Golf on Long Island

Observations: Middle Island Country Club

Until the first substantial snowfall of the offseason, fairways and greens around Long Island typically remain in very good condition even as the players driving over and stomping on top of them add layers of apparel to block the chill.  Plenty of layers were shed on Friday at the Middle Island Country Club during a post-Thanksgiving round that began with a frost delay then ended under a warm, spring-like November sun.  Fairways were smooth, soft and lush at the 27-hole course, where conditions continue to improve overall thanks to an ongoing rehabilitation under new ownership over the past four years.

"This place had fallen into pretty bad shape," an MICC veteran of more than 20 years said yesterday while waiting to tee off on the Spruce nine.  "But these new owners have turned it around."

The course renovation has included extensive tree removal, addition of water hazards on Spruce, rebuilding of tee boxes and other enhancements.  One minor addition is a large bunker shared by Spruce #2 and #5.  In previous seasons, this area between the two holes was cluttered with trees.  A sandy pit was left over briefly once the trees were cleared.  Now a trap nearly 50 yards long occupies the open space.  (The bunker appeared to be under repair during our recent round, however.)

Over on the Dogwood and Oak nines, finding our balls was a breeze since the fairways and most of the rough were completely cleared of leaves, an impressive feat considering the course's volume of trees.  "I'm impressed," the MICC vet said of the decluttered playing area. 

Also noted since our previous visit to Middle Island:  There are no more GPS units in the motor carts.

Observations: Pine Hills Country Club

Picture a 498-yard dogleg par-5 that turns hard to the left at almost a 90-degree angle only 200 yards from the tee.  Now imagine a small pond jutting into the fairway's left flank just before the turn.  Then add three tall trees swaying in the breeze directly over the hazard.

Until this year, that was what golfers saw when they looked out from the 15th tee at the Pine Hills Country Club in Manorville.  Players had three options off the tee: clear the hazard and its guardian trees with a high-trajectory drive anywhere from 200 to 250 yards (depending on tee location) to the far fairway, lay up with a sub-200-yard tee shot on a par-5, or try to squeeze around the right side of the hazard without getting lost in the woods.  For confident drivers, there was little debate.  Others, though, found themselves on the defensive from the very start.

Today, more players have the advantage on #15 now that Pine Hills has filled in half of the pond and removed one of the three trees.  The change "makes it easier for players to lay up," says a Pine Hills staffer.

The remaining portion of the hazard and its two tall trees still serve as a deterrent but moreso for those looking to cut the corner of the dogleg.  Play straight out or along the outside of the turn and the hazard will not come into play.

[Pictured: As of September 2011, the filled-in portion of the hazard is in the seeding process, while the trees and hazard guard against shortcuts to the far fairway.]

Observations: Pine Ridge Golf Club

One of the Pine Ridge Golf Club's most formidable holes went under the knife for a little cosmetic surgery last season.  Pine Ridge's 11th -- the beginning of an arduous four-hole, 2,060-yard stretch of the back nine -- now sports less sand than it did in the past.  But don't be fooled into thinking it plays any easier.

A river of sand that previously paralleled the final 100 yards of the hole is now a five-trap chain separated by standard rough.  Players that miss to the right of the fairway now have a chance of finding their ball on grass instead of being stranded on the beach with a difficult, diagonal recovery shot. 

The same goes for misses around the green.  Where players once had almost no margin of error to the right of the pin, the traps are now recessed a bit farther away from the surface and gaps between them provide some grassy relief.

Of course, there's a bit of a catch.  The formerly uninterrupted trap wasn't all bad -- it doubled as the last sandy line of defense before the pond on the hole's right side.  Now, unlucky players might have to watch helplessly as errant shots skitter through the new rough and into the drink.

The Coram course continues to impress with its rustic layout and pristine conditions.  For more on Pine Ridge, check out the course flyover.

Observations: Great Rock Golf Club's new 12th green

The namesake rock at the Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River is hard to miss as it waits atop the summit of the course's steadily climbing 10th hole.  A recent discovery turned up another boulder that had taken up a much more secluded position on the course since Great Rock debuted back in 2001 -- buried underneath the old 12th green.  Considering its effect on putts during its ten seasons in hiding, this particular rock, in the eyes of most players, was far from great.

Great Rock's current staff unearthed the boulder when it began its regrading of the par-3 12th green this offseason.  Rather than remove the rock, previous owners built the green on top of it and thus created a putting surface that was so severely sloped that even the shortest putts built up enough velocity to careen off the side or roll back down to a player's feet. 

General manager Brian Curtin said the changes were made to create more playable hole locations.  Superintendent Dan Wolf, who worked with Curtin previously at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, completed the project in ten days.

"Dan did an amazing job," Curtin said.  "Subtle to the eye but totally different when played."

