MONMOUTH – Longer hitters, put away your drivers.

And to anyone out there who’s even remotely thought of picking up golf, have we got the course for you.

Say hello to Cobbossee Colony Golf Course. It’s small – short enough to walk for people who have a hard time doing that, or for those who are lazy – but it’s enough of a golf course to challenge first-timers.

“It’s not a challenging course, but it’s a fun course,” co-owner Bill Sylvester said. “A lot of people come out here just to be able to walk it. Some of the people complain about the walk up from eight to nine, but it’s good for them. We have a lot of older folks that come here, and younger golfers.”

There are a few quirks to the course that add to its charm. Golfers are greeted on Hole 1 with a conundrum: Go left, or go right. If you go dead straight, expect a ricochet off of a large pine tree that guards the middle of the fairway. The second hole is sliced out of the woods, an addition the Sylvester family made when they purchased the course in 1998. The par-3 is flat, but still requires a good shot.

“As soon as we bought this place, my brother went in there and built that hole,” Sylvester said. “We were getting too crowded (at the 6th, 7th and 8th holes).”

Speaking of par-3s, golfers arriving at the fifth hole, which tees off beside the clubhouse, are greeted by another toughie: Play for a par (for the men) of three, or take a bogey and move on. At 215 yards, anyone playing this hole in three has done very, very well.

A tree guards the right side of the green, too, so an accurate tee ball is a must.

After golfers decide whether to fly over or slide under “Marv’s Tree” on No. 7, the toughest hole on the course awaits. The par-4 eighth runs straight uphill for 375 yards. It skirts a pond to the right, and forces a pair of carried over grassy knolls twice.

“We keep wanting to dig that pond out and make it bigger,” Sylvester said, “but we need it to be dry enough for us to do that.”

Finish with a short, uphill par-4, and then saunter inside for some hot dogs and some friendly conversation.