The Nassau County municipal courses at Bay Park in East Rockaway and Christopher Morley Park in Roslyn have closed for the season. Sister nine-hole courses at North Woodmere and Cantiague parks will remain open through the winter.
Bay Park and Morley will likely reopen in late March. Check back as the spring season approaches for information on course reopenings.
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
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:
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.
Find a babysitter this Thursday afternoon -- there's a golf tournament to be won.
Cantiague Park will host a twilight golf tournament for mixed couples on Thursday, August 25, a nine-hole event that is open to all Nassau County residents. Couples will be paired up with other mixed duos to compete as four-person scramble teams, and individuals who wish to participate will be assigned a partner by the tournament committee. All players must have a valid county Leisure Pass.
The tourney will begin with a 4 p.m. shotgun start. A barbecue and awards ceremony will follow. Entry fee is $50 per person to walk or $60 to ride (carts are limited and will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis).
To register, download the tournament brochure from the Nassau County website and submit the completed entry form with Leisure Pass and proof of residency. For more information, call (516) 571-7061.
Cantiague Park is one of Nassau County's four beginner-friendly, nine-hole municipal courses. The 1,878-yard par-30 in Hicksville features three short par-4s and a half-dozen mid-length to long par-3s laid out over flat terrain. A driving range is located next to the course. For more on Cantiague, check out the course flyover.
Though the $39 Early Bird Special has already come and gone, Long Islanders can still register for Golfing Magazine's annual Free Golf Program and cash in on free green fees at 10 courses from Port Washington to Greenport. Register today or anytime this season and receive, for just $49, a certificate valid for one "free" round at each of this year's participating courses -- Brentwood Country Club, Dix Hills Park, Glen Cove, Great Rock, Gull Haven, Harbor Links, Heatherwood, Holbrook Country Club, Island's End and Pine Hills.
Last season's Free Golf Program included seven courses. Pine Hills, Heatherwood and Glen Cove signed on as new additions for 2011. As a member of the Free Golf Program, all you pay for on the day of play is a cart fee (and reservation fee where applicable). Just be sure to follow all terms and conditions, bring your certificate to the course and have it handy at check-in. A few minutes later you'll be playing heavily discounted golf with plenty of dough left over for a lengthy post-round session at the bar. The certificate will only be honored Monday to Thursday after 11 a.m. and Sunday after 1 p.m., though availability varies by course. Tee times must be made in advance.
In addition, you will receive a one-year subscription to Golfing Magazine (five issues) as part of the program. And the certificate is also valid for discount golf at dozens of courses in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and upstate New York.
Use the certificate twice and it pays for itself. Discount golf on Long Island is just a short phone call or a few mouse clicks away. Subscribe to the program by calling Golfing Magazine at (516) 822-5446 or visit online at www.GolfingMagLI.com.
Sports fans love a good list, ranking, survey, poll -- you name it. The more room for debate, the better. And we here at Golf On Long Island are no different. So what better time of year than Masters Week -- the unofficial universal start of the new golf season -- to come up with our "Nassau 18," a fantasy course comprised of some of the best public holes in the county.
Long Island golfers are no strangers to local lists. Golfing Magazine puts out its "Dream Golf Club" every year, and the Long Island Press includes a "Best Golf Course" category in its annual "Best of LI" survey. Originally published in 2007, Newsday's "Dream 18" was a handy reference guide for great public golf holes until it got lost in the shuffle of the newspaper's website redesign.
With the "Nassau 18," we've highlighted some of the county's most challenging, scenic, historic, uphill, downhill, straight and doglegged holes and attempted to show that there's more to public golf in Nassau than Bethpage and Eisenhower. In order to accomplish that, we picked the best holes, by hole number, according to the following guidelines:
So, sure, some of the holes below might not be the absolute "best" in the county, per se (let's face it, the Black Course alone would make up two-thirds of the 18, hands down), but in terms of creating a fantasy golf course out of thin air with a mix of styles and qualities, the 18 excellent holes listed below are certainly worth the praise.
Golf On Long Island's "Nassau 18" begins at Bethpage...
1) BETHPAGE RED -- par-4, 471/459/438 yards
On the A-list of opening holes not just locally but nationally as well, #1 at Bethpage Red is 471 yards of shattered optimism. All that anticipation to start the round, and one poor drive later you're in the rough staring at a green 300 yards away atop what looks like a small mountain. And that's if you can even see the green at all. The groups of waiting foursomes have a clear view, though, and they don't like what they see. They just watched you closely from #1's stadium teebox and are now muttering to themselves as you slowly make your way up the fairway. There's one way to keep them quiet, however -- hammer a drive into the fairway and follow with a long iron or hybrid to the small, elevated surface. It's a tall order for the first two shots of the day, but pull it off and you're on your way with a swagger in your step.
Honorable Mention: Merrick Road Park (p5)
2) MERRICK ROAD PARK -- par-3, 147/122 yards
Two similar Long Island par-3s reside on municipally owned courses. Each hole directs golfers to the edge of Atlantic bay waters. Only steps from the bay, flags piercing elevated, back-to-front greens whip in strong South Shore gusts. Miss to the sides and balls will tumble down into sand, rough or uneven lies.
