The recent (and ongoing) heat wave has done little to keep us off the fairways -- or more accurately, in the rough -- of Long Island's golf courses. Earlier this week, Golf On Long Island visited Wading River's Great Rock Golf Club for another showdown with a course that demands pinpoint accuracy and a deft putting touch -- two requirements that are slightly harder to maintain under sweaty, sweltering conditions.
Last summer's visit to Great Rock -- one of Long Island's newest public courses -- landed us in a pairing with a member of a semi-private course farther east. His course, he claimed, featured greens at their peak and worthy of a lofty ranking with the finest surfaces on Long Island.
The same can be said of Great Rock, where the putting surfaces are the standout feature. They are quick and require a careful read from all angles, and most importantly, they're conditioned to provide a beautifully smooth roll. Breaks that seem evident at first glance behind the ball tend to disappear like an optical illusion when viewing from the sides -- and misreads on a fast surface generally yield horrifying results. Of course, much of the battle concerns approaching the greens with care. One way to sabotage an enjoyable morning or afternoon at Great Rock is to leave lengthy lag putts from above the hole.
Take #1, for example, where the left and right sides of the green flow quickly downhill from a center spine. This contouring makes a smart and accurate approach a necessity. Starting the day with an up-then-downhill putt at breakneck speed is the easiest way to kill a pre-round high. Later, on the par-3 12th, balls roll quickly with the pedal to the metal toward the left edge. Even from only a few feet above a left-side pin, you better read the line correctly, because the only thing stopping the ball is the back of the cup.
In short, a few extra seconds to walk around the greens can do wonders for your scorecard. See if you can feel the slope while strolling from left to right on the 11th green. (Hint: Try not to fall over.)
Despite the immense heat, the greens remain in such brilliant shape that they seemed to overshadow the manicured but slightly heat-stressed fairways. "It looks too good to be real," Rob said while looking back on the #2 green from the elevated third tee. Over the course of the round, they played as great as they looked.
The overall experience continues to fit the cliched mold of "Country Club for a Day." Bags are unloaded and loaded from trunk to cart. The Tap Room at Blackwells Restaurant -- selected by Golfing Magazine to its 2009 Long Island Dream Club -- is one of the classiest public-course venues for a post-round pint. And at $20, a three-course prix-fixe lunch is tough to beat.
Pictured: Above left, the view from behind #8 green (photo taken July 2009); above right, the par-3 16th from one of the course's highest points. For more on Great Rock, check out the course flyover.
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