The property that became Crestmont was first used for golf in 1913, when August C. Sipple constructed 13 holes on family land and briefly operated a course under the Crestmont name. In May 1922 the Newark Athletic Club (N.A.C.) acquired the property and retained Donald Ross to create a full 18-hole course, effectively replacing most of Sipple’s work. Club historical notes describe the effort required—“felling hundreds of trees and excavating tons of rock”—and even attribute the fairway mounds on the present fifth hole to rock burial from that phase, a small but telling detail of site works undertaken during construction. Contemporary primary documents such as original Ross routing plans or correspondence were not accessible for this review; the club’s published history is the principal source for these early-1920s works.
The club’s early complex also included a polo field circumscribed by a cinder track and a grandstand built in the interior of the course near the right-angle formed by the fifth and sixth holes (an area now associated with the lower reservoir). That sporting precinct hosted major track-and-field meetings in the mid-1920s. Later, in the 1970s, Robert Trent Jones undertook a remodel at Crestmont (a 1978 entry is listed in the RTJ firm’s historical record). The precise scope is not detailed in publicly available documents, but later commentary stresses that water hazards integral to the current course trace to Ross’s original design, not the RTJ period.
In the 2000s the club embarked on a historically minded refresh. Ron Forse led a Ross-oriented restoration in 2008 built from a long-range master plan, timed before the course hosted qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open. This program re-established Ross’s bunker schemes (both number and configuration), addressed green surrounds, and refined presentation to emphasize the original strategic intentions within modern agronomic standards.
No clear evidence surfaced of a Ross return visit after the initial build; if one occurred, it is not documented in accessible secondary sources.
Unique Design Characteristics
Crestmont’s strongest Ross signatures today are expressed through bunker variety and placement and the relationship of several greens to sand and water. The restored scheme contains more than ninety bunkers, including classic cross bunkers set diagonally across lines of play and greens encircled by sand—a dramatic visual and strategic cue that forces discernment in approach selection and recovery. Notably, multiple ponds and watercourses are part of the original Ross conception of the site rather than later insertions; in practical terms, they pinch landing areas on select par fours and guard benched greens where short misses are sharply repelled.
The first-tee complex offers a Ross quirk that still reads on the ground: the forked connection between the No. 1 and No. 10 fairways near their starting area—an economical spatial move Ross employed where landforms suggested an efficient interchange. Even more distinctive at Crestmont is the proximity of the No. 11 green to the No. 1 green, a near-conjunction that surprises first-time visitors and has been highlighted by modern reviewers as a memorable feature of the routing.
While hole-by-hole archival descriptions are limited in the public domain, the club’s own historical note about the mounds on No. 5—created, it is said, to bury rock from Ross’s excavation—marks that par four as a literal and figurative product of the 1920s earthworks. The longer two-shotters make consistent use of diagonal fairway bunkers to reward positional tee shots that open green angles; shorter par fours and par fives emphasize the premium on precise distance control into perched greens framed by sand. The par-three set is varied in length and orientation; No. 11 stands out for its setting adjacent to the first green and for the way sand tightens its target profile.
If one seeks holes that read most clearly as surviving Ross expressions after later decades of change, the opening stretch—for its routing economy and shared-space character—and the interior par threes—for their sand-framed, tightly defended targets—offer the most immediate evidence, especially following the 2008 restoration that re-emphasized their original hazards and surrounds.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s national portfolio, Crestmont’s significance lies in the way it translates a multi-sport suburban estate—complete with polo and track facilities—into a cohesive golf routing that still foregrounds water and interior hazards as primary strategic instruments. Regionally, it sits among a dense constellation of early-20th-century northern New Jersey courses by major architects; the 2008 restoration heightened its standing among Ross aficionados, as noted by independent reviewers. While Crestmont is not widely ranked on national lists, it has served as a USGA sectional qualifying venue (notably for the Senior Open in 2008), reflecting its ability to test elite players at modern green speeds without sacrificing its 1920s character.
Current Condition / Integrity
As presented today, routing bones and much of the hazard language are traceable to Ross, with post-war alterations (the RTJ remodel) layered atop the original. The 2008 Forse restoration intentionally pulled the course back toward Ross’s bunker count, forms, and placements; it also refined green surrounds and re-established strategic angles that had been dulled by tree growth or previous rebuilds. The club’s current scorecard shows a par 72 at 6,866 yards from the back tees, in line with the course’s classical scale rather than the 7,200-yard range of many modern renovations.
What appears preserved: the routing, the water features credited to the original plan, the cross-bunker and encircling-bunker vocabulary, and the forked first/10th departure. What has been altered: certain green pads and bunkers during the 1970s remodel (details not fully published) and their subsequent re-shaping/restoration in 2008; tree management has opened internal vistas and revived diagonal options. The clubhouse complex and pool areas have undergone significant architectural renovations in the last decade, adding a “Donald Ross” dining room and expanded terrace spaces that do not affect the course’s architectural integrity but do frame views of finishing holes.
Sources & Notes
Crestmont Country Club – “The Rich History of Crestmont Country Club.” Club website history page (accessed 2025). Provides the 1913 Sipple 13-hole precursor; 1922 N.A.C. acquisition; engagement of Donald Ross; description of tree felling/rock excavation; note on No. 5 fairway mounds; and the presence of polo/track facilities within the course interior.
Top 100 Golf Courses – “Crestmont.” Independent course profile noting Donald Ross authorship (listed as 1927), the 2008 Ron Forse restoration “returning the layout to the original Ross intent,” the presence of >90 bunkers including cross bunkers and greens surrounded by sand, the authenticity of water hazards to the original design, and the routing quirks at the 1st and 11th greens.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Course List (RTJ Society, 1978: Crestmont Country Club – West Orange, NJ). Provides year and attribution for a 1978 remodel at Crestmont; scope not detailed in the list.
Forse Golf Design – Portfolio/Gallery. Confirms Forse Design’s restoration practice and, in broader firm communications and trade coverage, references Crestmont among courses where Ross features were restored in the late 2000s; also aligns with 2008 US Senior Open qualifier timing cited elsewhere.
West Orange Planning Board – Application PB-06-08 (2007). Municipal document memorializing site-plan approval for Crestmont improvements in early 2007, consistent with the timing of course and facility upgrades preceding the 2008 qualifier.
Donnelly Construction – Project Page. Documents recent clubhouse and pool renovations, including creation of a “Donald Ross” dining room and expanded patio—useful for contextualizing current facilities though not bearing on the course architecture.