Golf on Long Island: Flyover: Great Rock Golf Club

[This flyover was updated on February 9, 2018.]

The Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River climbs and descends the hills of Suffolk County's north shore, terrain that transforms a 6,250-yard par-71 -- from the tips -- into a rugged test of skill and execution. Its tight fairways, bordered in places by dense woodlands, and sharp doglegs combine with the changing elevation to create a shotmaker's delight. Perhaps Great Rock's most notable feature, the lightning-fast greens enhance the challenge in every approach, chip and putt.

Opened in 2001, Great Rock is one of Long Island's newest courses and certainly one of its most attractive. From the clubhouse facilities and staff, to the bar, restaurant and patio, and ultimately to the course itself, everything at Great Rock contributes to an atmosphere typical of a private club.

Great Rock plays only 5,900 yards from the middle tees, but the key to a satisfactory score is course knowledge and experience. It is full of angles and subtleties, many of which can be adequately logged in golf memory only through repeated play.

LAYOUT:
Great Rock rises and falls like a roller coaster, slowly ascending through the woods toward an elevated first green, not to return again until the final descent of the 18th, which, in keeping with the amusement park theme, slightly resembles one of those double-dipper carnival slides. The opening par-5 -- a member of Golfing Magazine's Dream Golf Club -- can be reached in two, but its green, sloping down from the center, can easily steal a stroke. Following are two par-4s with contrasting styles. The 430-yard second is long and straight with a series of irregular bunkers threatening drives to the left side. The 319-yard third is the first of several left doglegs that require an uphill approach. A right-to-left draw will get you into early birdie position.

Even shorter than #3 is the 300-yard sixth, where a triangular bunker in front protects the green from potential eagle putts. Use driver at your own risk -- there is an extremely limited view of the fairway from the tee, and only the luckiest players will be able to retrieve mishits sent left. Deep misses are out of play. If the cup is in the front, the second shot becomes very tricky, as the green is tilted away from the bunker. A perfect blast off the tee must be followed by an extremely delicate and equally impressive pitch over the trap if the ball is to settle close to a front pin.

The lone par-5 on the course between #1 and #18 is the 498-yard seventh. Its tight fairway rolls up and down, side to side, and narrows as it heads toward the green. Large sand traps guard the left side of the green, just as they do the fairway on #8, a 376-yard par-4 with another elevated green. The front nine ends with a par-3 that tees off from one of Great Rock's highest and most scenic points, and plays downhill to one of the course's flatter surfaces.

Both Newsday and Golfing Magazine recognize #10 at Great Rock as one of Long Island's finest holes. The 444-yard par-4 plays straight uphill, with trees hugging the fairway on both sides. Even the strongest drives will be left with a lengthy approach up the slope to a hidden green. (A centerline bunker ahead of the green was filled in several seasons ago to speed up play.) The namesake "great rock" observes your final efforts on the signature hole and overlooks the tee on #11, a 351-yard par-4 that sports one of the course's most severely sloped putting surfaces. Even after a late-2012 renovation designed to keep more shots on the green, balls will still sprint hard from the left side to the right, in some cases into the fringe. Do all you can to stay below the pin.

A redesign of the green on the par-3 12th during the 2010-11 offseason created a wider variety of pin-placement options for course staff. On the old green, short-iron tee shots on this 123-yarder and even close-range putts were at the mercy of the heavily pitched right-to-left and back-to-front surface. Now, with the left and front edges raised, well-executed shots can hold the green, with birdie and par opportunities as the reward. The green still demands a careful route to the cup, however, as the subtle slopes are difficult to read and maintain the 12th's reputation as a short hole with plenty of bite.

[Follow the links for a Closer Look at #11 and an overview of #12's remodeled green.]

From here on out, players with a left-to-right ball flight may find themselves fighting against the current. Five of the final six holes bend to the left, some at more acute angles than others. The 13th, 15th and 17th are all doglegged par-4s of similar yardage, though uphill approaches make #13 and #17 play longer. Only #16, a 175-yard par-3 with a large trap short of the green, is laid straight out.

Great Rock ends with the downhill 18th, a par-5 whose fairway drops from the tee and screeches to a halt at a lake, then angles left as it squeezes between the hazard and dense treeline. The lake is an intimidator on all second shots, but it won't be necessary to carry any significant portion of the hazard unless the tee shot settles too far right.

CONDITIONS:
It takes a steady hand and a confident putting stroke to succeed on Great Rock's notoriously speedy greens. Anyone who struggles on fast surfaces or is more accustomed to slower greens will not benefit from any early-round grace period -- the opening hole's wide and shallow surface slopes from the center to its sides. If the speed gets in your head, the breaks become tougher to read, and before you know it three-putts, or worse, become commonplace. Even the more innocent-looking greens can cause problems. If your eyes tell you that the left-to-right pitch of the par-4 11th green is minimal, don't be surprised to find your putt shooting down to the right side of the surface. The break is one of the most severe on the course.

Great Rock's manicured look -- especially on and around the greens -- is a product of steady, careful maintenance. Crew members are visible during the course of a round tending to the surfaces. One visit came as crews repaired or installed drainage systems around several greens. Later, during a week of intense heat, crew members bearing hoses frequently popped up around the course.

Off the course, Great Rock strives to welcome its guests into a club 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. After a nearly year-long renovation of the former Blackwells Restaurant in 2015, the clubhouse is now home to Pure North Fork, a modern American bistro with a focus on local foods.

HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER:
#10 gets the accolades, and deservedly so. It is a relentless par-4 that can batter even the strongest shooters. Players that miss the fairway will do no better than getting on in three. But strategy-wise, the par-5 18th may be more memorable. The fairway veers left at the lake, and the perfect play, if you can pull it off, is a long draw over the bunkers to a narrowed landing area. From there a middle iron or less can get you to the diagonal green in two. Safer drives will find the meatier part of the fairway, but shots to the right invite the lake into the target line. Also, a greenside trap protects the pin from right-side approaches.

The best view of a hole might be from the elevated tee on #2 (pictured right). Great Rock's characteristic features -- rolling, tree-lined fairways and spacious, strategic bunkers -- are laid out clearly in front of you.

AREA(S) TO AVOID:
Without course knowledge or an experienced playing partner, there's no way to know that shots behind the sixth green are history. A landscaped arrangement of plants and shrubs covers the hill on the backside of the green and will gobble up any ball that scoots through the rough or bunkers. Left of the green isn't much better -- balls to that side will run down a slope toward the cart path.

OTHER NOTES:
Great Rock is one of the very few Long Island courses to provide hole-by-hole descriptions and diagrams on its website. Familiarizing yourself with the holes beforehand can certainly pay dividends later as you work to navigate Great Rock's hills and angles.

Yardage books are also available in the pro shop.

Great Rock Golf Club closed during the 2013-14 offseason, then reopened in June 2014 under new ownership.

NEARBY COURSES:
Rolling Oaks (8 miles)
Swan Lake (8 miles)
Cherry Creek - Woods/Links (9 miles)

WHERE TO GRAB A BITE AND A BEER:
On site, Pure North Fork is a modern, locally focused bistro with Long Island beers and craft cocktails. It replaced the former Blackwells in 2015.

CONTACT:
141 Fairway Drive, Wading River 11792
(631) 929-1200
www.greatrockgolfclub.com

Have thoughts and opinions on Great Rock? Share them with other Golf On Long Island readers by posting in the comments section below.

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Flyover: Great Rock Golf Club

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