Golf on Long Island

Bethpage repeats as "Best Golf Course" in annual Long Island Press poll

Nothing to see here.  The results are in for the 2017 "Best of LI" poll by the Long Island Press, and Bethpage State Park is still on top.

In fact, all of the golf-category winners from 2016 are back in the top spot -- Bethpage for "Best Golf Course," Heartland Golf Park for "Best Driving Range" and Unique Golf Shop in Babylon for "Best Golf Store."

Long Island Press readers have selected Bethpage as the Island's top golf destination every year since the Press began conducting the online survey more than a decade ago.  The 90-hole golf mecca is best known for the famed Black Course and its "Warning" sign, but the mighty Red Course draws its fair share of golfers from near and far, as do the Blue, Yellow and Green courses.

Heartland is a repeat winner in a category that typically offers up new gold medalists each time around.  The bi-level range near the Deer Park train station includes automatic tees and other modern amenities, as well as a nine-hole golf course (and mini golf) on site. 

Unique Golf Shop is just as dominant as Bethpage in the Best Golf Store category, now taking top honors in seven consecutive surveys.

For more on these "Best of LI" winners, as well as medalists in all surveys ranging from restaurants, bars and shopping to mascots, DJs and Twitter accounts, visit the Long Island Press website.

2017 public golf course reopenings on Long Island

It's hard to resist -- you get a few 60-degree days in late February and instincts tell you to start looking ahead to the spring golf season.  On a warm President's Day Sunday, the parking lot at Lido was full.  Winter golfers don't waste time taking advantage of playable conditions.

Soon enough, Long Island's seasonal golf courses will start shaking off the frost and reopening tees, fairways and greens.  The ball starts rolling in early March, and within a month, Long Island golf is usually up to full speed.

The following is a list of tentative 2017 opening dates for Long Island's seasonal golf courses.  (Year-round courses reopen as soon as weather allows and are not included in this list.)  Opening dates range from the middle of March through the first half of April.  Courses will be added or updated as information becomes available.  Be sure to check back through February and March for the latest info.

*All dates listed below are subject to change.  Call the courses directly for updated dates and times.

GOLF COURSE REOPENINGS:

• Timber Point -- OPEN
  
• Brentwood CC -- March 24
  
• Holbrook CC -- March 24
  
• Bergen Point -- March 21
• Woods Course at Cherry Creek -- March 25
• Harbor Links Championship/Executive -- March 31
• Bethpage Red -- March 31
• The Golf Club at Middle Bay -- March 31
• Town of Oyster Bay GC -- April 4
• Bethpage Black -- April 14
• Eisenhower Red -- April 15 (approximate)
• Christopher Morley Park -- OPEN

The following courses typically open in early to mid March:

• Glen Cove
  
• Sumpwams Creek Par-3

 The following courses typically open by April 1:

• Bay Park
• Poxabogue

[This post was updated on March 30, 2017.]

Timber Point to reopen March 10

What better day to talk about the dawn of a new golf season than on a balmy 70-degree day in February?

Timber Point Golf Course in Great River will reopen for the 2017 season on Friday, March 10, weather permitting.  Check back later this month for information on Timber Point's annual St. Patrick's Day scramble.

For more on Timber Point, check out the Red, White and Blue flyovers.

Long Island Golf & Travel Show coming to Brentwood in March

North Coast Golf and Travel Shows is bringing a Long Island golf expo back to Brentwood after an extended absence.

Suffolk Community College will host the Long Island Golf & Travel Show -- sponsored by the Metropolitan PGA, Golfing Magazine, Golf Magazine and The Inn at Pocono Manor -- from Friday, March 3 to Sunday, March 5.  The show will feature driving and putting challenges, demo areas, free instruction and golf entertainment, among other activities.  Participating vendors include courses, equipment companies, resort destinations and golf retailers.

Members of the Metropolitan PGA and Metropolitan Golf Association will be on the main stage throughout the weekend to discuss techniques and rule changes.  While much of the show is focused on discount equipment, gear, hands-on demos and golf getaways, you can find some Long Island representation at the Golfing Magazine and MGA booths. 

