Pine Valley Golf Club
Pine Hill, Camden County, New Jersey · South Jersey / Pine Barrens golf market
- Access
- invitation only
- Holes
- 18
- Architect(s)
- George Crump
- Gated
- Yes
Thinking About Living in Pine Valley Golf Club?
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Pine Valley Golf Club, in Pine Hill, New Jersey (Camden County), is consistently ranked the #1 golf course in the world by Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and most other major ranking panels -- a status it has held for decades. Founded by George Crump in the 1910s on a heavily wooded, sandy Pine Barrens site, the club is famously secretive: roughly 930 members worldwide, admission by invitation of the board only, and a membership list that is not publicly disclosed.
What makes Pine Valley a genuinely unusual case for a golf-oriented homebuyer research platform -- and different from famous golf-only-by-design clubs elsewhere, such as The Sanctuary in Colorado or The Honors Course in Tennessee -- is that it is not simply a golf course with no residential relevance. The club's roughly one-square-mile property was, for nearly a century, its own independent municipality: the Borough of Pine Valley, formed in 1929 specifically around the club, with a real (if minuscule) resident population -- 21 people at the 2020 Census -- almost entirely club members and staff living in roughly two dozen houses built on the grounds. The borough merged into the neighboring Borough of Pine Hill on January 1, 2022, ending its 93-year run as a distinct government.
In May 2023, the club settled a gender-discrimination investigation brought by the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights and Attorney General Matthew Platkin. Investigators found the club had tied membership to the ability to own or lease one of those on-site homes, and that women could only hold an interest in such a home if they co-owned it with a man -- on top of separate findings about women being excluded from club facilities and hiring practices that relied almost entirely on word of mouth (resulting in fewer than 4% female employees). The $200,000 settlement required the club to end that property-membership tie going forward, 'subject to limited exceptions,' post at least 75% of job openings publicly, and fund $100,000 in scholarships supporting women's participation in golf, including for the Rutgers University women's golf team. (The club had already voted in April 2021, before the state's investigation concluded, to end its male-only membership policy.)
Membership & Access
Does buying a home here include club membership?
Access to Pine Valley itself is by invitation of the club's board only -- there is no public application process, waitlist, or purchase path. Historically, a second and very different access question existed for the roughly two dozen houses physically located on the club's grounds: ownership or leasing of those homes was tied to club membership, effectively making Pine Valley one of the only clubs in the platform where buying real estate and holding club standing were the same legal transaction. The 2023 settlement ordered that practice ended going forward, subject to limited exceptions whose current scope was not confirmed this session -- buyers should not assume either that the old bundled arrangement persists unchanged or that it has been fully eliminated.
Living in Pine Valley Golf Club
There is no conventional 'Pine Valley community' available to the general real-estate market -- the on-site houses are not marketed, listed, or sold the way a normal golf course community's homes are; they exist within, and were historically controlled by, the club itself. This is fundamentally different from every other anchor in this market and should not be treated as a purchasable residential option for a typical buyer.
Location & Surrounding Area
Pine Valley sits in Pine Hill, Camden County, in the Philadelphia suburbs / northern Pine Barrens fringe, roughly 20 miles southeast of downtown Philadelphia.
Interested in Homes in Pine Valley Golf Club?
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What Buyers Should Verify
- The precise current scope of the 2023 settlement's 'limited exceptions' to the no-longer-tying-membership-to-housing rule was not confirmed this session -- ask the club or review the NJ Division on Civil Rights consent order directly.
- Whether any of the roughly two dozen on-site homes have changed hands, been sold to non-members, or been vacated since the 2023 settlement was not confirmed this session.
- No official initiation fee or dues figure is published; do not rely on any third-party estimate.
Notable
- Consistently ranked the #1 golf course in the world by major ranking panels.
- Sat inside its own independent municipality, the Borough of Pine Valley (est. 1929, population 21 at the 2020 Census), until it merged into Pine Hill on January 1, 2022.
- A May 2023 NJ Division on Civil Rights settlement ($200,000) found the club had tied membership to the ability to own or lease on-site homes, discriminating against women in the process, and ordered the practice ended going forward, subject to limited exceptions.
- Members voted in April 2021 to end the club's male-only membership policy.
Considering a Move to Pine Valley Golf Club?
Whether you're comparing Pine Valley Golf Club with another South Jersey / Pine Barrens 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.