Golf on Long Island

Long Island Dream Club: Clubhouse at the Great Rock Golf Club

The Zagat-rated Blackwells Restaurant at the Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River is a veteran of Golfing Magazine's Long Island Dream Club by now, having been selected for a spot in the 2009 all-star cast.  This year Golfing Magazine went ahead and honored the entire clubhouse in its 2011 edition of the Long Island Dream Club.

Great Rock makes every golfer feel like a special guest from the moment they drive up toward the classic brick clubhouse to the downhill 18th tee shot toward the club's outdoor patio, and beyond through a meal or drink in the comfortable, classy Tap Room.  Chances are you won't find a better post-round Reuben at any Island course.

Golf On Long Island noted Great Rock's pampering personality in the course flyover:

"Off the course, Great Rock strives to welcome its guests into a "Country Club for a Day" atmosphere, and it succeeds in doing so.  Staffers unload bags from the trunk and have them loaded on carts before you get your shoes on.  The Zagat-rated Blackwells Restaurant -- also selected to Golfing Magazine's Dream Golf Club -- serves up steaks, burgers and refreshing pints of Blue Point (or a selection of other microbrews) in some of Long Island golf's classiest digs.  Sit back and watch the foursomes behind you battle the 18th and stagger into the mahogany-accented Tap Room themselves."

Now Golfing Magazine has selected the Great Rock clubhouse as the facility to first welcome golfers fresh off the Inwood Country Club's 18th green on its fantasy golf course...

"Completed in June 2001, the 7,800-square-foot Great Rock clubhouse offers a private club experience for the public.  Full men's and women's locker rooms with amenities such as shaving cream, razors, cologne and perfume are offered to all golfers.  After getting spruced up, golfers can dine at Blackwells Restaurant or go to the Taproom bar, which is known as one of the most 'happening spots' in the area."

To view the full 2011 Long Island Dream Club, click here.

Oakdale Golf Center voted "Best Driving Range" in Long Island Press poll

Capping a suspense-free voting period, Bethpage State Park was crowned "Best Golf Course" last month when the Long Island Press announced the results of its annual "Best of LI" poll.  The real surprise was over in the less heralded, more practice-oriented "Best Driving Range" category, where the Oakdale Golf Center flew under the radar and scored an out-of-nowhere victory with the help of Press readers.

Oakdale topped Medford's County Fair Entertainment Park and Farmingdale's Skydrive Golf Center after not even cracking the top three in previous polls.  County Fair is also a newcomer to the elite trio.  Two-time champ Skydrive took the bronze for the second straight year.

For full 2012 "Best of LI" results, visit the Long Island Press website.

Off-Course Destinations: 1st Tee Fitness & Performance, St. James

Bethpage Black slipped into its annual winter hibernation earlier this month, but inside a small St. James strip mall, the fairway leading up to the Black's famous fourth-hole glacier bunker is still a deep, healthy green and the air is a May-like 72 degrees.

Conditions are the same at Pebble Beach, Pinehurst and more than a dozen other renowned golf courses available for virtual play in the High Definition Golf simulator at the new 1st Tee Fitness & Performance facility in St. James, where brothers Jason and Richard Greco hope to make indoor golf -- including leagues, tournaments, lessons and physical therapy -- a healthy and recreational outlet for Long Island golfers.  Jason and Richard are golf fitness instructors certified through the Titleist Performance Institute with more than 25 combined years of experience working with and rehabilitating patients.  (Their primary office, Greco Physical Therapy and Sports Performance, PLLC, is located in Greenvale.)

At 1st Tee Fitness -- which opened in December 2011 -- the Grecos use much of the space to exercise and rehabilitate the muscles and joints that work together to swing the golf club, while the rest is reserved for the swing itself.  In the back of the facility, a two-person practice net is available for simulator warm-ups and private lessons conducted by professionals from several area courses, including nearby Smithtown Landing.

But the main attraction is up front, where the High Definition Golf simulator leads frost-delayed Long Island golfers on a virtual excursion to nearly 20 world-class golf courses.  At its most basic level, the simulator simply recreates the local driving range.  It offers a technical breakdown of each swing with recordings of club and ball speeds, launch angle, swing path, clubface position, spin and more -- all useful information for the on-site professionals to translate into real-world results for their students.

League play and tournaments will be scheduled throughout the winter months to hold eager Long Island golfers over until they can push a peg into an actual teebox.  Players can take part in leagues run by 1st Tee, or create their own group of family and friends, compete at their leisure and set their own rules and prizes.

