Golf on Long Island

Golfing Magazine partners with 11 courses for its 2013 Free Golf Program

Starting this week, Long Island golfers will receive a Golfing Magazine certificate that allows them to play for "free" at nearly a dozen golf courses Islandwide.  The magazine's 2013 Free Golf Program includes 11 local courses -- seven full-length and four nine-hole layouts -- plus dozens more upstate and across the Northeast.  Also, this year's program sets aside for certificate holders some much-needed tune-up time, specifically a half-hour lesson at the Town of Oyster Bay's Gold Coast Golf Center and an hour in the simulator at Eagle Golf in Bay Shore.  The $39 Early Bird Special has come and gone, but interested golfers can still sign up for the program for $59.  

Seven of the eight courses in last year's program are returning again in 2013 -- Brentwood Country Club, Dix Hills Park, Glen Cove, Gull Haven, Holbrook Country Club, Tallgrass and Island's End.  Added to the selection this year are The Woods at Cherry Creek and Sandy Pond Golf Course in Riverhead, Spring Lake's nine-hole Sandpiper Course in Middle Island, and Willow Creek Golf & Country Club in Mount Sinai. 

The Free Golf Program certificate entitles you to one "free" round at each of the above courses.  All you pay for on the day of play is a cart fee (and reservation fee where applicable).  The certificate will only be honored at certain times during the week and on weekends, and availability varies by course.  Be sure to check all terms and conditions when reserving your round.  Tee times must be made in advance.  Once that's done, it's great local golf at a steep discount.

As always, a one-year subscription to Golfing Magazine (five issues) is part of the program.  If you're heading up the Thruway or into New England sometime this summer, the certificate makes a valuable travel companion, as it's valid at a variety of participating courses in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and upstate New York.

To subscribe, contact Golfing Magazine at (516) 822-5446 or visit online at www.GolfingMagLI.com.  And for descriptions of the participating Long Island courses, click the links above to read the course flyovers.

Tallgrass converting #6 to a par-3

The staff at Tallgrass Golf Course went back to the drawing board last season after a few too many errant drives irked neighbors alongside the course's short par-4 sixth.  Though the plan was to keep the hole a par-4, there apparently wasn't enough room on that drawing board to allow it.  The hole is now a par-3, with new tee boxes currently being prepared for action.

Golf On Long Island's Rob Dimino snapped photos of the redesigned teeing grounds (right) while at the course last week.  The hole will measure approximately 180 to 190 yards from the back tees.

The future of the hole was "up in the air" last fall according to general manager Phil Tita, who said the preference was to modify the par-4 while alleviating the concerns of off-course neighbors who were pelted too often by overzealous players trying to reach a green less than 300 yards away.  Limited space around the hole likely sunk those plans, however.

[See previous post: Redesign in the works for Tallgrass #6]

#6 is the second of three par-3s on Tallgrass's front nine.  It is sandwiched between the sandy fourth and the reverse-redan eighth, which GOLI examined in detail earlier this year.  The change means that Tallgrass drops from a par-71 to par-70.

The hole's main feature is now the steep downslope behind the green, which will turn any long tee shot into a nearly automatic bogey.  With the change, the mammoth sand trap down the hole's left side has been relegated to spectator.

Treat Mom to holiday golf at Spring Lake's Mother's Day nine

Show Mom your appreciation by teaming up with her and sinking a key putt to beat Dad at Spring Lake Golf Club's Mother's Day celebration, beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 12.

For $95, you and Mom play nine holiday holes with cart and enjoy two post-round cocktails each plus hors d'oeuvres.  Even better, bring the family (of four) and play, eat and drink for a total of $175.

Groups participating in the Mother's Day special will tee off starting at 10:00.  Reserve a spot by calling (631) 924-5115.

Eisenhower Red to open April 12

Eisenhower Park will soon be up and running at full speed.  The Red Course at Eisenhower Park will reopen for the 2013 season on Friday, April 12, according to park staff.  Judging by the hour-long waits reported yesterday on both the Blue and White courses, the Red should see plenty of play right out of the gate.

Devereux Emmet's East Meadow layout typically opens closer to the start of April, but earlier this winter, park employees said the opening might be delayed due to remaining recovery work from Hurricane Sandy.

The Red Course's April 12 start will be followed a day later by Bethpage Black's season debut on April 13, setting the stage for 36 holes worth of fantastic Opening Weekend spring golf.

Bethpage spring aeration schedule

Spring aeration begins next week at Bethpage State Park.  The Yellow Course is first in line.  Aeration is scheduled for Monday, April 1 and Tuesday, April 2.

The Red Course, which opened for the 2013 season earlier today, will be aerated starting Monday, April 8.  Following Red is the Blue Course on April 15-16 and the Green Course on April 24-25.

Bethpage Black will open for the new season on Saturday, April 13, which sets up the potential for a perfect day of golf.  The third round of The Masters tees off in the afternoon.

New season, new discounts at Brentwood and Holbrook

The spring weather has been slow to come around.  That's not the case, however, for the Brentwood and Holbrook Country Clubs.  Both Town of Islip courses are wasting no time getting back into form with their usual seasonal discounts.

