Golf on Long Island

2015-16 Winter Rates Roundup I

By this time next week, holiday gifts totaling thousands of boxes of new balls, bags of new tees and fresh new drivers promising 50 extra yards plus accuracy will be sorted and ready for play in the spring.  But why wait until April when December -- especially a warm one -- is just as great a time to take them for a spin out on the course?

Golf On Long Island loves winter golf, and you should too, if only for the chance to play quality courses with limited crowds for a discount price.  Below is a sampling of offseason 18-hole rates at area courses.  For full details about rates and course conditions, contact the course pro shops or visit their websites.  Note that these do not represent discounted rates at all courses.

For offseason rates from previous years and a primer on winter golf in general, refer to Winter Golf on Long Island.

• Cherry Creek Links: $40 to ride, $30 to walk on weekdays before 12 p.m., $30/$20 after 12 p.m.; $50/$40 (before 12 p.m.) and $40/$30 (after 12 p.m.) on weekends

• Mill Pond:  $51 to ride, $40 to walk on weekdays before 12 p.m., $41/$30 after 12 p.m.; $53 before 12 p.m. (riding only) and $42/$31 (after 12 p.m.) on weekends (all fees lower with Town of Brookhaven resident cards)

• Pine Hills:  $45 to ride, $35 to walk on weekdays before 12 p.m., $35/$25 after 12 p.m.; $55/$45 (before 12 p.m.) and $45/$35 (after 12 p.m.) on weekends

SEE ALSO:  2015-16 Winter Rates Roundup II

By this time next week, holiday gifts totaling thousands of boxes of new balls, bags of new tees and fresh new drivers promising 50 extra yards plus accuracy will be sorted and ready for play in the spring.  But why wait until April when December -- especially a warm one -- is just as great a time to take them for a spin out on the course?

Golf On Long Island loves winter golf, and you should too, if only for the chance to play quality courses with limited crowds for a discount price.  Below is a sampling of offseason 18-hole rates at area courses.  For full details about rates and course conditions, contact the course pro shops or visit their websites.  Note that these do not represent discounted rates at all courses.

For offseason rates from previous years and a primer on winter golf in general, refer to Winter Golf on Long Island.

• Cherry Creek Links: $40 to ride, $30 to walk on weekdays before 12 p.m., $30/$20 after 12 p.m.; $50/$40 (before 12 p.m.) and $40/$30 (after 12 p.m.) on weekends

• Mill Pond:  $51 to ride, $40 to walk on weekdays before 12 p.m., $41/$30 after 12 p.m.; $53 before 12 p.m. (riding only) and $42/$31 (after 12 p.m.) on weekends (all fees lower with Town of Brookhaven resident cards)

• Pine Hills:  $45 to ride, $35 to walk on weekdays before 12 p.m., $35/$25 after 12 p.m.; $55/$45 (before 12 p.m.) and $45/$35 (after 12 p.m.) on weekends

SEE ALSO:  2015-16 Winter Rates Roundup II

Winter Golf on Long Island: 2015-16 Edition

It's been a few years, but it looks like Long Island's 365-day golfers might have a winter to remember this offseason.  Last December we said that Long Island's winter golfers were overdue for a playable offseason, and one year later, it appears they got one.  With weather discussions swirling around warm temperatures and snow-free forecasts rather than December blizzards and (much worse) hurricane recovery, the winter of 2015-16 appears, at least early on, to be an extension of October. 

Of course, that can all change when the first Nor'easter photo-bombs the storm tracker, but until then, go out and take advantage of bonus "warm"-weather golf.  Even if the temperature dips close to freezing, winter is a great time to golf on Long Island, assuming you don't mind swinging from beneath a few extra layers of gear.  Aside from the occasional frozen green, ground conditions remain close to what you'd see in the fall, typically up until the first prolonged snowcover.  Prices are lower, rounds are faster and the crowds are more sparse (though maybe not at Bethpage).

See also: Winter Golf on Long Island overview

Long Island's seasonal golf courses have packed it in until spring, but luckily most of the Island's public golf destinations remain open all year, awaiting phone calls about frost delays, winter rates and temporary greens.  Discount rates have been in effect since November.  New players or those looking to clean up their mechanics can count on quiet, pressure-free fairways and tees between now and March. 

