Golf on Long Island

Flyover: Eisenhower Park - White Course

Everyone seeks the comforts of familiarity at one time or another.  Some might revisit the pizza place they haven't been to in years, the one with the Sicilian slices they once could eat by the pie.  Others might find themselves struck by the mood to settle in at that old dive once more for nostalgia's sake, a place "where everybody knows your name," so to speak. 

For Long Island golfers, especially ones who grew up with a Nassau County Leisure Pass in their pocket, comfort might be that course "where every hole is the same" -- as one fellow player described the White Course at Eisenhower Park a few years ago.  Eisenhower White, a Robert Trent Jones design and companion to the Blue Course, is that delicious Sicilian pie -- no frills, just function.  Some might savor every bite, every wide target area; others might feel the agita set in halfway through and wonder how they ever indulged so much.

The par-72 White Course is known for its bunkers and elevated greens.  Sand traps dot the landscape near the midway point of every hole, and one or two larger bunkers carve out comfortable homes in front of every raised surface.  If you like to tote your bag around, the flat fairways make the White a good walking course.  Beginners might relish the step up in difficulty without fear of water and other penal design aspects. 

On the other hand, if consistently getting the ball airborne or out of a trap is a problem for you, the White can be a long 6,932-yard slog.  Golfers who like variety and different types of challenges when out on the course will feel like Bill Murray's Phil Connors in "Groundhog Day" -- each tee another morning wake-up call from Sonny and Cher, each elevated green another unwelcome greeting from Ned Ryerson.

LAYOUT:
Eisenhower White is nine holes straight out and straight back, times two -- with emphasis on straight.  Unlike the Blue Course with its occasional twists and turns, there's not a dogleg to be found on the White.  But its style can still be appealing.  Players who like the idea of having their accuracy and distance control challenged will enjoy every approach shot over yawning bunkers.  So will players eager to show off an impressive assortment of high-arcing wedge shots.

The opening two holes introduce the White's personality without delay.  Both are 366 yards from the middle tees and present at least two traps inside a driver's landing zone.  The right side of #2 is sand-free, but the greenfront trap is set up to intercept approaches from that angle.  White's longest hole (from the middle tees) is the 518-yard third, an imposing par-5 with the course's shallowest green.  Only the most skilled players with power and ball control will be able to reach and hold this green in two.  The rest will need to map out a route to the green that avoids a solitary but sizable trap about 250 yards out.

Another characteristic quirk of the White Course (and Blue) is the twin par-3s.  When you turn back toward the clubhouse at the 178-yard fifth, you'll find two nearly identical holes sitting side by side.  The intent, apparently, is to allow faster groups to play through.  The only difference between the two is the style of the bunkers.  In 2006, dozens of the White's bunkers were reshaped and renovated.  On the par-3s, only one twin was given a facelift.  (Imagine the therapy.)  This contrast is most notable at the 177-yard 17th, where the left hole features a sprawling, stylized trap, while the other hole lives on with its small, circular bunkers.

Playing alongside the par-5 third, the 472-yard seventh (pictured left; click to enlarge) is nearly a carbon copy of its longer neighbor.  A fairway trap juts into the short grass and directs drives toward the open right side.  Here, instead of one giant bunker in front of the green, a diagonal trio of smaller traps sits ahead of the surface.  Down the center is the way to go on #9 and #10, where sand waits on both sides of each fairway and green.  The shortest par-4 on the course -- the 336-yard 11th -- favors a second shot from the right side.  Staying short of a small right-side trap still nets a wedge or 9-iron approach. 

You won't be alone if a wave of deja vu clouds your senses just ahead on the 12th tee -- you've already played the hole twice before at #3 and #7.  Beyond the customary sand in the left fairway, a very soft bend leads to a surface shielded by two traps. 

By the White's standards, #13 is as quirky as the Road Hole at St. Andrews.  Off to the left, a beefy bunker sports a grassy knob in its center, and pronounced slopes toward the green's center make it one of the course's most slippery surfaces.  Not to be outdone, the 16th green plummets hard from back to center.

Decent drives should fly by the three bunkers in the fairway of the 468-yard 18th.  Once beyond the sand, it's a straight, unobstructed run to the flag -- until one final greenfront trap makes its bid to put a little beach in your birdie attempt.

CONDITIONS:
Eisenhower White's 18 holes play in two directions -- tee off east away from the starter's booth, then back west to complete each nine.  Gauging the wind's impact on each hole is not rocket science.  If you have a breeze at your back to start the round, you're ahead of the game, as the course's two longest par-5s and par-4s (middle tees) point your driver in the same direction.  And just when you thought the White's layout couldn't be any more repetitive, note that the four par-3s all play back toward the western sky.  Counting their fraternal twin holes, that's eight par-3s in total, all similar in style, all nearly identical in orientation.

