+ Simple but effective tee signs with diagrams and distances but no par. Everything is par 3 here.
+ Course fluctuates between wide open and hybrid style.
+ A few modest hills add texture to this otherwise 2-D course.
+ The shorter distances make things accessible to new players and families. Experienced players can try for birdies or aces.
+ Some surprisingly well-protected baskets.

- Tee areas are just patches of grass with a horizontal wooden beam acting as the upper edge. Some are supremely difficult to find because of no 'next hole' signs.
- Some tee areas are way too close to the previous pin! The first four holes especially do this.
- Almost all holes are also way too close to sporting fields, walking paths, picnic pavilions and other park amenities. Safety hazards abound- especially holes 3 through 5 throwing kind of close to a road!
- The shorter distances make things rather dull for seasoned players and course explorers.
- The tee signs are missing for holes 5 & 6, and hole 7's is wildly inaccurate.

If I had to choose a favorite hole here, that would be hole 3 because of its low ceiling and tight lines provided by pine trees. For some reason, I like to play through pine trees more than deciduous trees. It probably has something to do with the branches and leaves. As for a least favorite hole, that would have to be 2 because of how overgrown the grass and tree branches are.

As for the course as a whole, the nine holes found at Manalapan (pronounced [muh-NAL-uh-pin] for any readers outside of New Jersey) Rec Center are slightly less than okay. The whole course outlines a pair of soccer fields and a football field. If there is a game happening at any one of those arenas, a good chunk of the already small course will be rendered unplayable because of athletes, spectators, wandering kids, and so forth.

I will say that the baskets are well-placed. Most are guarded by trees, and it took a surprising amount of effort and aiming to reach them. The baskets are old and rusty, though. Some of them are visibly slanted. There is no course maintenance happening here, either. The township may mow the grass once in a while, but they likely don't know to do anything about the unreasonably low branches here. Hole 2 is a nightmarish example of that. The tee area for hole 4 has a leafy bough dangling right in front of the player's face. So, despite the course's simplicity, it isn't so fun to play when basic problems like that creep in- especially for a 9 hole course.

On the other hand, this course would be just fine for training. Short distances are always a good thing when just starting out. Plus, the hybrid-style layouts of the holes won't frustrate new players too much. So, I would sooner recommend this course to the freshmen golfers out there who are eager to learn through the frustration.

Bottom line: Habitual players will find nothing special about this course, and the nearby sport fields severely limit the course's playability, but newbies may learn to love the sport here if they can manage the branches.

A clean park and safe park. Good signage and 8 nice baskets. I enjoyed hole #1 a solid ace run and hole #2 is the perfect roller hole with several trees a bit too wide and a bit too high to reasonably throw over or around but with flat well manicured grass all the way to the basket 290 ft away. I also thought 8&9 were fun ace runs, 8 being a slight uphill hyzer and 9 being a downward hyzer with a different line than most holes to the basket. Simple but still challenging to some degree to find that perfect line. No undergrowth and very well maintained grass and shrubs. Hole #6 has a nice elevated protected pin. Before or after your round, you can practice drives on the soccer or football field.

Course simply winds around the perimeter of a soccer and football field 1-7 before ending up shooting around a pavillion for 8 and 9. Simply uncreative and hazzardous design will not appeal to seasoned DGers and is probably unplayable when any game/practice is in session. There are only 3 ace runs despite the fact that all 9 holes are extremely short in length. Holes 3,4,5, and 6 are very short but the baskets are so protected you can't reasonably have an ace chase round...so the fun factor is diminsihed greatly. Who wants 150 footers that are impossible to ace.....very unsatisfying. Hole 7's basket was missing completely. There seemed to be plenty of woods and a bigger unused field nearby that could have been utilized to provide more fun for the players and more safety for the public. Limited to play during park hours (the gates close at sunset I think..I got locked in) and unplayable during game/practice times.

This is the kind of course I hate to see. A municipality slaps it up with little thought. It does not appeal to anyone. After a few years of nobody playing the course, the township will deem disc golf an overrated hazzardous sport and a waste of money to the taxpayers. They will then pass this foolish knowledge on to other government officials in neighboring towns and before you know it...you have the state of New Jersey. A true Disc Golf Wasteland. If they would just ask a disc golfer to help design the course. I've played plenty of fun municipal courses that are fun little courses for the experts and beginner friendly at the same time.This is not one of those courses. Spend your time at Rutgers if your in this area of NJ.

Manalapan Rec DGC is in a well groomed sports complex. The course pretty much starts at one end of a soccer field and circles around several athletic fields ending near a pavilion and parking lot. Holes 1 and 2 are wide open and are pretty short, straightforward holes. Holes 3 and 4 are very short, but feature some nice tree cover making an ace run much more difficult. Holes 5-6 are more open but still have enough tree cover to add somewhat of a challenge. Hole 7 is a gradual right turning shot around a thick cluster of pine trees. Hole 8 is a short uphill run and hole 9 is a short run back down the hill.
There are restrooms in the park and plenty of areas in the park to eat.

This course is really a great course for beginners and locals who don't have any others courses to choose from. Because of how closely situated the course is to the athletic fields it would be almost unplayable during any soccer or football games. Hole 7 has been removed and there are plans to permanently move it. A pavilion was being placed in between holes 8 and 9 making them unplayable once the pavilion is finished. (The tee and sign for hole 9 have actually been removed.
The tees were clearly marked, but the 'advanced tees' were ridiculously placed 4 ft behind the regular tee. The tees are also very close to the previous pin on several of the holes making it dangerous if the course were ever crowded.

I spoke to the parks dept. about the course and they said that it is not going to be removed, but they will be moving holes 7-9 to make way for other park improvements. They also said that there are plans to add another 9 holes in the south of that park eventually, but they were unsure when these holes would be put in.
Do not travel far to play this course, as it isn't worth it. It is better than nothing, but its nothing great. During the summer the course is highly unplayable. Unfortunately this course doesn't have much going for it, the best thing for this course would be if the parks dept adds a better planned back 9.

In the condition the course is in I have to give it a 1, if and when the parks dept repairs holes 7-9 and/or adds the addition back 9 I will re-review the course and hopefully be able to raise the score a bit.