Golf on Long Island

September aeration schedule at Bethpage

Two of the golf courses at Bethpage State Park will be aerated in September. 

The Green Course will be aerated on Monday, September 10 and Tuesday, September 11, followed by the Yellow Course on September 18-19.  Blue already underwent its aeration this past week.

The Black Course, which reopens to the public tomorrow after hosting The Barclays, will remain open on Monday, September 3 (the course is typically closed on Mondays for maintenance).  However, the course will be closed on Tuesday, September 4; Thursday, September 6; and Wednesday, September 12.

Rock Hill to host annual Skills Unlimited golf outing on September 10

Skills Unlimited, an organization that offers men and women with disabilities the opportunity to reach their full vocational potential, will hold its 13th annual golf tournament on Monday, September 10 at the Rock Hill Golf Club in Manorville.  Participants who ring in the post-Labor Day season with an ace will go home with a 2012 Mitsubishi Lancer.

Shotgun start is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.  Arrive at noon for registration and lunch.  After the round, cocktails will be served along with a steak and lobster dinner.  Raffles, prizes and the chance to hole out from the tee for a brand-new car will also be part of the festivities.  Cost to enter the tournament is $225 per golfer.  To register as a player or sponsor, call (631) 567-3320.

Serving Long Island since 1955, Skills Unlimited provides a range of vocational training programs and services for men and women with disabilities.  For more on Skills Unlimited, visit the organization's website.

Rock Hill is one of the Island's longest public tracks.  Thick rough and elevation changes stretch the course even further.  Check out the Rock Hill flyover for more on the Manorville course.

Bethpage courses reopen tomorrow; Black is back on Saturday

The Red, Blue, Green and Yellow courses at Bethpage State Park will reopen to the public tomorrow, August 30.  Blue is currently being aerated.

After hosting The Barclays last week, the Black Course will remain closed for a few extra days.  The course opens for play on Saturday, September 1.

Flyover: Cedars Golf Club

"Blink and you'll miss it" is a handy way to describe the peaceful seclusion of the Cedars Golf Club, though it's not entirely accurate.  Even if your eyes are taped wide open, you still won't stumble upon the course.  Truth is, unless you live on the North Fork, are roaming the quiet residential streets south of the village green in Cutchogue or happen to catch a glimpse of the street sign as you cruise along Main Road, you'd never know about Cedars and its collection of tree-blanketed par-3s.

Cedars is a 1,120-yard walk in the park, but it's also a step back in time to days as a beginner, to simple golf unspoiled by thoughts of handicaps and hip turns.  It's nine holes in the time it takes to hit a large bucket at the range, with a hundred times the personality.  Greeted by a hand-painted wooden sign at the curb, players pull into a gravel driveway and unload their bags under the watch of a weathered barn-like clubhouse.  Instead of walls of $120 windbreakers, a table near the pro shop door balances a stack of golf-related VHS tapes.  A tomato plant soaks up the southern-sky sun next to the clubhouse while observing play on the ninth green.  The same curbside sign bids you farewell.

The course itself is a par-27 where only a couple of clubs are necessary.  With the exception of the 175-yard sixth, all the holes play between 100 and 130 yards.  Cedars appeals to all generations.  Families make up foursomes, grandfathers tee off with grandkids, local couples play their weekly nine and North Fork visitors make a quick loop during downtime away from the vineyards and shops.  It's a throwback brimming with "homespun charm," as Mark Herrmann describes in this Newsday feature from April 2011.

LAYOUT:
Steps away from the clubhouse door, the first shot is over a small pond.  Anything in the air should reach the other side, and from there the path to the green is clear.  Cross the road for #2, an interesting 110-yard hole with a diagonal green.  A bunker short and trees just behind the green make sure you're paying attention to distance control. 

The third plays from an elevated tee.  Three sand traps and a right-to-left green keep you on your toes, as does the pitched surface up ahead on #4.  Like the third, #5 sports a downhill drop, with offline shots destined to land in the sand.  The sixth is the answer to the "Which of the following doesn't belong?" quiz question.  At 175 yards, it forces you to keep your wedge in the bag for just one hole and dust off a middle or even long iron.