All of the greens, except for one (see below), are medium-sized and round in shape.  The back and sides of each elevated putting surface slope down to level ground with rough that typically prevents balls from trickling too far.  There are no traps behind any of the greens, and open space off the back is often plentiful, especially around the par-3s.

In 2006 the course underwent some cosmetic improvements, mainly the construction of new tees and the renovation of sand traps.  The most notable examples include the addition of fairway bunkers on #7, #11 and #16, and the reshaping and enlarging of greenside traps on #10 and #17.

The White is a high-traffic course.  Rounds often get frustratingly slow during peak times.

HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER:
#3 is the most unique hole on the course solely because of its wide, oval-shaped green.  The fact that this shallow green resides at the end of the course's longest par-5 makes #3 the White's most remarkable and demanding hole, as well.  A 300-yard blast still leaves 210-plus into the perched putting surface.  A tip of the cap to those who can reach this green and hold it in two.  The rest of us will be farther back in the fairway, trying to pitch over a mammoth bunker that covers nearly the full width of the green (pictured right; click to enlarge).

AREA(S) TO AVOID:
It would be too easy to recommend avoiding the nearly three dozen sand traps that muck up the fronts and sides of the White's 18 greens.  Instead, at the beginning of your round, pick your least favorite approach distance and consider that your zone to avoid.  Whatever that distance is and whichever two clubs it sits in between varies from player to player.  But what holds true for all players is that if you're uneasy from that distance normally, you'll be even more queasy when the green is elevated behind a big fat trap.

NEARBY COURSES:
Eisenhower Park - Blue/Red (on site)
Cantiague Park (3 miles)
Merrick Road Park (8 miles)
Bethpage -- Black/Blue/Green/Red/Yellow (8 miles)

CONTACT:
Merrick Ave. at Stewart Ave., East Meadow 11554
(516) 572-0327 / 0330 (wait time)
www.nassaucountyny.gov

SEE ALSO:
Bethpage retains title, edges Rock Hill and Eisenhower in annual "Best of LI" poll

Have thoughts and opinions on Eisenhower White?  Share them with other Golf On Long Island readers by posting in the comments section below.

Bethpage retains title, edges Rock Hill and Eisenhower in annual "Best of LI" poll

The "Best of LI" hot streak continues at Bethpage, where each of the five courses have a victory medal all their own thanks to readers of the Long Island Press.  For the fifth year in a row, Bethpage bagged top honors in the "Best Golf Course" category of the local newspaper's annual "Best of Long Island" survey.

Readers once again recognized the national golf destination that sits right in their own backyards, clicking it to the top of the charts for its diversity of play, excellent conditions, affordable rates and the presence of the vaunted Black Course -- home of The Barclays tournament later this year.  Fourteen other Island courses, including two private clubs, were unsuccessful in their bids to knock Bethpage from its comfy perch.

Eisenhower Park -- the equally historic 54-hole facility a few miles down the road -- took home the bronze for the second straight year.  Out east, Manorville's Rock Hill Golf Club made the leap in this year's survey and knocked off previous runner-up Harbor Links to grab the first spot behind Bethpage.  Rock Hill is one of Long Island's longest public courses (7,050 yards) and, with its ascending fairways, sticky rough and sky-high slope rating, also one of the area's most challenging.

The Red Course is the centerpiece of the three-course complex at East Meadow's Eisenhower Park.  The Devereux Emmet design is one of a dozen Long Island courses to receive four stars from Golf Digest in the magazine's Best Places To Play listing.

Pictured: The approach to the 18th green on Bethpage Black (click to enlarge)

Bethpage Black cracks top five in Golf Digest's Toughest list

A crushed drive soars through the air on Bethpage Black's par-4 fifth -- the straightest drive you've struck in weeks -- and settles into the first cut off the left side of the diagonal fairway.  You get to your ball and find you have no shot at the elevated green.  Unless there's an incredible power draw somewhere in your bag, the route to the green is blocked by treetops reaching out over the rough.  I won't make that mistake again, you think.

Next time out, you take aim at the right side of the fairway.  It's another blast, but just as you expect to see it land safely on the short green grass, it drops into the last square foot of sprawling cross bunker.  You needed 230 in the air to carry the sand; you only got 229.  This course is tough, you think, among other obscenities.

