[This flyover was updated on July 28, 2023.]
A west-to-east golf tour along the Long Island Expressway would culminate somewhere out in Manorville or Riverhead, at a lengthy course like Rock Hill or on the Island's only par-6, the 18th hole at Cherry Creek Links. The first, western-most stop on such an Expressway golf tour in no way resembles either of those. The Christopher Morley Park Golf Course in Roslyn is a pint-sized par-30 where the driver and fairway woods can all be left in the trunk.
At 1,600 yards, Christopher Morley is the shortest of the nine-hole municipal golf courses in Nassau County. Its three par-4s are generously measured at 227, 267 and 300 yards. Morley is heavily wooded, its overhanging tree branches and underbrush ramping up the degree of difficulty on some shots. It is a good course for beginners who won't mind stretching their limbs through bushes and branches to fetch their balls. Experienced players can drop by Morley for some valuable short-game and mid-iron practice.
LAYOUT: Morley begins with a 267-yard par-4 that turns left at its midpoint through a narrow clearing. Considering the short distance and the inability to see the flag from the tee, it's easy to find the trees at the far end of the turn if you don't know where to aim. Two parallel fairway bunkers point you in the right direction. The second and fifth holes are similar in both length and style. The 143-yard second is wooded down the right side, and its green falls off abruptly from its sides and back. Two yards longer, #5 also features trees on the right as well as an out-of-bounds fence.
The third and fourth holes are much more spacious. Three large bunkers stand guard on the 153-yard third, and the much shorter fourth offers no room to miss long. Anything over the green will roll down onto a hardened strip of dirt and tree branches.
A hill serves as an obstruction on #6 and #7. From the sixth tee, the green is out of view, hidden below the crest of the slope. Accurate shots on this 152-yarder will depend on experience with proper aim, and potential par putts will be influenced significantly by the steep ridge on the left side of the green. The 300-yard seventh plays up the hill to an elevated fairway. Its green is backstopped by a fence, and approach shots sent into the weeds and leaves on the right are essentially OB.
The eighth hole calls for a short pitch to an oval-shaped green. On Morley's closing hole, a 227-yard par-4 (that measures much closer to 200 yards), trees take up residence in the fairway and stretch comfortably over your line to the green.
CONDITIONS: The golf course at Christopher Morley Park resembles, well....a park. The trees and shade make for a nice stroll. Greens and tee boxes seem to blend into the background. It's a very pleasant setting that, like many golf courses in northern Nassau County, was once part of an old Roslyn estate.
Aside from the greens, which are mostly flat with very slight tilts, the rest of the grounds are more park than golf course. Tee boxes and parts of the fairways look more receptive to picnic blankets than pitching wedges. (Fittingly, some tees have picnic tables nearby for brief rests in the shade.)
With so many trees come so many branches, so many of those porcupine balls that drop from above, and so many leaves and pine needles. It's hard to come up with a nice, flat lie with all of it scattered around. Plus, the shade makes for some barren or sparse patches where the sun struggles to reach.
HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER: Trying to reach the green from the tee on the 200ish-yard ninth is like a point guard trying to loft a running one-hander over a center in a pick-up basketball game. You have to put some air under it, or it'll be swatted aside. Trees block the path to the green, a sight not normally seen. There used to be a large clearing behind the green, but a new tennis facility built in 2014 swallowed up a section of the course between #9 and the clubhouse.
AREA(S) TO AVOID:
Unless you put your ball over a fence or deep into the woods, you should be able to find wayward shots easily. But save yourself the frustration of trying to pitch off pine needles and twigs.
FUN FACT:
When the course was built in the 1960s, #9 played as a longer dogleg hole that measured around 300 yards. Five bunkers surrounded the green. Within just a few years, most of the bunkers were filled in and the green was abandoned, replaced by a new green that remains today. The original was likely taken out of the rotation because errant drives were flying into the adjacent tennis courts. For years the old green was maintained and used, presumably, for practice. As noted above, a large clearing between the old and new greens lasted until the new tennis facility was built in 2014.
NEARBY COURSES:
Harbor Links - Championship/Executive (5 miles)
Cantiague Park (8 miles)
Eisenhower Park - Red/White/Blue (8 miles)
CONTACT:
500 Searingtown Road, Roslyn 11576
(516) 571-8120 / 8119 (wait time)
Have thoughts and opinions on Christopher Morley Park? Share them with other Golf On Long Island readers by posting in the comments section below.
Comments