feature tiers and plateaus demanding deft touch.
Walk the course or review a routing map in advance so you know which tee shots open the best approaches on tight doglegs.
North Jersey weather can shift quickly—bring versatile attire for brisk mornings or variable wind conditions.
Hackensack Golf Club founded at original location
Club relocates to Emerson/Oradell and Banks designs current course
Rees Jones begins renovation using original Banks plans
Hosts New Jersey Open Championship
Debuts on Golf Digest Best in State (#23 NJ)
Hosts 103rd New Jersey Open Championship
During course renovations, original Charles Banks plans were discovered in the clubhouse basement, guiding Rees Jones’s return-to-roots restoration efforts. This surprise find enabled a faithful revival of the Golden Age strategy and green contours.
The layout masterfully incorporates classic template holes—Redan, Biarritz, Short—that challenge even the best strategic minds. Hackensack's design DNA ties it to the very height of American golf architecture's first golden era.
With 13 New Jersey championships—including the prestigious state Open—and multiple USGA qualifiers played over its parkland corridors, Hackensack has long been the test for Garden State competitors.
The club was founded in 1899, decades before it moved to Emerson.
Original 1928 Banks blueprints were rediscovered in the basement and used for authenticity in the renovation.
Hackensack has hosted 13 New Jersey championships and multiple USGA qualifiers.
Signature holes feature Banks’s iconic strategic templates, including a classic Redan and Biarritz.
Old photographs reveal little change to the core routing since its Golden Age opening.
A Donald Ross masterwork and state Open host
Elite A.W. Tillinghast design, major championship credentials
Premier public-access course with a championship test
Urban-friendly, links-style fun for all handicaps
Highly regarded club with strong local reputation
Stay in Bergen County—Paramus, Hackensack, or nearby—to keep all courses within an easy drive.
Courses with the most similar DNA profile — matched by deviation shape across all eight playing characteristics.
Why it matches: What links these two? A comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character — a familiar feeling, expressed in Wilshire Country Club's own setting.
Why it matches: There is real overlap here. Idle Hour Club a comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character, making it a compelling counterpart to Hackensack Golf Club.
Why it matches: Andalusia Country Club is a natural next stop after Hackensack Golf Club: it a comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character.
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