Trees overhang the seventh tee as if challenging you to reach the pin without putting your ball in the air.  The hole plays through a narrow corridor, passing two bunkers en route to the flag.  Water reappears on Cedars' final two holes.  A pond hides left of the green on #8, and though the roomy rough on the right side seems safe, you'll have to pitch or chip back onto a green tilted toward the drink.  Two more ponds cut across the ninth "fairway" and threaten to gobble up ground balls.

CONDITIONS:
Perhaps the most striking feature of Cedars is its greens, which are smooth and manicured like you'd expect to see on a full-length course.  They can also be extremely soft, so much so that balls can plug down to their equator and forceful steps leave a temporary imprint in the turf.  After a vandalism incident early in the 2012 season (see this Patch article for details), the greens have proven to be resilient as well.

Cedars has more than a dozen bunkers, all bulky in stature.  Many of them have high lips that reject inadequate escape attempts.  Scoff at Cedars' barely quadruple-digit yardage if you must, but don't underestimate its traps.  Tees are beaten all day long by swipes and chunks from irons, so it might take an extra moment or two to find a smooth spot to your liking.

Between swings, Cedars is a pleasant walk.  Holes are marked by engraved wood signs accompanied by cedar-plank waste barrels.  Flowers dot the landscape.  Small hills are manageable for all players, young and old.

Beginning in 2014, new owners focused on improvements around the course, including firming up the greens, repairing bunkers and improving irrigation.

HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER:
Few people arrive at Cedars with thoughts of dialing in a soft fade, but some left-to-right action helps on #2, where a diagonal green is sandwiched by sand short and trees long.  Plus the deep half the green is obscured by some short trees.  If there's nobody on your tail, grab some extra balls and try running a few up onto the surface and popping others high over the trees and sand trap.

AREA(S) TO AVOID:
You can't see it from the tee, but there's a pond just to the left of #8 green.  Anything to that side of the surface will very likely be underwater or buried in the brush.

NEARBY COURSES:
Island's End G&CC (12 miles)

SIMILAR COURSES:
Nickerson Dunes
Sandy Pond

CONTACT:
305 Cases Lane, Cutchogue 11935
(631) 734-6363 
www.cedarsgolfclub.com

SEE ALSO:
New views, cafe planned for 2016 season at Cedars Golf Club
Cedars Golf Club sees big upgrades on and off the course under new owners

Register this week for Town of Hempstead's annual Supervisor's Cup Golf Classic

Town of Hempstead residents are invited once again to enjoy 18 late-summer holes on the water as part of the Supervisor's Cup Golf Classic, an annual tournament hosted by Kate Murray and the Department of Parks and Recreation.  Now in its fifth year, the Supervisor's Cup is scheduled to tee off on Wednesday, September 19 at the Lido Golf Club.  Interested players have until this Friday, August 24 to submit applications.

The tournament is open to all town residents but limited to 144 participants.  To determine the field, the town will conduct a lottery on Friday, August 31 at the Merrick Road Park Golf Course.  Twenty alternates will also be selected.  Entry fee for lottery winners is $15.  (There is no cost to apply.)  Rain date for the vent is Wednesday, October 17.

Supervisor's Cup competitors receive range balls, cart, continental breakfast, barbecue lunch, prizes and refreshments in addition to 18 holes at one of Nassau County's most popular courses.  Shotgun start is scheduled for 10 a.m.  Awards will be given out for top team score, longest drives, accurate drives and closest to the pin.  The winning four-person team (scramble format) will receive the Supervisor's Cup.  

Download and print an application by visiting the Town of Hempstead website.  Completed applications must be faxed, mailed and postmarked, or dropped off in person at the Town of Hempstead offices by Friday, August 24.

For specific details and instructions regarding the registration process, and for additional information on the tournament schedule and format, visit the Town of Hempstead website or call (516) 292-9000, x-227.

