Third Nine (photo by LC Lambrecht/Golfstock)

Montclair Golf Club Renovations Unvieled

New Tennis Complex, Third Nine Open for Members

By Brian Weis

Montclair Golf Club has 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. These enhancements, coupled with a new pool complex (currently under construction) and locker rooms, reception and dining building are taking shape for opening later this summer.

Dramatic and significant changes are transforming this vibrant and historic club, which added 60 new member families last year and currently has a waiting list.

"The club has become a central point for family activities and gatherings," said Roger Bacon, General Manager. "Our members have enthusiastically embraced our new offerings and amenities, and while golf saw a resurgence during the pandemic, we're seeing enhanced participation in camps, racquet sports, culinary and social events."

On the golf course, "the greens have grown in beautifully," said Director of Course Operations Michael Campbell. "And as you might expect, play levels are at all-time highs."

Montclair Golf Club has 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. In 1920, Donald Ross was commissioned 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.

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Revised: 07/07/2021 - Article Viewed 4,694 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.