In April and May, you can ride for $42 or walk 18 holes for only $24.  Senior town residents can ride for $38.  These discounts are valid after 10 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends.  To take advantage of the discounts, each player must bring a printed website coupon and reserve their tee time online.

The special rates are valid at Brentwood Tuesday through Sunday, and at Holbrook Wednesday through Monday.  Holbrook is often closed for outings on Tuesdays.

To view all valid specials at Brentwood and Holbrook, check their coupons page.

Spring season opens at Timber Point with 18 of course's 27 holes ready for play

The spring season arrived a few days early at Timber Point Golf Course in Great River, where on St. Patrick's Day morning, more than 60 golfers put down the shillelagh used in a casual putting challenge and posed for group photos on the practice green.  After a few words of gratitude from Timber Point golf director Andy Carracino, the group moved on to the nine-hole Red Course for a holiday scramble that returned some new-season normalcy to a facility pounded last October by Hurricane Sandy. 

The land-locked Red Course is open from start to finish as the 2013 season slowly and frigidly gets underway.  Meanwhile, closer to Great South Bay, the Blue and White courses are open just enough to allow Timber Point golfers to enjoy 18-hole rounds.  The opener on the White Course, along with #5 through #9, are open, followed in the rotation by #1, #2 (the "Harbor" par-3, pictured) and #9 on the Blue Course. 

Along the water, the heart of the Blue Course remains a victim of its greatest asset -- its proximity to Great South Bay.  The Gibraltar par-3 and the two par-4s that follow were overrun by saltwater during the storm.  They were recently reseeded.  Timber Point staffers are hoping the Blue Course is playable by June.

Despite a blustery, overcast morning, pairs and groups of non-scrambling holiday golfers made their way to the first tee on the makeshift Blue/White nine for an early-season round.  Back on the Red, tough pin positions on the sloped greens of #1 and #2 foiled birdie attempts.  The St. Patrick's Day and season-opening celebration continued after the round at Oakdale's Snapper Inn.

Holiday shotgun at Crab Meadow on Easter Sunday, March 31

A holiday tradition as welcome as a visit from the Easter Bunny, the Crab Meadow Golf Course will host its annual Easter Sunday shotgun outing on March 31, an early-morning event to kick off a day of food and family.

Entry fee is $65 and includes breakfast pastries, coffee, motor cart, range balls and prizes to go along with 18 holes up and down the Sound-side hills of Northport.  Check-in and breakfast begin at 7:15, with tee-off to follow at 8:30.

You can also bring the family down for a special $29 Easter Brunch served at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m seatings right on site at The View Restaurant. 

Call Crab Meadow at (631) 757-8800 to reserve your spot.  And to read more about the Northport course, check out the Crab Meadow flyover.

Bethpage Black to reopen April 13, Red Course on March 29

The Black Course at Bethpage State Park will reopen for the 2013 season on Saturday, April 13, according to park information.  As usual, the Red Course will get a two-week headstart on the Black.  It will open for play on Friday, March 29.

Both courses closed earlier than usual in 2012 due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.  The Red Course lost a significant number of trees during the storm.

For updated March and April course activity, refer to Golf On Long Island's list of 2013 course reopenings.

New owners continue upgrades in second season at Sandy Pond

Ken Weinstein and Chris Wahlers ended their first season as owners of Sandy Pond Golf Course the same way they began -- by making improvements from top to bottom at their nine-hole course in Riverhead.

More accurately, the improvements went from bottom to top.  One of their first projects, according to this Riverhead News-Review profile from last June, involved cleaning out the course's three namesake ponds.  And among a host of renovations last fall was a resurfacing of the elevated fourth tee.  (A time-lapse video of the teebox reno can be viewed at Sandy Pond's Facebook page.)

The results of their hard work on and around the course late in 2012 will soon become evident to returning golfers, though by that time, Weinstein and Wahlers will already be far into their 2013 to-do list.  Aside from the reshaping and extension of the #4 tee, the Sandy Pond crew renovated tees on #1, #6 and #7, all of which will debut this spring.  They also added mounding and tall fescue to some rough areas between fairways. 

Much of the effort, however, was devoted to the putting surfaces.  "The biggest improvement has to be the greens," Wahlers says.  "Last winter when we took over, some of them had up to 40% turf loss.  As of right now every green has been expanded and is in great shape."

While last season's cleanup and renovations were designed, Wahlers says, "to try to get the worst out of the way," the tasks in year two -- besides bunker restoration on #1 and #9 -- will focus a little more on the periphery of the course.  One project already underway is the "clearing and beautifying" of some of the outside out-of-play areas.  The bathrooms and clubhouse are currently being upgraded. 

If all goes according to plan, when the warm weather arrives golfers will be able to unwind on a new shaded patio with food and drinks.

For more on Sandy Pond, check out the course flyover or visit the Sandy Pond website (Facebook).

[PICTURED, above left: View from the elevated fourth, which this season will have a newly shaped and surfaced teeing area.]