One of these holes is Timber Point's famous "Gibraltar," a par-3 celebrated among Long Island's most historic, iconic golf holes. The other is at Merrick Park, free of fanfare. Of course, the 60-yard difference and Timber Point's past life as a storied private club is why only Gibraltar is featured in works like William Quirin's "America's Linksland," but its shorter, rougher-around-the-edges neighbor one county over deserves some respect, if only for the scenery. The Jones Beach tower and amphitheater are visible in the distance.
Honorable Mention: Oyster Bay (p5)
3) EISENHOWER RED -- par-5, 515/490/356 yards
You'll need to be accurate on this dogleg-right par-5, because there's not much room to play with inside the hole's thickly tree-lined perimeter. A powerful drive will net an outside chance of reaching the green in two, but the risk is a punch-out from under the trees and most likely a third-shot lay-up to boot. Club down off the tee if you're not comfortable with the driver, but beware of the bunker trio waiting patiently in the hybrid/wood landing area.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Green (p3)
4) BETHPAGE BLACK -- par-5, 517/461/438 yards
Somewhere between #3 green and #4 tee, first-timers at Bethpage Black begin to understand that they are walking their carts around a world-class course. The trademark glacier bunker in the distance serves as a welcome and a warning: "Welcome to Bethpage Black. You better be on your game."
A drive short of the massive trap leaves a limited-view, uphill second shot that should be played as far into the upper fairway as possible. Easier said than done. Deep bunkers (first photo above) defend against any careless attempts to get home in two as well as lay-up attempts directed too close to the green. Also dissuading long shots at the green is a front-to-back surface that is nearly impossible to hold with a long iron or wood.
Honorable Mention: Oyster Bay (p4)
5) HARBOR LINKS -- par-4, 333/305/280 yards
The first of three double-fairway holes at Harbor Links, this short par-4 finds a near-perfect balance of risk and reward. A lower, more approachable fairway is open on the right, but the second shot is totally blind and must fly over a slope of merciless rough. Getting caught in there is practically a penalty stroke. The upper fairway ensures a clear shot at the green, but landing there safely in the first place requires a precise tee shot to an ever-shrinking sliver of short grass that's no more than 15 yards wide in the ideal landing area. (Right: The view from the lower fairway.)
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Black (p4)
6) BETHPAGE BLUE -- par-4, 462/446/437 yards
Envision trying to make a hard left turn going 40 mph -- in a Mister Softee truck -- and you'll begin to understand the difficulty of this Bethpage behemoth. Not your everyday dogleg-left par-4, this version starts from an elevated tee, then climbs back uphill from fairway to green. Ideally, a mighty draw finds the sweet part of the fairway with minimal risk, but since many players don't have that shot handy, a different route might be necessary. You can try to cut the corner blindly over trees, but miss and you're lost. Go straight out to the turn, just keep in mind the elevation brings a far-side bunker within easy reach. Plus, it's not too hard to overshoot the turn and scoot down to the fourth fairway. Even with the perfect drive, there's still close to 200 uphill yards to go on one of the best holes in the entire Bethpage complex.
Honorable Mention: Harbor Links (p5)
7) GLEN COVE -- par-4, 410/304/292 yards
The toughest hole at Glen Cove's municipal course is a left dogleg with a unique teeing area. The back tee is recessed behind a tight corridor framed by trees, a creek and some shrubbery, which leaves only a small part of the fairway visible in the distance. A trio of bunkers waits to gobble up long, straight drives outside the turn, but play the tee shot short of these traps or draw the ball to the left-center of the fairway and all that's left is a mid- to short iron approach to a flat green.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Black (p5)
8) BETHPAGE BLACK -- par-3, 210/191/152 yards
The hills of Bethpage are hard to capture in photographs and even harder to envision in mind if you've spent any prolonged stretch of time in central Nassau. Stepping up to #8 on the Black Course, one wonders if they're really just a mile from flat, soulless Route 110. The hole plummets from stacked teeboxes. Black's lone water hazard fronts the green, while a tree overhangs on the right and bunkers sit left and long. Wind and the descent force you to think hard about club selection.
Honorable Mention: Oyster Bay (p3)
9) BETHPAGE RED -- par-4, 466/449/433 yards
It's tempting to snip some yardage off this lengthy par-4 by cutting the corner of the soft dogleg, but a cluster of bunkers in the rough between #8 and #9 calls for a carry of up to 250 yards. Plus, two trees stand over the traps like bodyguards. Mess with them if you wish, but it's usually best to steer clear and head over to the right side of the fairway for a slightly longer approach. Unless you're coming in from the right side, you'll have to take this green from the air, as a trap short of the surface guards the left half.