 

Golf On Long Island visited Great Rock last week to test out the new green for the first time.  Wolf raised the front and left edges of the surface to counteract the slide off the dramatic right-to-left slope.  Tee shots can now hold the green in a sort of collection area in the left-center portion of the surface.  But that's not to say the 12th has gotten any easier.  It remains one of Great Rock's most challenging putting tests.  Putts along the new seam have plenty of movement and require a careful read.  And the surface stays true to Great Rock's reputation as the place to be for speedy greens.  Balls still go for a ride when tapped from above the hole.  It's just that now the player has some control.

Curtin said feedback on the new green has been overwhelmingly positive since it opened.  "Dan is a great super and it will really show this season," he said.

To read more on Great Rock, check out the updated course flyover and previous observations.

Observations: Tallgrass Golf Course

When we visited the Tallgrass Golf Course last July (still known as Tallgrass Country Club at the time), a scorching heat wave helped the course play firmer and faster than Long Island public golfers are accustomed to.  Fast forward to a cool, windy late-March morning and Tallgrass is still allowing plenty of bounce and roll across the layout. 

The firm conditions are fun to play and fit the course's Scottish-links model.  When a three-club wind speeds through the wide-open, tree-free property as it did during this recent visit, there is a British Open-type feel to a round in Shoreham.  You can be creative with shots and mount a ground attack when the opportunities present themselves.  At other times, you'll have to put the ball in the air and let the elements take control.

Ground game isn't an option on the par-5 opener, whose green is separated from the fairway by a stretch of thick rough, a perilously deep bunker and a false front.  Most players will have to lay up around 75 to 100 yards out and do whatever it takes to not miss short.  Note all of these elements (plus the three-club headwind) in the video below.

 

While the narrow, hard-to-hit green on #2 is exposed to any sort of approach, a poor uphill lie on the grassy face of a fairway bunker left me with few options and put the fate of the next shot in the hands of the fierce tailwind.  (Not surprisingly, it blew my ball over the green and into the backside trap.)

Thankfully we visited early enough in the season to avoid the namesake fescue still hibernating around the fairways and greens.  But not for much longer.

Tallgrass was selected by Golfweek as one of the "Best Courses You Can Play" in 2010 and 2011.  For more information, check out the course flyover and previous observations.

Observations: Swan Lake Golf Club

Golf On Long Island took part in last week's Swan Lake Scramble under a gorgeous blue sky and unseasonably warm November breezes.  The course, serene and secluded in the Manorville pines, remains in fantastic shape two months into the autumn season.

Swan Lake's huge greens played a bit firmer and faster than usual and have responded well to a recent aeration.  It appears that the maintenance staff may be in the process of filling in parts of the two greenside traps on the 337-yard fourth hole.  Or perhaps the bunkers are just under repair.

One of the pleasures of autumn golf is the contrast of rich natural colors on and around the course.  On the par-5 11th, the shallow midday sun lit up the trees along the western border of the course and cast a fiery red-orange glow over the lush green fairway.  It turned out to be a bad day to forget the camera at home.

The outing ran smoothly with 11 groups in the clubhouse by 4 p.m. for a buffet dinner and open bar.  The best gross score was reportedly a 12-under-par 60.  Golf On Long Island's foursome got stuck on an overly long string of pars and turned in a six-under 66.

Pictured above, the 13th green in September 2009.  For more on Swan Lake, check out the course flyover.

Observations: Harbor Links Golf Course

Written by Rob Dimino

Eighteen holes for $20 or less is always a bargain.  Eighteen holes on the Championship Course at Harbor Links in Port Washington for $20 -- made possible by Golfing Magazine's "Free Golf" certificate -- is an outright steal.  Even when the back nine is closed and the course is in the middle of aerating its greens, like it was this Tuesday, November 16.

Thanks to dark clouds that hovered over the north shore and putting greens so sandy that they could be mistaken for bunkers from 150 yards out, the crowds stayed away from the gorgeous Hempstead Harbor-side course, allowing management to basically hand over the keys to the front nine.  Despite the sand and plug holes on the greens, putts rolled as though aeration began 24 days, not 24 hours, ago.  Of course, they were much slower than normal.

The rest of the Championship Course was in typically great shape.  Not only is it one of the most difficult challenges on Long Island's public-course roster, it's also one of the nicest to look at.  This includes the double-fairway, par-5 sixth, a member of Golfing Magazine's 2009 Dream Golf Club.  Round one with this behemoth ended with a par.  Later, on the second loop around the front nine, driver and a booming hybrid got me on the green in two, and I managed to fell the beast with a ten-footer for eagle.

Like a $20 round, that's hard to beat.

