If you have not seen the historically documented movie Seabiscuit, or do not know the significance between Ocean City and the horse races then you do not understand how important Glen Riddle is to the surrounding area. Do not worry for there is still hope! As I sat down with Rob McDonald I was not expecting to get a history lesson on how famous Glen Riddle is.

McDonald has been the head pro at Glen Riddle for four years. In his prior years in the profession he has worked at courses in Miami and Baltimore. While speaking with him he explains why he believes the course cannot be compared to the other ones within the area.

“This is a unique property, and in my opinion the best one. I think the history to the place is excellent; the horse racing history is great.”

How much of an important element is Scott Cooper to Rum Pointe golf course? More importantly, is Rum Pointe made of rum? Unfortunately, it is not; however, Cooper is one of the more important factors to the course itself. The general manger, of six years, is not only one of the most knowledgeable managers of his course, but one of the friendliest guys you will ever meet.

The precision that went into the creation of the course exemplifies how this course is like no other. The course has one of the most revised layout blueprints from PB Dye. Rum Pointe is fundamentally your all-around links course. Because it is a links course it is more open and has a natural setting. Cooper notes, “There’s a couple of holes that are in the woods, but other than that we’re a regular styled links course.”

How does Ocean City Golf Club stand out from the others? For starters, not only is it a yacht club but it also has TWO golf courses. Secondly, other courses don’t have Buddy Sass. It is not every day you meet a man like Sass; he has been head of the pro shop for Ocean City Golf Club for nearly 14 years. His air of confidence on the sport convinced me he was capable of answering all of the amateur-ish questions I could muster up.

As I sat and spoke with Sass about the courses he was able to relay to me the difference between them both. When asked about the uniqueness that comes with having more than one course he said, “Because we have 36 holes you can get a very different high quality of experience with either one. Since Seaside is considered to be a parkland course you get that experience of playing on such a course; Newport Bay as a link course is a completely different type of experience. So you can get two very different experiences from two courses on the same property.”

“you can get two very different experiences from two courses on the same property… Our value and our level of quality for what you play are strong.”

Since the courses are different from one another I wondered if they at least shared the same structure.

Being an amateur to everything golf I am excited to embark on an adventure where I learn from the best about the sport. For ten weeks I will be sitting down with head professionals at golf courses surrounding the Ocean City area.

This week I had the opportunity of speaking with Bob Croll at Eagles Landing Golf Course. It was a great relief to have sat with a man who was so optimistic about sharing information about a course he’s so familiar with.

Like many college graduates Croll went to school for geography and found a career that had no relationship with his degree. “I moved to the beach after college and ran into a buddy of mine who was running this golf course [Eagles Landing] who got me a job parking carts.” After four years of parking carts Croll went to golf school to become a certified pro. He has now been the head pro at the facility for the past 10½ years.