And for more on the Lido Golf Club, check out the course flyover.

Bethpage courses now closed until after Barclays

All 90 holes at Bethpage State Park are now closed until The Barclays finishes up and the pros head out of town.  The Red, Blue, Green and Yellow courses will resume play on Thursday, August 30.  (Blue will be aerated during the break on August 28 and 29.)

The Black Course will reopen on September 1.

Closer Look: Bethpage Red #13

This edition of "Closer Looks" examines another of Long Island's split-fairway holes.  Not quite as dramatic, scenic or penal as our previous double-fairway installment -- #16 at the Lido Golf Club -- the 400-/385-yard 13th hole at Bethpage's Red Course is an interesting change of pace from the series of long par-4s that precedes it.  And unlike other dual-fairway holes that offer a clear contrast between the safe, conservative option and the risky, shot-of-the-day shortcut, the Red's A.W. Tillinghast-designed 13th offers very little delineation between routes and simply asks, "Well, good angle or bad (or bunker)?"

The primary feature is an eight-trap, 125-yard-long bunker complex in the hole's center that forces the main fairway to diverge about 220 yards from the back tees into two roads equally traveled.  Each branch of fairway is similar in width and the entrances to the two sides are unprotected.  Of course, the mounded sand area is a legitimate threat to any shot that goes even slightly offline.  Here, the dreaded straight drive carries the worst penalties if executed.

The less obvious but more significant aspect of the hole is the diagonal green site.  With a large trap on the short side of the angled green and two smaller ones on the far side, the hole places those approaching from the right fairway at a tremendous disadvantage.  So, if the fairways are so similar, why would anybody choose the option offering a poor angle into the green?

Simple deception comes into play from the start.  Standing on the tee, players see the bunker complex in the center of an open expanse, along with the roomy right-side fairway.  To the left they see, well...they don't see much.  The experienced player knows there's a fairway out there to the left, but novices find little else besides sand and trees.  Even the sand is hard to detect -- mounding and wispy grasses keep the severity of the center hazard a secret.

Meanwhile, a near-left bunker with otherwise no bearing on the hole (it's about 100 yards from the tee) sits atop a mound and obscures any view of the ideal path.  With no landmarks (other than the closely infringing treeline) serving as a guide to the meat of the left fairway, many players are baited into driving toward the side of the hole they can actually see.

[TOP RIGHT: The center hazard area and the two fairways become more clearly defined as you start up the fairway.  Note the flag barely visible in the distance beyond the hazard.  ABOVE LEFT: Approaches from the right-side fairway must go up and over one bunker, stay short of two others on the far side and steer clear of the treeline deep and to the side.  ABOVE RIGHT: Tillinghast doesn't reveal much to players standing on the tee.  The nature of the center hazard is disguised by mounding, and the left-fairway route is hidden behind the bunker in the foreground.  Right appears to be the way to go.  RIGHT: Straight drives leave a mess that will be a pain to clean up.]

A 250-yard, right-side drive that remains clear of the sand and fescue to the left and thick rough on the right nets an approach of about 150 yards.  But the poor angle becomes apparent as the green gets closer.  Not only is there a gaping trap protecting the flag -- plus two more deep and out of sight -- but a right-side treeline behind the green runs parallel to the line of play.  Shots sent right of the green or long can easily bury themselves in the woods.

Over on the left side, the same drive lands players in perfect position between the rough and hazard.  To get there, aim tee shots over the right edge of the near bunker.  The green's entrance is wide open and allows for a variety of attack options.  Drives closer to the left rough also benefit from a crystal-clear view of the green with no distractions from the mounds and sand in the center.  One danger here is a tee shot that goes too far left underneath the treeline.  In that case, some shots might be disrupted depending on position amongst the trunks and overhanging branches.

[LEFT:  A look back from the green toward the left fairway, which is unseen from the tee.  The fairway is about 20 yards wide in the drive zone.  RIGHT:  A clear view and open entrance means you can pick and choose how you want to attack the pin from the left side.]

