
Galloping Hill Golf Course is a golf course in
Kenilworth, New Jersey, with part of the course located in
Union Township,
New Jersey. It was designed by Willard G. Wilkinson in 1928, who had previously worked for
A. W. Tillinghast
Albert Warren "Tilly" Tillinghast (May 7, 1876 – May 19, 1942) was an American golf course architect. Tillinghast was one of the most prolific architects in the history of golf; he worked on more than 265 different courses. He was inducted into ...
's firm, and was subsequently renovated by
Robert Trent Jones in 1949;
Alfred Tull in 1953;
Stephen Kay
Stephen T. Kay (born 1963) is an American actor, director, and writer of film and television.
Career
He has directed the films ''Get Carter'' and ''Boogeyman''. as well as directing episodes of '' Saved'', ''The Shield'', '' Friday Night Lights' ...
in 1998 and
Rees Jones in 2013. A new bar, restaurant, reception facilities, and clubhouse were built as part of an extensive remodeling to the course in 2013.
The
New Jersey State Golf Association
The New Jersey State Open Championship is the New Jersey state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the New Jersey State Golf Association. It has been played annually since 1921 at a variety of co ...
moved its headquarters to the club in recent years.
In 2016, it became the first
New Jersey State Open held on a public course in 95 years. It offers golf lessons and various year-round state-of-the-art golf training facilities including a 9 hole practice course, 52 driving stalls (20 with heat and protection from elements), 46,000 square feet of chipping/putting practice areas, and practice bunkers.
According to the Federal Writers' Project's WPA Guide (1939), "the club occupies the low, rounded peak of Galloping Hill, so named because of the British military dispatch riders who galloped on the road here
uring the American Revolutionary War, which was">American_Revolutionary_War.html" ;"title="uring the American Revolutionary War">uring the American Revolutionary War, which wasan unusual sight for farmers who walked their horses on the steep hill."
The ghost of a headless Hessian (soldier)">Hessian
A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse.
Hessian may also refer to:
Named from the toponym
*Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire
**Hessian (boot), a style of boot
**Hessian f ...
horseman is said to roam the links. At least one ghosthunter has suggested that stories of the Galloping Hill Headless Horseman may have inspired Washington Irving to write ''The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' (1820).
Area residents have proposed a 7.3-mile pedestrian linear park along the main line of the abandoned
. The
border. A northern portion of the rail trail on the RVRR main line is under construction as the Summit Park Line, with a footbridge over Morris Avenue installed in October 2022. In parallel, advocates have been pushing for immediate development of the portion south of
, running past the golf course, with views of same, through Kenilworth and Roselle Park. The
, which owns the railbed, has been working to clear it in anticipation of possible future trail use.