Golf Digest arrived at the same conclusion in its January 2012 issue.  The mag surveyed around 1,100 panelists and asked them to consider difficult shots like these at courses around the country.  When the results came in, the Black Course at Bethpage State Park ranked #5 in the Digest's list of America's 75 Toughest Golf Courses.  Only the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Pine Valley, Oakmont and Spyglass Hill are tougher.

The Black is one of 26 public courses to appear on the list.  Three of Long Island's private clubs cracked the top 75 -- Shinnecock Hills (#12), Sebonack (#63) and National Golf Links of America (#72).

The procession of accolades continues for the Black, which in 2011 topped Golfweek's Best Courses You Can Play list for New York State and Golfweek's Best Municipal Course, ranked #21 in Golfweek's Classic Courses list, and came in at #36 in Golf Digest's ranking of America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses.  To see the rest of America's 75 Toughest, head over to Golf Digest for a full list and slideshow.

And for more on Bethpage Black, including links to all its recent honors, check out the course flyover.

Closer Look: Bethpage Yellow #12

"Not many people realize that Tillie did design a driveable par-4 for Bethpage, but not for the Black Course.  He put it on the original Blue Course." -- Phil Young, golf historian and author

When Bethpage Black hosted the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2009, many golfers who hadn't already known of famed course architect A.W. Tillinghast -- "Tillie," for short -- found it difficult to escape the written or televised references to the man's work at Bethpage State Park.  In the 1930s, with the formerly private Lenox Hills Country Club now the new park's beautiful public Green Course, Tillinghast transformed Bethpage into a golfer's paradise by designing the Red Course, the Blue Course and, though debate exists about the extent of his participation, the Black Course.

Today, rounds go by on the Alfred Tull-designed Yellow Course with very few players understanding its history.  Several holes, most notably the 10th through 14th, are pieces of the original Blue Course, and one of them is "the only named golf hole at Bethpage," according to Phil Young, local golf historian and author of Golf for the People: Bethpage and the Black.

Yellow #12 is one of Tillinghast's "Reef" holes, a risk/reward design he typically used for long par-3s ("one-shot holes," as he wrote in a 1926 edition of The American Golfer).  The key feature is a diagonal ridge or hazard protecting the green from aggressive tee shots, with a safe haven short of the reef for more careful players.  Bethpage's version -- once the original Blue's fifth hole -- is possibly the only Reef par-4 Tillinghast ever created.

ABOVE RIGHT: A wide view of the hole.  The bunker left and mounding right pinch the fairway into a narrow opening around 190-200 yards from the tee.  LEFT: Pull or hook a drive and you might find the left-side bunker, the only hazard remaining on Tillie's Reef.  Use the spruce in the distance as a guide to the green.  BELOW RIGHT: The right side of the opening is bordered by mounds. 

What exists today near the southern edge of the park is merely a stripped-down edition of a design eroded by time and circumstances.  It is a short 312-yard par-4, and to many a safe haven all its own before the supremely difficult par-4 13th just ahead.  There is a bunker left and a bailout area right that reaches around a line of mounded rough like a raised arm.  But what's a bailout area without any danger?

Tillinghast designed the Reef with his family's maritime history in mind, according to Young.  "Picture a reef," Young says, "as a treacherous, rocky formation protecting the approach to a harbor, and typically there's only one safe way to get through it.  This is what Tillinghast envisioned when he created the hole."  The original design at Bethpage shows large bunkers both left and right of the main fairway, and a sharp downslope on the far side of the reef's left.  Rough-covered mounds hindered shots to the right.  There was even an irrigation pond short of the bunker on the left that "adds a mental hazard to the drive," as written in a 1935 edition of the Farmingdale Post.  "The long player must carry mounds 190 yards from the tee."

All of these features combined to protect a narrow opening in the central fairway.  Unlike Tillinghast's other reefs, this one did not completely bisect the hole.  Players could get through the opening without going over the reef, but there were sandy, sloped, blind, buried and even wet prices to pay for inaccuracy.

This chapter in the hole's history, however, is very brief.  Some of the original features were likely lost during World War II, Young says, when the Black and Blue courses were completely shut down and left to nature.  "Both had to be rebuilt in order to open for play in the fall of 1945," Young says.  A 1953 aerial shows no evidence of an irrigation pond.  Later in the '50s, work began on a new fifth course -- the Yellow -- which would incorporate some holes from Tillinghast's Blue layout.  Reef features were likely smoothed down and filled in during this time as Blue #5 took on a new, tamer identity as Yellow #12.

ABOVE LEFT: The view from the bailout area is obscured by mounds, and a short-side trap is completely out of sight.  RIGHT: You'll be fighting this trap with a blindfold on if you go for the green from the bailout area.  BELOW LEFT: Looking back at what was once a more treacherous Tillinghast Reef complex.