OUT: Par 36 - 3,531/3,227/2,948 yards
10) BETHPAGE GREEN -- par-4, 343/328/290 yards
After some cruelly long par-4s, how about opening the back nine with a shortie. The toughest part of this hole might be the hike to the elevated teebox. A well-struck iron or hybrid down the hill to a tree-lined fairway will set up a short-iron approach. If you play with wild-eyed abandon, or you're a pro that can thread powerful drives into a tiny window, you can rip driver and see what happens. Two bunkers clogging the neck of the green convince you not to bother.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Yellow (p5)
11) EISENHOWER BLUE -- par-5, 460/450/367 yards
You can score nicely on this short par-5 if you cut the unprotected corner on the left and safely reach the farther half of the fairway. Follow up by drilling an approach and you could be putting for eagle. All that stands in the way is a lone front bunker styled after the traps typically found next door on the White Course. If you don't get off the tee well enough to challenge the green in two, a lay-up actually comes with an element of danger. Inside 100 yards, left and center fairway bunkers combine with the greenside trap to form a loose triangular defense of the preferred lay-up area.
12) BETHPAGE YELLOW -- par-4, 313/300/289 yards
Once part of Bethpage's original Blue Course, the 12th on today's Yellow is a remnant of A.W. Tillinghast's signature "Reef" hole, a design that asks golfers to weigh the risks and rewards of challenging a diagonal hazard near the green. More than 75 years after the hole's debut, no such hazard exists, so what's left is a driveable par-4 that provides some fun ahead of Yellow's formidable par-4 13th. Give it a go from the tee -- you can send a runner up the far end of the fairway with little to worry about except a far-left bunker and mounding on the right. On the other side of the mounds, the hole's designed bailout area lives on as a small arm of fairway.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Black (p4); Bethpage Blue (p5)
13) EISENHOWER RED -- par-3, 211/193/176 yards
Par is a good score on this lengthy par-3, especially if the pin is hidden on the right side behind a meaty trap. Add a few yards as the green is slightly elevated. If you opt to play safely to the left side or just short of the green, it's still a long two-putt or up-and-down for par. Even if the hole is cut in the center or left, it still takes a big-time long iron or hybrid with bunkers on both sides for offline shots.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Red (p4); Bethpage Yellow (p4)
14) LIDO -- par-4, 402/376/351 yards
The threat of water is present all over Lido's closing holes, whether it's Reynolds Channel along the preceding 13th or interior hazards on 14 through 17. Water ripples on both sides of #14's narrow fairway -- a large hazard flanks the entire right side while a smaller pond splashes far and left. The best tee shots begin down the left side and fade back into the fairway. You can start balls out to the right, but if they don't draw back, they're sunk. The green is offset to the left and protected by a deep trap. Left of the green, the pond remains in play to catch pulls and hoppers through the side rough.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Yellow (p3)
15) BETHPAGE BLACK -- par-4, 478/430/417 yards
Another of the Black's iconic par-4s, this brute seems surprisingly tame from the tee. The fairway is wide open, at first glance, compared to the rest of the Black. But it's a heck of a 50-foot climb to the green, and a drive into the rough makes the sand- and rough-riddled slope impassable with the second shot. Putts rocketed around this severely sloped green during the U.S. Open in 2009, and even though some of the contouring has been leveled, there's still plenty of work to be done once you've made it to the top.
Honorable Mention: Eisenhower Red (p4)
16) LIDO -- par-5, 487/460/430 yards
Bring a map, compass, GPS, caddy; whatever it takes to navigate around Lido's double-island fairway. There are several methods of attack on the 16th, but none of them offer clear views of their targets, and only the most precisely executed plans will result in a spot on the green in two or even three strokes. Tee shots are directed to an island landing area that offers a conservative path to the green and a daring one. Shortcuts follow the right side. Here, the water carries on both the drive and approach are much longer, the margin of error much slimmer and the angles much less favorable. There's much more dry land to work with on the left, but short drives will force you to play the rest of the hole on the defensive. Oh, and don't forget the whipping wind!
Honorable Mention: Oyster Bay (p4)
17) HARBOR LINKS -- par-3, 201/184/157 yards
Nassau boasts some memorable one-shotters at #17, including this pseudo-island, self-titled "Oasis" that must be challenged blindly with a long iron. The good news is that you can club down off the tee and play short of the green with a preferred iron, then chip or pitch on from there. The bad news is that any misses left, right or long are gone for a swim. Making matters worse, you won't know the fate of borderline shots until you proceed to the green, since the surface is out of sight from the tee.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Black (p3); Lido (p3)
18) BETHPAGE GREEN -- par-4, 398/386/368 yards
Wrap up this round of dreams the same way it started -- with an uphill approach to a small green. This time the target is perched high on the right side. After an open tee shot, take aim at a green that is wedged between an even higher sidehill on the right and a deeply sunken sand trap on the left. If you're in the fairway with a nice tee shot, it's a middle iron into the green and a favorable par opportunity to end the round. Just don't trickle down into the trap -- it's a long way back up to the green.
Honorable Mention: Bethpage Red (p4)
IN: Par 36 - 3,293/3,107/2,845 yards
TOTAL: Par 72 - 6,824/6,334/5,793 yards
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