Golf On Long Island attempts to make winter golf easy to find by posting discount rates through the offseason.  At some courses, winter rates can be as low as two bucks a hole.  A few throw in lunch, too.  Check back for updated specials throughout the winter months.

• 2015-16 Winter Rates Roundup I
• 2015-16 Winter Rates Roundup II

For a full primer on offseason golf, check out the Winter Golf on Long Island page, which includes some of this season's special rates and offers from previous years.

Tallgrass offering 2016 tee-time memberships as threat of solar development lingers

[UPDATE, May 19:  Tallgrass will remain open through the summer of 2016, according to Newsday's Mark Herrmann.]

The long-term forecast for Tallgrass Golf Course in Shoreham is unstable, to say the least, yet that has not stopped management from proceeding as normal as the winter offseason approaches.  Tallgrass is currently accepting tee-time memberships for the 2016 season, a season that remains in peril with the threat of solar development looming on the Shoreham horizon.

Tallgrass, a Gil Hanse design that for the past six years has been rated by Golfweek as one of the top 10 publicly accessible golf courses in New York State, sits uncomfortably at the center of development plans that, if approved, would doom the popular course less than two decades after it was built on a former sod farm.  Approval of the plans could pave the way for the start of construction as soon as April, according to reports.

Still, course management is optimistic that the sun will not set on Tallgrass this season, that solar plans will remain on the drawing board through 2016 without impacting the course, while hopeful the planning stage is as far as the proposal goes.  An e-mail was sent out earlier this month announcing that 2016 tee-time memberships are being accepted.

"We are counting on local residents and golfers to air their complaints to the [Town of Brookhaven] Planning Board at its meeting in January," said one Tallgrass staffer.

On the other side of the battle is a Chicago-based company called Invenergy, which seeks the Tallgrass site for a 110,000-panel, 127-acre solar farm called Shoreham Solar Commons.  Included in its plans are the conversion of the Tallgrass clubhouse into a community center and the repurposing of the course's cart path into a recreational trail.  The Shoreham Solar Commons Facebook page has been promoting the plan's estimated benefits, specifically how it differs from residential development or even status quo as a public golf course.

"Alternative [residential] development of the Tallgrass Golf Course site not only means an additional 120 homes, but equals more traffic, greater noise and ambient light, more children to local schools, and additional strain on town services and first responders," said a December 9 post on hypothetical residential building.

A December 4 post reads: "By repurposing the Tallgrass Golf Course, Shoreham Solar Commons will generate pollution-free electricity, will bolster school budgets without adding a single pupil, and will pay roughly 10X what the Tallgrass Golf Course pays in property taxes."

The Shoreham Solar Commons website claims the project will create 175 temporary jobs during development.  The number of local jobs that would be lost at Tallgrass is not disclosed.

Residents and golfers can voice their opinions about the plans at the Town of Brookhaven Planning Board meeting on January 11.

SEE UPDATE:
Supporters, opponents of Tallgrass solar development state their case to Brookhaven Planning Board (1/26/2016)

SEE PREVIOUS POSTS:
Talks concerning solar-farm future at Tallgrass continue (9/8/2015)
Ominous forecast for Tallgrass Golf Course as solar-energy push continues (8/3/2015)

Bergen Point, West Sayville to end 2015 season on December 27

Warm-weather December golf will continue for another week-plus at West Sayville and Bergen Point.  The two Suffolk County courses, like fellow muni Timber Point, will remain open until Sunday, December 27.

For more on the courses, check out the West Sayville and Bergen Point flyovers.

Brentwood, Holbrook extend season through December 20

With the December weather clinging to autumn with no end in sight, the Brentwood and Holbrook Country Clubs announced they will remain open through Sunday, December 20.  The two Town of Islip golf courses typically close during the second weekend of December and reopen in mid-March.

For more on Brentwood and Holbrook, click the links to check out the course flyovers.

Timber Point to close for the season on December 27

Timber Point Golf Course's 27 holes will close for the 2015 season at the conclusion of play on Sunday, December 27.

The historic bayside muni will hibernate for nearly three months before emerging for the 2016 campaign in mid-March, around the time of its annual St. Patrick's Day weekend outing.

For more on the Blue, Red and White nines, click on the links for the course flyovers.