Nearly all players today stroll up to the 12th tee with a driver or fairway wood in hand, never stopping to consider any safer options.  The teeing area and green site have remained the same, and like in the original design, the fairway opening is still 190 to 200 yards away, a distance that many can now cover even with a mishit.  Unless a shot plops into the left bunker, the penalty for inaccuracy is not often severe.  Barring some overpowering sand phobia, there's no reason not to direct tee shots straight out toward the flag.  The reward for a well-executed shot is a 100-yard approach, or less, to a wide-open green.

If you miss right, your ball will probably settle into a comfortable spot in the bailout fairway, which now exists as a carpeted collection area for right-handed slices.  That's not to imply, of course, that the hole is a total pushover, or that it will offer up similar cushy benefits on the second shot.  From here, it is a mostly blind approach with a beefy short-side bunker creating a terrible angle to the pin.  In other words, it's exactly the type of shot Tillinghast wanted the safer player to encounter in his par-4 Reef design. 

Will the original features and daring line of play ever be restored on Yellow #12?  Though it would please plenty of golf course historians and architects, a restoration of the true risk/reward features of the hole will probably not take place in the near future. 

In the meantime, smart players will cash in on the high-reward/low-risk design that exists today.  The brutal 13th just ahead is not nearly as generous.

Phil Young is an A.W. Tillinghast historian and the author of several local golf books, including "Golf for the People: Bethpage and the Black" and "Golf's Finest Hour: The Open at Bethpage Black."  Read more about Young and his work at Golden Age Research.  You can also hear Phil's radio interviews with Anthony Scorcia at the Scorcia On Par website.  Scorcia On Par is a weekly radio show broadcast throughout the playing season on WGBB 1240 AM.  Also be sure to visit and support the Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University, where archives of Long Island's local and regional newspapers are available for research.

For more on the Yellow Course, check out the course flyover.

Glen Cove Golf Club to change permit rates in 2012

Membership permit rates at the Glen Cove Golf Club will change in 2012 and include a slight increase to city residents, a Newsday report said last week.

Non-resident permit rates will decrease by close to half as the City of Glen Cove tries to lure more golfers to its municipal par-67 and away from other Nassau County courses.

The seven-member City Council voted unanimously [on December 27] to raise annual resident permit fees next year from $75 to $95, and lower non-resident fees from $875 to $495.  After July 4, the non-resident permit rate will be further reduced to $395.

"The way to increase revenue for the course is not to increase cost per round for a golfer, it's to increase the number of golfers," Mayor Ralph Suozzi said. -- Emily Ngo, Newsday, 12/29/2011

Golfers with a membership permit benefit from lower rates than the general public.  A member round cost $24 on weekdays and $30 on weekends in 2011, compared to $40 and $50 for guests.  Since 2002, the number of permits purchased has decreased from 1,700 to 1,000, according to Newsday.  Senior, junior and regular greens fees will not change under the new rate schedule.

For more on Glen Cove, check out the course flyover.

Eisenhower Red closed for the season

The Red Course at Eisenhower Park is closed for the season.  The Devereux Emmet-designed beauty in East Meadow will likely reopen sometime in early April.

Until then, check out the course flyover or take a look at Eisenhower Red's ghost greens.

Long Island Dream Club: Glen Cove GC #2

Golfing Magazine recently announced its 2011 Long Island Dream Golf Club, this season's collection of the Island's finest 18 holes and top off-course facilities.  Public golf holes make up half of this year's 6,954-yard layout, which begins and ends with lake-jumping shots at the public Sandpiper Course at Spring Lake Golf Club and the historic private club at Inwood.

Every Monday through the winter, Golf On Long Island will feature one public hole from the Dream Golf Club along with commentary from Golfing Magazine editors.  Photographs and additional commentary are provided by Golf On Long Island where available.  To view the 2011 Dream Club's 18-hole lineup, re-visit the original post here. 

Also be sure to review Golfing Magazine's 2008 Dream Club, 2009 Dream Club and 2010 Dream Club by clicking on the links.

GOLFING MAGAZINE'S 2011 DREAM GOLF CLUB

GLEN COVE GOLF CLUB -- HOLE #2
407 / 380 / 340 yards
Designed by William Mitchell

"A lovely and deceiving par-4, this 2nd hole features a back tee that requires a drive over water to a straight and fairly generous fairway to help you land it in the short grass.  The green is sloped slightly from back to front, so staying under the hole for an uphill putt is preferred.  Possibly the greatest challenge that could turn a par into a bogey is the mesmerizing view of the Long Island Sound in the distance beyond the green.  A picture postcard of a par-4 that can be enjoyed from start to finish."