PREVIOUS CLOSER LOOKS:
Great Rock Golf Club #11 -- (5/31/2012)
Bethpage Yellow #12 -- (1/5/2012)
Stonebridge Golf Links #7 -- (9/15/2011)
Lido Golf Club #16 -- (8/25/2011)
Stonebridge Golf Links #4 -- (7/29/2011)
Great Rock Golf Club's new 12th green -- (6/6/2011)

Wind Watch G&CC reorders layout to improve pace, balance nines

The staff at Wind Watch Golf & Country Club spent years tinkering with and lengthening its opening hole, eventually maxing it out to a 491-yard par-5 before the 2010 season.  With nowhere else to stretch it in the physical sense, new management at Wind Watch moved the hole on the scorecard instead -- across the course to the back nine.

ClubCorp, which purchased the Hauppauge course and Mount Sinai's Willow Creek G&CC from the Holiday Organization in 2011, made its first significant on-course change at Wind Watch earlier this year, reordering the layout in what is essentially a flip of the front and back nines, with only holes 8, 9, 17 and 18 remaining in place.  Wind Watch general manager and golf director Pat Dill says the changes are designed to "improve pace of play, increase control on the first tee and get the nines back to par-36 on each side."

In the new routing, players tee off behind and below the clubhouse on what used to be #10, a slightly downhill, 353-yard par-4.  Previously, rounds began with a short cart ride past the 18th green, around the tennis courts to the starter's booth, followed by a walk or ride up the hill to the new par-5 tees.  Then it was a blast down the hill and a battle with the shorter side of the course.  Now the nines are equal in par and almost identical in yardage (3,384 out; 3,302 in).

Wind Watch still ends with the same uphill 18th, a 90-degree dogleg boasting a triple-tiered green.  But if you arrived expecting to tee off from one of Long Island's highest elevation points on a hole chosen as part of Golfing Magazine's Long Island Dream Club, you'll have to wait until the start of the back nine.

Thanks to a GOLI commenter for the heads-up about the change.  For more on Wind Watch, check out the course flyover.

[PICTURED: Meet the new opening hole at Wind Watch -- the former 10th.]

Observations: Merrick Road Park Golf Course

Storms have done a number on the Merrick Road Park Golf Course in recent years, destroying several veteran trees around the bayside nine, including notables on #2 and #5.  One of them, however, is making a comeback after its brush with Mother Nature.

The fairway tree in the middle of the par-4 fourth is climbing back to its old self, obscuring views of the green in the distance and occasionally swatting down approach shots.  Just about 100 yards out and standing on a grass island inside a bunker, the tree has been one of Merrick's recognizable features since we started playing the course in the late '90s.  After a brief hiatus as a stump a few seasons ago, the tree is back, with new branches sporting a dense canopy of leaves.

Meanwhile, around the rejuvenated tree, much of Merrick goes on as normal.  Few players rake bunkers or repair ball marks, the latter if which is problematic considering the greens are spongy -- almost saturated -- in spite of Long Island's recent near-drought conditions.

Bethpage Red's opener a little less grueling in lead-up to Barclays

A pre-Barclays round at Bethpage State Park's Red Course is a few strokes softer thanks to the behind-the-scenes work to prepare its next-door neighbor for the international spotlight.  While the Black Course fills with tents and pavilions and all the trimmings associated with a professional golf event, the Red Course will go about its business until it closes to the public on August 18, but will boast a few yards less than normal along the way.  The Red's classic par-4 opener is teeing off from the fairway while the area near the tee is scattered with equipment and trailers.  Thanks to several Golf On Long Island readers for the tip.

Still, the hole plays around 360 uphill yards.  Sure beats 471 yards (with a gallery of waiting golfers breathing down your neck).

Last day of play on the Red, Blue, Green and Yellow courses is Friday, August 17.  The four will reopen on Thursday, August 30, followed by the Black on September 1.