Plainfield Country Club
Edison, Middlesex County, New Jersey · Greater Princeton golf market
- Access
- equity
- Holes
- 18
- Architect(s)
- Donald Ross, Gil Hanse (restoration)
Thinking About Living in Plainfield Country Club?
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Plainfield Country Club, founded in 1890 (renamed from the Hillside Tennis Club in 1904), is one of New Jersey's most nationally significant golf addresses, despite sitting -- somewhat confusingly given its name -- in Edison, Middlesex County, not the city of Plainfield. Its Donald Ross-designed course, restored feature-by-feature by Gil Hanse and his team beginning in the late 1990s and through the early 2000s, is ranked among the top 50 courses in the United States by multiple major golf-media rankings.
The club's tournament pedigree is both historical and current. It hosted the 1978 U.S. Amateur Championship (John Cook defeated Scott Hoch, 5 and 4) and the 1987 U.S. Women's Open (Laura Davies won an 18-hole playoff over Ayako Okamoto and JoAnne Carner). More importantly for a 2026 buyer, that pedigree is not just historical: Plainfield hosted the 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, and the USGA has already awarded it the 2031 U.S. Senior Women's Open and the 2038 U.S. Senior Open -- real, currently-scheduled future national championships, the same pattern of evidence this platform treats as strong destination_exception support (as with Baltusrol's 2029 PGA Championship and 2046 U.S. Open).
What Plainfield is not, on the evidence found in this research pass, is a residential-community anchor. No bundled subdivision, HOA, or documented price premium tied specifically to the club was found -- it reads as a freestanding, historically and competitively significant private club, not a golf-living development.
Golf & Course
The Donald Ross-designed course -- often called a 'Donald Ross Gem' -- underwent a meticulous Gil Hanse-led restoration beginning in the late 1990s, with every green, fairway, teeing ground, chipping area, and bunker restored to Ross-era character by the early 2000s. It is consistently ranked among the top 50 courses in the United States.
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
Plainfield operates as a traditional, member-owned 501(c)(7) private club; membership requires application and approval, and the club does not offer public play. Specific initiation-fee and dues figures found via generic web aggregators could not be confirmed against a credible primary source and are not published here as verified figures.
Location & Surrounding Area
The club sits on Woodland Avenue in Edison, Middlesex County -- despite its name, it is not located in the city of Plainfield (Union County). It sits within the broader Greater Princeton/central New Jersey corridor, a short drive from both the Somerset Hills and Jersey Shore golf markets.
Interested in Homes in Plainfield Country Club?
We can connect you with a local real-estate specialist who knows the community, nearby golf communities, and the Greater Princeton market.
What Buyers Should Verify
- Current initiation fee and dues (only low-quality, non-authoritative aggregator figures were found -- not published here).
- Whether any residential development near Edison/Woodland Avenue has a documented connection to the club (none found in this pass).
- Current membership waitlist status.
Notable
- Hosted the 1978 U.S. Amateur Championship and the 1987 U.S. Women's Open.
- Hosted the 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball; awarded the 2031 U.S. Senior Women's Open and 2038 U.S. Senior Open.
- Donald Ross design restored in detail by Gil Hanse beginning in the late 1990s.
- Located in Edison, Middlesex County, despite its 'Plainfield' name (which refers to the club's 1890s origin as the Hillside Tennis Club, later renamed and relocated).
Considering a Move to Plainfield Country Club?
Whether you're comparing Plainfield Country Club with another Greater Princeton golf community or you're ready to start looking at homes, US Golf Living can connect you with a local real-estate specialist.
US Golf Living provides independent real-estate research and can connect consumers with real-estate professionals. Golf membership, availability, fees and approval are determined independently by the applicable club.