Golf On Long Island covered this Sound-side hole back in June 2009:

"#2 is the pond hole -- it provides a nice view of the interior Sound waters from the fairway and of the beach from behind the green.  A diagonal tee shot is necessary to clear a corner of the pond and reach the fairway on the right.  From there, the green is a middle iron away.  Mounding and a thin ribbon of sand on the right can penalize anyone who goes too far to avoid the water bordering the fairway's left side."

To read more about Glen Cove, check out the course flyover.

Golfing Magazine's 2011 Dream Golf Club

Golfing Magazine published its annual Long Island Dream Golf Club earlier this Fall, and after only six public holes cracked the layout in 2010, this year's all-star 18 is split down the middle with nine public and nine private golf holes from across the Island.  Every season, Golfing Mag editors highlight some of the best holes in Nassau and Suffolk, plus the finest clubhouse, restaurant, pro shop and practice facility.  The 2011 Dream Club is a 6,954-yard par-72 with public holes along both shores (Glen Cove on the north, Bergen Point down south), and others featuring water carries over namesake hazards (Spring Lake) and stadium greens surrounded by tall grass (at, uh, Tallgrass). 

Beginning next week and continuing through the winter, Golf On Long Island will feature each of the Dream Club's nine public holes along with Golfing Magazine's commentary.  Long Island's top regional golf magazine is published five times a year and can be found at most Long Island courses and golf retail outlets, and is also available by subscription.  Check out the magazine's Free Golf Program, which includes a certificate for free green fees at area courses beginning in April and a one-year magazine subscription.

You can also review the 2008 Dream Golf Club, 2009 Dream Golf Club and 2010 Dream Golf Club for more information on some of the Island's other fantastic public golf holes.

GOLFING MAGAZINE'S 2011 DREAM GOLF CLUB
#1:  Spring Lake (Sandpiper) -- par-5, 464 yards
#2:  Glen Cove GC -- par-4, 407 yards
#3:  Nassau CC -- par-3, 159 yards
#4:  Cedarbrook Club -- par-4, 470 yards
#5:  Pine Hills CC -- par-4, 353 yards
#6:  Colonial Springs CC -- par-4, 431 yards
#7:  Bergen Point -- par-4, 410 yards
#8:  Crab Meadow -- par-5, 481 yards
#9:  Sunken Meadow State Park (Blue) -- par-4, 345 yards

#10:  North Hills CC -- par-4, 445 yards
#11:  Tallgrass -- par-4, 384 yards
#12:  Brookville CC -- par-4, 437 yards
#13:  Huntington CC -- par-4, 419 yards
#14:  Bellport CC -- par-3, 188 yards
#15:  Calverton Links -- par-5, 562 yards
#16:  Long Island National -- par-4, 466 yards
#17:  North Shore CC -- par-3, 125 yards
#18:  Inwood CC -- par-4, 408 yards

Blue Tees:  6,954 yards
White Tees:  6,444 yards
Red Tees: 5,330 yards

Bethpage Red to close for the season this Sunday, December 4

The Red Course at Bethpage State Park will close for the 2011 season this Sunday, December 4.  Forecasts call for sunny and cool conditions for the Red's final three days, so take advantage while you can.  The course won't be open again until April.

Bethpage golfers can still challenge the Yellow and Blue courses during the winter months.  The Green Course will open sporadically as needed through the offseason.  Bethpage Black closed in mid-November and typically reopens in mid-April.

Long Island Press wants your vote for "Best Golf Course" in annual poll

Thirteen public golf courses in Nassau and Suffolk are in the running for the title of "Best Golf Course" of 2012 in the annual Long Island Press "Best of LI" poll, and 12 of them are looking to wrestle that title away from Bethpage State Park.  The 90-hole centerpiece of Long Island golf will win the category for the fifth straight year unless one of the dozen public courses (or two private clubs) in the competition pulls off a major upset when the Press poll closes on December 15.

Last year's runners-up Eisenhower Park and Montauk Downs are again in the field of 15, along with these public facilities:

• Crab Meadow
• Harbor Links
• Mill Pond
• Rock Hill
• Smithtown Landing
• Stonebridge Golf Links
• Tallgrass
• Timber Point
• Town of Oyster Bay GC
• West Sayville

Vote for the "Best Golf Course" of 2012 until December 15 at www.LongIslandPress.com, and don't forget to choose your favorite driving range and golf shop while you're there.  Winners will be announced in January.