"It takes about an hour for two people to play nine holes," Jason says.  "We envision a scenario where players book their simulator tee times online, arrive early to warm up in the practice net, play for as long as they wish and have their results recorded in the league and available online."

Jason says simulator tournaments range from 18 to 72 holes and can include contests like closest to the pin and longest drive.  "The simulator tracks everything," he says.

Indoor league and tournament information is announced by e-mail and at www.grecopt.com.  The simulator is open for general and league play until 9 p.m. during the week and 4 p.m. on weekends.  Rates vary based on length and time of play.

For more information, visit the First Tee website or call (631) 686-6600.  You can also follow First Tee on Facebook and Twitter.  The St. James facility is located at 430-7 North Country Road, about five minutes east of the public Smithtown Landing Golf Course.

Newsday: Selden's Island Green Golf Center all but sunk

Part of the attraction of the Island Green Golf Center in Selden is its Long Island-themed miniature-golf course, with holes designed around local icons like the Montauk Lighthouse, Vietnam Memorial and the Big Duck.  Oddly, none of the holes require putts through the front door of a condominium.

The distinctive pings of crisply struck drivers might soon be replaced by the rumble of bulldozers and the groan of neighborhood protests, depending on the Town of Brookhaven's decision regarding a zoning change at the site of Island Green's driving range and mini-golf course.

Newsday reported Monday that the owners of the Selden facility are seeking a zoning change from business to multifamily residential to pave the way for condominium construction on the 14-acre site.  At a public hearing on Tuesday, it was revealed that no matter the Town's decision, Island Green's golfing future will likely be swallowed up by financial high tides.

The facility, decorated with Long Island landmarks and including a driving range, opened in 1996 and has been losing money for years, a lawyer for the facility's owners told a Brookhaven Town Board public hearing Tuesday night. ...

"One way or another, this will be the last season for the driving range," attorney David Sloan said at the hearing at town hall in Farmingville.  -- Sophia Chang, Newsday, 5/25/11

Following a Long Island tradition as deeply ingrained as, well, the conversion of underutilized space into condos, some of Island Green's neighbors criticized the plan citing traffic concerns and potential disruption of the peace.

For now, the 76-stall driving range remains open.  Local golfers won't have to go far once the facility goes dark -- the ranges at the Mill Pond, Pine Ridge and Spring Lake golf courses are only a few minutes away.

Spring Lake Golf Club to hold indoor clinic for juniors

Cristy Grzymala, director of golf at the Spring Lake Golf Club in Middle Island, will run an indoor "SNAG" clinic for juniors on Saturday, February 19 at 11:00 a.m. in the facility's catering hall.  SNAG (Starting New At Golf) is a comprehensive system that simplifies golf instruction for kids and provides them the opportunity to effectively transition into the game.

The hour-long clinic is open to kids aged 4 to 7 and costs $20 per child.  For more information or to register for the program, e-mail Cristy.Grzymala@lpgapro.com or call (631) 924-5115.  You can also look at pictures of previous SNAG clinics on the Spring Lake website.

Long Island Dream Club: Stonewalls Restaurant, The Woods Course at Cherry Creek

It seems the farther east you play golf on Long Island, the less chance you'll have to leave the course hungry.  Last year's Long Island Dream Club restaurant was Blackwells at the Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River, one of the best and most relaxing settings for a post-round beer and burger (and steak, if you've really saved room over 18 holes).  

Not far down the road toward Riverhead is Stonewalls at the Woods Course at Cherry Creek, the restaurant selected to Golfing Magazine's 2010 Long Island Dream Club.  Its American-French menu earned a 24 (out of 30) food score in the 2010-11 Zagat Survey.  The restaurant offers prix fixe specials for lunch and dinner as well as a Sunday brunch.

From the mag:

"This multi-faceted facility features a grill room; perfect for golfers with salads, sandwiches, burgers and beer; to the French-Continental cuisine of the restaurant, with a more extensive menu that includes a variety of signature dishes.  Crab cakes, lobster bisque, Niman Ranch dry-rub rib steak, delicious desserts and more can all be found at Stonewalls, which is a perfect place to compliment a day on the course."

Off-Course Destinations: Skydrive Golf Center, Farmingdale

[This post was updated on November 28, 2011.]

On one side of Route 110 in Farmingdale, small planes soar into the sky from the runways of Republic Airport.  Directly across the road, hundreds of golf balls do the same from the stalls of the Skydrive Golf Center.

With 72 heated stalls for casual tune-ups, intense practice sessions or individual lessons, Skydrive is a centrally located spot for swing work that Long Island Press readers voted as the #1 driving range in 2009 and 2010.  The facility also offers junior clinics and summer camps for young players.

