Golf on Long Island

Observations: Holbrook Country Club

There's no shortage of trees at Holbrook Country Club, a course where all 18 holes are ringed by a dense collection of limbs and leafy branches.  Aside from an occasional generous kick toward the fairway, these trees offer little that's of any aid to golfers. 

One tree, however, does serve a beneficial purpose to Holbrook players.  Rather, it did serve a purpose.  The tree, all alone on the inside of the dogleg on the par-4 ninth, is gone.  It was there on our previous visit in May 2011, but no more.  It served as an important landmark for players unable to see the far half of a fairway obscured by a water hazard and surrounding reeds.  A strong drive launched over the tree would cut the corner of the sloped fairway and tumble down within a short iron or wedge of the green.

All is not lost -- you can still use the edge of the hazard to set your aim. 

While the tree may be gone, still active at Holbrook are the infamous crows that cackle and caw from first hole to last.  Turn your back and they'll make off with that bag of chips you left in the cart.  Lip out on a birdie putt and their well-timed jeers head straight for your last nerve.

[PICTURED: Looking back from beside #9 green (in May 2011), the lost tree can be seen on the right inside the turn of the fairway.]

Bethpage Black is Golfweek's Best Municipal for fifth straight year

There is rarely any suspense when it comes to the Long Island imprint on Golfweek's annual ranking of America's Best Municipal Courses.  Bethpage Black is usually at the top, followed a few tiers below by neighbor Bethpage Red and Montauk Downs.   Change is found only in the number next to the latter two.

Golfweek published its 2013 Best Municipal list this month, and Bethpage Black is again #1, making it five straight years atop the government-owned heap.  The crowning comes only a couple of months after Golfweek ranked the Black Course #21 in its Best Classic Courses list and #1 among the Best Courses You Can Play in New York. 

Chambers Bay (Washington) and Butterfield Trail (Texas) take silver and bronze behind Bethpage Black; Torrey Pines (South) and the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale round out the top five.  Bethpage Red comes in at #27, with Montauk Downs dropping two spots to #42.

Golfweek's Best Municipal Courses list rates the top 50 government-owned layouts nationwide.  Courses are evaluated and ranked based on conditioning, routing, variety, memorability and other categories.

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.

Annual Knights of Columbus Golf Outing to support The Sunrise Fund, May 17 at Cherry Creek Woods

Knights of Columbus Council #5817 will support the Sunrise Fund, the Lieutenant Michael O'Shea Memorial Service Award Fund and the Sergeant Jonathan Keller Memorial Scholarship Fund at this year's annual charity golf outing, scheduled for Friday, May 17 at The Woods Course at Cherry Creek in Riverhead. 

Registration fee is $150 per golfer.  The outing begins at 8:00 a.m. with a full breakfast and shotgun start.  Barbecue lunch and on-course beverages are included, as well as a post-golf cocktail hour and dinner with prizes and giveaways.  All players receive a one-year subscription to Golf Digest.  To sign up for the golf outing, register as a dinner guest or donate to the Sunrise Fund, visit the outing website.

The Sunrise Fund at Stony Brook University Hospital was established to raise awareness about childhood cancer and raise funds for specific projects including a respite center, playroom, extended support services, facilities and programs that meet families’ growing needs, plus vital research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancers.  To learn more, visit the Sunrise Fund website.

Knights of Columbus #5817, which raised funds for the Wounded Warrior Project at its 2012 event, is continuing its ongoing support by contributing a portion of outing proceeds to the Lieutenant Michael O'Shea Memorial Service Award Fund and the Sergeant Jonathan Keller Memorial Scholarship Fund.

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.

Puccio Electric Golf Outing to support fight against Crohn's disease, May 9 at Swan Lake GC

Puccio Electric Contracting Inc. of Center Moriches will hold its second annual golf outing at Swan Lake Golf Club in Manorville on Thursday, May 9.  The event raises money to support the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and is being held in memory of Paul Puccio, who lost his battle with Crohn's disease at age 38 after more than 20 surgeries and an intestinal transplant.

Entry fee for the event is $200 per golfer and includes full buffet breakfast, lunch at the turn, refreshments on the course and dinner after the round.  Long-drive and accuracy competitions will be part of the day as well, plus raffles, contests and a chance at a grand prize five-day/four-night golf resort vacation.  Shotgun tee time is 8:00 a.m.

Deadline to enter is Monday, May 6.  To register for the outing as a player or sponsor, or to make a donation, contact Mark Puccio at (631) 874-2098 or info@puccioelectriccorp.com.  For more information, refer to the outing brochure.

And for a description of the host course, check out the Swan Lake flyover.

2013 Suffolk County Junior Golf Tour tees off July 8 at West Sayville

It's a good time to be a junior golfer on Long Island.  The USSSA Junior Golf Tour is up and running across the Island, giving young players a chance to compete in tournaments and reach the national finals this summer in Florida.  One kid golfer is a few skills-challenge points away from playing beneath the magnolias of Augusta National as part of the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship.  And now, the annual Suffolk County Junior Golf Tour is back, a four-tournament challenge staged on each of Suffolk's four waterside municipal courses.

