[This flyover was updated on January 27, 2019.]
[NOTE - April 2015: Middle Bay reconfigured its layout in the 2014-15 offseason. The flyover below reflects the current routing.]
Hurricane Sandy in 2012 permanently reshaped parts of the coastline of Long Island's south shore, and in the process reoriented one of its long-established golf courses. Middle Bay Country Club, a private club since the 1950s -- with golf roots farther back into the '30s -- closed down after the storm, only to reemerge the following season as a semi-private facility called South Bay that would eventually settle into a new identity as The Golf Club at Middle Bay.
Middle Bay's rebirth as a publicly accessible golf course filled a blind spot on the south shore of Nassau County, where there's long been nine-hole municipal golf on one side of the void, exclusive Five Towns clubs on the other, and nothing in between for the public player but the isolated and often-jammed Lido Golf Club in Lido Beach. Sitting opposite Lido on the mainland side of the bay, 6,819-yard Middle Bay is a blend of parkland and waterfront golf. Fairways throughout much of the course are guarded by tree limbs and ponds. Sand and undulating mounds defend the greens. Both picturesque and penal, the bay is only steps away as the course sends players onto the back nine. Forceful wind is an ever-present playing partner that keeps every club in the bag at the ready.
LAYOUT:
Middle Bay's most memorable and recognizable holes curl up against the bay, with Point Lookout prominent on the horizon and Jones Beach's landmark tower rising in the farthest reaches of the wide, uninterrupted vista. Before you get there, however, the course gives you a sampling of its contrasting styles. First you'll head south, directly toward the bay, on a 332-yard par-4. A pond closely flanks the par-4 second for the first 200-plus yards before the fairway turns toward the flag. A false front and a small, hidden bunker behind the green provide additional defensive measures. The course turns away from the water and races toward its parkland half by way of an offset par-4 fourth and the nearly 600-yard fifth, passing the adjacent Oceanside wetlands along the way. Like the holes that precede them, left is major trouble on both.
After #7 -- complete with lost-ball potential in the wetlands and vegetation on the left -- Middle Bay u-turns back toward the clubhouse and the sea. Two of the course's larger fairway bunkers help squeeze the already narrow drive zone on the 415-yard eighth. The putting surface is nestled comfortably between front traps, a couple of trees long and a grass bunker on the left. The massive par-5 ninth veers to the right before straightening out into the front nine's final stretch. It takes a powerful and accurate drive to secure an ideal spot in the diagonal segment of fairway on this 561-yarder. Laying up in the far end of the fairway leaves a final approach to another green hugged closely by all of Middle Bay's goodies -- trees, two traps, even some shrubbery. A front bunker makes a right-side pin on the angled oval green difficult to reach.
Now it's onto the course's signature holes, laid out back to back to begin the second nine. (Before a 2014-15 reconfiguration, these two holes were #7 and #8.) Wind direction dictates the strategy on #10, a fully exposed 200-yarder (190 from the middle) where almost every iron in the bag is in play, save for the wedges. A wide entrance to the green works in your favor. Ahead, #11 is the most unique hole on the course. Take aim at a diagonal fairway running from right to left, but be wary of the two bunkers easily within reach in the far rough. It's easy to overlook those, however, when the nearside "rough" -- from tee to green -- is a 10-yard-wide sandy waste area separating fairway from Atlantic bay. A sand complex in front of the green -- dotted with a couple of raised grass pads -- fortifies the 331-yard par-4 (308 from the middle) against wind-aided driving attempts.
Again the course heads inland at #12, its longest par-4. Playing straight away from the water, the 446-yard brute hops over a pond and starts drawing left at the midpoint of the fairway. A tailwind can only help so much -- #12's green is one of the narrower surfaces on the course, and missing to either side leaves you in sand or mounds. A center-to-front slope aims to wreck your bid for par.
When the wind is blowing off the bay, you'll get a generous boost on #13, nice enough perhaps to find the green with two very strong clouts. The 533-yarder takes what by now has become a familiar route at Middle Bay -- a left turn toward the green. The leftward bend is a little more subtle on #14, a 378-yard par-4 with a water hazard midway up the fairway on the near side. Stay right for the best angle to the flat green -- a strand of trees past the hazard can interfere with the second shot.
Prior to the course's long, sweeping finish, the 402-yard 17th employs a truncated fairway to prevent run-ups and complicate short approach shots. A small bunker in front and a raised knob (pictured left) -- in addition to a spread of mounding to the green's right -- raise the potential for unstable footing and uneven lies around the green.
A long trek through #18 (more below in Holes to Remember) completes the round. Making up for all the day's draws and left-hand hazards, the 18th bends a full 90 degrees to the right around an intrusive water hazard.
CONDITIONS:
Ironically, it was a previous hurricane and some unseasonably poor weather that allowed Middle Bay to reopen after Sandy sporting lush green fairways and smooth putting surfaces. Hurricane Irene in August 2011 forced the club to make modifications to limit flooding, which were vital the following year. The maintenance staff pumped standing water off the course immediately after Sandy, according to golf director Ron Wright, and a snowstorm the week after Sandy helped flush salt from the fragile turf before it could inflict more lasting damage. Recovery through the winter and spring took place with minimal equipment -- all of it was destroyed by flooding. Amazingly, in Wright's words, the course was back up to a "B-plus" upon its reopening less than seven months removed from Sandy.
There's no avoiding the stiff gusts that blow through the layout. When the wind blows hard away from the bay, you'll start the round, close the front nine and face its signature holes fighting for every yard. Shifting winds mean a hole can play driver/5 iron one day, driver/wedge the next. The worst for players is when the wind is out of the west. "That makes it a par-78," Wright says.
Every green is defended on each side by bunkers. A half-dozen holes also throw in a front trap. Mounding is a prominent design element. Waves of rough around the greens -- including a handful of grass depressions -- force uncomfortable pitches and chips, turning otherwise simple short-game recoveries into tense stroke savers. In some spots, like the short par-3 sixth, mounds in the front block a clear view of the green and pin position.
HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER:
Middle Bay doesn't turn to the right very often, but when it does, it does. The 18th seeks revenge for all the leftward veering around the rest of the course with a fairway that bends a little, then a lot, then turns on a dime en route to the flag. Start to finish, it's a 549-yard par-5 that twists a full 90 degrees. Water ripples on the near side the whole way, and a second hazard joins the fray in time for the final 150 yards. The fairway is relatively narrow, meaning any aggressive lines can send shots running through to the rough, or worse. Not to mention the wind -- such a sharp angle means drives and approaches will face totally different gusts.
AREA(S) TO AVOID:
Given the open entrances to many of the greens and the prevalence of slopes tilted toward the front, going deep is generally a poor miss. In many cases, long shots will run downhill off the rear mounds. Among the worst greens to miss deep are #2 and #4. Middle Bay's only rear bunker is an unwelcome surprise on the second. Just a couple of paces wide, the sunken, circular trap can be a nasty sucker prone to stealing a stroke or two, especially when working in tandem with the green's false front on thinly struck escapes. A bounce over the green at #4 puts you out of play into the reeds, an inexcusable result considering the surface's wide and unprotected front door.
NEARBY COURSES:
Bay Park (3 miles)
Merrick Road Park (6 miles)
Lido Golf Club (6 miles)
SIMILAR COURSES:
Lido Golf Club
Island's End
CONTACT:
3600 Skillman Ave., Oceanside 11572
(516) 766-1880
www.thegolfclubatmiddlebay.com
SEE ALSO:
Origins: The Golf Club at Middle Bay
Observations: New driving range open at South Bay Country Club
South Bay Country Club in Oceanside will be open to the public