Following up on our previous observations from Harbor Links, carts now include GPS monitors -- though they weren't in use on Tuesday.

Pictured right, the par-5 sixth in June 2009.  For more on Harbor Links, check out the course flyover.

Observations: Dix Hills Park Golf Course

Dix Hills Park is currently in the second year of a scheduled three-year renovation that will improve the conditions of tee boxes, greens and bunkers on the golf course's nine holes.  As of October 2010, a round at Dix Hills Park begins with an approach to a temporary pin at the end of the fairway.  The #1 green is closed.

Also under repair are the tee boxes at #6 and #7, both short par-3s victimized daily by aggressively hacked divots.  Temporary mats stand in while the regular tees are reseeded and resurfaced.  Large bunkers on these two holes have also been downsized during the renovation since our last visit to Dix Hills.

Dix Hills Park is a par-31 owned by the Town of Huntington.  It is also one of the participating courses in Golfing Magazine's Free Golf Program.  For more on the layout, check out the course flyover.

Observations: Brentwood Country Club

The hot, steamy, rain-free days of the Summer of 2010 delivered a beating to lawns and gardens across Long Island and the small, mostly flat greens of the Brentwood Country Club.  Bare brown patches dotted a handful of putting surfaces around the short par-72 on our last visit.

Luckily, if you're teeing it up at Brentwood, you're probably not there for manicured conditions or a smooth roll on the greens -- instead, you're there for the open driving holes and a string of pint-sized par-4s.  The eighth hole is the first of six consecutive par-4s that, with the exception of the 386-yard 12th, all play less than 360 yards from the tips and 310 from the middle.

Brentwood's fairways seemed to have survived the hot temps and are in nice shape entering the Fall.  Off to their sides, the thin rough gives way to hard, dried dirt in some spots.  Considering Brentwood's bunkers have no rakes, most traps were surprisingly smooth.

Brentwood and its sister course at Holbrook are currently offering Early Twilight and Senior Specials.  For more on Brentwood, check out the course flyover.

Observations: Bethpage - Red Course

Rob visited the Red Course at Bethpage State Park earlier this summer.  Here he discusses some of the Red's more notable holes and features.

Written by Rob Dimino

The fairway of the Red’s famous first hole was closed when we played, turning a normally daunting par-4 into a just-as-daunting uphill par-3.  Imagine hitting an absolutely perfect drive to that spot – about 200 yards out – from the regular tee, then visualize how hard that hole typically plays under normal conditions.

Par-5 fifth is a tight tee shot with a landing area that pinches in around 250-300 yards out.  Stay left – a miss to the right requires a punch-out to the 150-yard marker.  Plenty of sand before and around the green.  #6 is a short dogleg left that should only be an iron/hybrid off the tee.  It features a tough green – kind of a reverse bowl that is very easy to miss.  Landing too far left off the tee, depending on the distance, will force you to go over trees for the approach.

Without a doubt, I’d say #9 is the toughest hole on the course.  When we last played the tees were at about 450 – into the wind.  A tree and some bunkers on the left threaten drives that attempt to cut the corner.  Hit the ball straight out and you risk overshooting the fairway.  You’ll more than likely lay up on the second shot. 

The 13th is an awesome hole – split fairways with mounding, fescue and a ton of sand in between.  Safer tee shot is to the left but leaves a much tougher approach.  If you’re bold and execute a shot to the right fairway, the second shot becomes much easier, but there is OB all down the right side beyond the rough.  A testy second shot awaits from either fairway.

#15 is the second toughest hole on course.   Major-league long, 450-plus with a right dogleg.  Try to fade it too much and you’re into and under the trees.  Hit it straight through the dogleg and there’s little buffer zone between the fairway and super fescue.  A tree hangs overhead near the green and can cause issues on the slightly uphill approach.

#17 is a mid-range par 3 that plays around 150-160.  Very tricky hole – from the tees it looks like a slightly downhill shot.  But it’s actually uphill; you can tell when you look back at the tee from the flag.  I always see shots hit short here and you can guess where the only bunker is – a long front trap that spans the entire width of the green.  The key is to always use one more club than you think.

The 18th would be my favorite hole on the course if it didn’t always turn me into Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot.  It plays around 400 yards, but the tee shot is so severely downhill that you can reach the green with iron-iron, in theory. 

Advantage:  Take the two bunkers that pinch the fairway out of play. 

Disadvantage:  Leave yourself 190 or so to an uphill green that is guarded by a front bunker contoured to set up a very difficult bunker shot. 

A 3-wood off the tee obviously shortens the second shot but it really brings those tough fairway bunkers into play.  Driver, if hit solidly, clears those traps, but it’s no picnic in the rough and fescue beyond.

All in all a great closing hole and one of the best par-4s at Bethpage.