Skydrive's appeal to the restless golfer is in its functionality.  Players who simply want to tee up, swing and repeat will have few complaints.  Buckets range from $6 (45 balls) to $13 (135 balls), with early-bird specials and other discounts available for frequent visitors.  Empty stalls are typically easy to come by.

There are no bells and whistles at Skydrive -- no pop-up tees like at Heartland Golf Park, no enclosed stalls or practice bunker like at Spring Rock.  As a whole, the facility shows a good deal of wear and tear, from the parking lot to the turf field.  The second-floor ball machine is out of service.  And issues with the perimeter netting seem to occur more frequently than at other ranges.

Luckily, Skydrive is surrounded by almost every conceivable form of light suburban entertainment, so while the facility itself might not have the amenities to keep you and your friends or kids on site for more than a few buckets, you can at least make the range part of a full afternoon or evening.  A movie theater beyond the far end of the range might as well have a flag on its roof.  Sprawling Airport Plaza and a half-dozen chain grills and fast-food stops are less than a mile away.  Even Adventureland is within a five-minute drive.  If billiards is right next to golf on your list of hobbies, stop into the showroom for Thomas Grimaldi Pool Tables, which opened right next to Skydrive's front counter in the fall of 2011.  (Previously, the space served as a tasting room for Osprey's Dominion Vineyards of Peconic.)  Or skip the showroom and hit up happy hour across the street at the 56th Fighter Group.

Skydrive is located at 1024 Broadhollow Road (Route 110) in Farmingdale.  For information on rates, lessons, junior clinics and summer camps, visit the Skydrive website or call (631) 694-4666.

John Daly to appear at Long Island Golf Show, March 26 at Suffolk County Community College

The annual Long Island Golf Show will take place March 25-27 at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, with two-time major champion John Daly serving as the event's marquee guest. 

Daly, winner of the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 British Open, will appear at the show on Saturday, March 26.  Also making a guest appearance at the show on Sunday, March 27 is Michael Breed, host of The Golf Channel's "The Golf Fix."

The show includes a schedule of instructional seminars, demonstrations, and rules and etiquette refreshers, plus special deals on clubs and equipment.  Some of Long Island's public golf courses may be represented at the event as well.  In addition to the opportunity to meet Daly and Breed, all visitors will receive a one-year subscription to Golf Digest.

One-day passes for the event are $10 at the door.  Visit the Long Island Golf Show website for a schedule of events, directions, hours and updates.

Long Island Dream Club: Mill Pond GC Driving Range

The first thing visitors typically notice when they pull into the parking lot at the Mill Pond Golf Course in Medford is the sprawling driving range on the west side of the clubhouse.  It's here where players prepare their swings for the wide-open fairways and breezy, mostly treeless layout that stretches out over both sides of Mill Road.  It's also a prime spot for junior players and beginners of all ages taking lessons or participating in group clinics.

Golfing Magazine selected Mill Pond's driving range to this year's Dream Golf Club.  For more information on the facility, including lessons, clinics, camps and rates, visit the Mill Pond website.

From the mag:

"Serving as an excellent warm-up before starting a round of 18, the driving range at Mill Pond is conveniently located adjacent to the parking area, clubhouse and first tee.  The range has a total of 26 stalls, facing a wide area that includes distinct yardage markers to several flags (which are listed in each stall), as well as green putting-surface contours which provide additional targets."

Long Island Dream Club: Bethpage Pro Shop

In addition to its 90 golf holes, Bethpage State Park also boasts one of Long Island's best pro shops.  It is here where local players grab a last-minute sleeve of Callaways before running out to the starter, or an umbrella and towel after they've booked 18 in the rain.  It is also from here where the young caddy depicted in the Bethpage logo begins his journey across the nation and around the globe in the travel bags and on the left chest of thousands of visiting golfers.

Golfing Magazine selected the Bethpage pro shop as a member of this year's Dream Golf Club.  Though the winter of 2010-11 has been a total washout so far, you can always stop over at the Bethpage clubhouse to do some offseason equipment, apparel and souvenir shopping.  The view of the snow-covered fairways isn't so bad either, we hear.

From the mag:

"Wherever you turn in this 4,000-square foot pro shop, you will see the new Bethpage logo that combines the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens, both played on the superior Black Course.  The pro shop carries top-brand merchandise, specializing in all sorts of apparel for every season -- including the holiday season, when you might find more golfers inside the pro shop than out on the courses."