The 2013 Suffolk County Junior Golf Tour is open to all boys and girls from age 9 through 17.  It consists of four stroke-play tournaments, the first of which will be held at West Sayville Golf Course on July 8.  The Tour concludes a month later at Timber Point Golf Course in Great River.

Junior participants must be familiar with the rules and etiquette of golf and have a valid county Green Key Card.  Events are nine or 18 holes depending on age bracket.  Players must walk the course, be able to carry their bags (hand carts are permitted) and adhere to a standard golf dress code.

Tour fees are $140 for 12- to 17-year-old players (18-hole events) and $125 for 9- to 11-year-old players (nine-hole events).  All four rounds, practice balls at each event, a special two-hour golf clinic at Timber Point, pro-shop giveaways and an August awards banquet are covered by the Tour fee.

Junior Tour players are welcome to brush up for the main events at a special clinic hosted by Timber Point pro Andy Carracino on Monday, July 1.  The rest of the Tour schedule is as follows:

Monday, July 8:  West Sayville Golf Course
Monday, July 22:  Bergen Point Golf Course
Monday, July 29:  Indian Island Country Club
Thursday, August 8:  Timber Point Golf Course

All tournaments begin at 2:00 p.m.  Participants are urged to arrive no later than 1:00.

For more information on the 2013 Suffolk County Junior Golf Tour, call (631) 854-4947.  You can also download a Tour registration form at the Suffolk County website.

Observations: Spring Lake Golf Club

Spring has been slow to take hold on Long Island, but it seems to have arrived for good at Spring Lake Golf Club, and it doesn't have anything to do with the name.  All that was missing at the Middle Island course this past weekend were the leaves on the trees, which works in golfers' favor for just a short time longer.

Approaching the course from the opposite side of its namesake lake provided the perfect vantage point to admire the deep summer-esque green of the course standing out between the brown trees, themselves just starting to show first signs of color.  The course's fairways were in beautiful shape and the greens rolled fast and smooth -- if you ignored the bare branches and the hand-stinging chill that rolled in as the afternoon round wound down, you'd think you were playing in June.   

Spring Lake's crew deserves credit for having the course in such impressive condition so early in a season of cool, uncooperative weather.  Last fall, new drainage systems were installed on #1, #7 and #10 of the Thunderbird Course, with more planned for this season.  The grounds crew was hard at work this weekend preparing the 13th green for play (a temporary green stood in).

You're running out of time to take advantage of the relatively bare limbs at the heavily wooded Thunderbird Course and the Sandpiper nine.  Once May hits, trees overhanging the rough and fairways will be in midseason obstructionist form.  Good weather or bad, balls that settle inside the treeline sit at the mercy of green-blocking tree trunks.

For the full Spring Lake overview, check out the Thunderbird and Sandpiper flyovers.

"Eagles for Education" Golf Outing at Mill Pond, May 13

Upper Room Christian School of Dix Hills is inviting area golfers to participate in its "Eagles for Education" Golf Outing and help support the school's need-based scholarship fund.  The outing will be held on Monday, May 13 at Mill Pond Golf Course in Medford.

Tee time is scheduled for 7:45 a.m.  Prior to the event, players can enjoy a continental breakfast and practice on the range.  A barbecue lunch will follow the round, in addition to a silent auction, raffles, 50/50 prize and awards presentation.  Entry fee is $150 for single golfers or $500 for a foursome.  Players and sponsors can register online at Upper Room's golf outing website.

Upper Room's Scholarship Fund gives children from failing school districts and systems the educational opportunities they deserve.  Visit the Upper Room website for more information on the school and the scholarship fund.

Mill Pond is a wide-open, wind-blown course in Medford.  Driving areas are spacious, but fescue and mounding can sneak up on players who get careless.  For more on the course, check out the Mill Pond flyover.

Newsday runs correction for use of false data in golf business feature

Newsday has published a correction of the false data that ran in a graphic in the Sunday LI Business cover story on April 7 regarding Long Island golf courses.  The correction appears in the Wednesday, April 17 print edition.

The business feature, which analyzed the "shrinking" of the local golf course industry, claimed that the number of golf courses on Long Island has fallen from 279 in 2004 to 269 in 2012 (after rising from 247 in 1993).  However, none of those figures are accurate.  Golf On Long Island's reaction to the original Newsday story can be found here.

Newsday's correction reads as follows:

"The number of Long Island golf facilities -- defined as a single location where one can play at least nine holes of golf -- fell from 129 in 2004 to 127 in 2013.  A graphic in an April 7 story misstated the number of golf facilities."

As Newsday's golf writer Mark Herrmann reported last week, the recently closed Middle Bay Country Club in Oceanside will reopen next month as the semi-private South Bay Country Club.  So that 2013 figure will soon be back up to 128, leaving The Links at Shirley as the only course to close permanently since 2004.