Knickerbocker Country Club

Set in suburban Tenafly, about ten miles north of midtown Manhattan, Knickerbocker Country Club is a private, member-owned club whose 18-hole course occupies rolling ground west of Knickerbocker Road, with the clubhouse, practice range and short-game complex on the east side. Today’s layout blends holes first conceived by Donald Ross with holes added a decade later by Herbert Strong; a late-2000s restoration by Ron Forse rebuilt bunkers and expanded several greens, and since 2020 the club has pursued a living master plan led on the ground by superintendent Kyle Hillegass in collaboration with architect Jaeger Kovich. Visitors encounter narrow-to-medium corridors framed more by contour and short-cut turf than trees, a practice supported by recent clearing to open interior vistas between the seventh through eleventh holes. The course plays to a par of 72 from its back tees, with tournament yardages around 6,700+ yards, and it supports an active calendar that has included New Jersey State Golf Association championships, including the centennial (100th) NJSGA Open in 2020. Off the course, members use a historic clubhouse, racquets facilities, pool, and a modern practice ground; the club maintains a “no tee-time” culture for member play.