Admission is $12 (cash only) and comes with a one-year subscription to Golf Magazine.  Kids 12 and under are admitted free.  Show hours are Friday 1:00 to 7:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Golf-related Street Names: The Ghosts of Long Island Golf's Past, Part 1

For years, on the way to playing nine holes at North Woodmere Park, I wondered why a street named "Golf Drive" existed in a residential area with no apparent connection to golf.  The Nassau muni was about a half-mile away, and certainly not the type of course to be commemorated on road signs.  Had I ever turned down Golf Drive, my mind might have been blown.  Along its short run it crosses streets named Bunker, Eagle and Hook.  It doesn't stop there -- on the other side of a hazard-sized inlet are roads like Fairway Drive, Green Place and Tee Court. 

It wouldn't be until only recently during my research for "Long Island Golf" that I discovered the reason behind the golf-centric street names.  Those Woodmere neighborhoods between Peninsula Boulevard and Hungry Harbor Road were built on top of what was once a golf course. 

Digging deeper revealed that this was a fairly common occurrence.  When the suburbanization of Long Island kicked into high gear, in many cases, failing or abandoned golf courses were leveled, paved over and topped with the neighborhoods we know today.  Often the old golf grounds were memorialized on street signs.

So, as a sucker for this sort of local history, I plan to feature these road-mapped ghosts of Long Island golf's past on occasion over the coming months.  Are there golf-titled roads in your area?  Perhaps you live in the middle of a long-gone fairway -- or pot bunker.

As for the above-mentioned course:

Known as Cedar Point and built over marshland west of Woodmere, the course came to be, most likely, during the 1920s golf boom.  Newspaper and other published accounts reference possible ties to organized crime.  Evidently the course was plagued with drainage and flooding issues that would render it unplayable for extended periods after rains.  In 1932, the course was rebranded as Meadowlawn Golf Club and introduced a "pay as you play" policy that one local newspaper, The Wave, found to be a novel concept.

"Seldom is it that the public is permitted to share a sporty 18-hole course, a splendid modern clubhouse, old English grill, up-to-date lockers and showers on a green-fee basis," The Wave reported, ironically the same year that Lenox Hills Golf Club became a public facility in what would eventually be known as Bethpage State Park.

Meadowlawn fell short of its lofty expectations.  In the spring of 1938, it became known as the Westwood Golf & Tennis Club, and in the five years since the dawn of Meadowlawn, the course had been "neglected and abused both physically and conversationally by the golfing fraternity," according to the Nassau Daily Review-Star. 

The story comes to a rather typical and uneventful conclusion.  Like many middling clubs in the post-Depression and World War II era, it floundered until it was either sold or abandoned.  Newsday articles in 1945 described attempts to build a racetrack on the property.  Tragically, in 1947, two people died in a fire that burned down the deteriorating former clubhouse.

One interesting part of its history concerns a players' club organized by former caddies at courses around the nearby Rockaway peninsula.  The club held its championships at various Long Island courses, including Cedar Point during its final days.  Eventually, the club decided to purchase the failing Nassau Shores Country Club's course farther east in Massapequa and refurbished it into the "Peninsula" Golf Club that still exists today.

SEE OTHER STREET-NAME POSTS:
Part 2: The Lido Club -- Lido Beach
Part 3: Valley Stream Country Club -- Valley Stream
Part 4: Sayville Golf Club -- Sayville

"Long Island Golf" lecture and book signing this Sunday at the Long Island Maritime Museum

Golf On Long Island's Phil Carlucci will lead a discussion on local golf history and sign copies of "Images of America: Long Island Golf" on Sunday, February 12 at the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville.

The event is part of the Maritime Museum's winter lecture series.  Refreshments will be served at noon, followed by the lecture at 12:30.  Books will be available for $20.

Contact the museum to reserve a space.

For more information on the photo-history book, which contains more than 200 images of local courses, clubs and golf figures, visit the "Long Island Golf" page.

Golf On Long Island's "Suffolk 18" - Back Nine

The "Suffolk 18" is a collection of some of the county's best public golf holes by hole number, organized as a fantasy golf course with a typical par-71 to par-73 layout.  To look back at the front nine in detail, click here. 

Today is the back nine, following a quick front-nine refresher:

1) GREAT ROCK -- par-5, 489/430/416 yards
2) PINE RIDGE -- par-4, 471/428/392 yards
3) MILL POND -- par-5, 478/458/438 yards
4) PINE RIDGE -- par-4, 312/278/251 yards
5) TIMBER POINT, BLUE COURSE -- par-3, 207/188/151 yards
6) TIMBER POINT, BLUE COURSE -- par-4, 358/346/336 yards
7) STONEBRIDGE -- par-3, 234/194/136 yards
8) MILL POND -- par-4, 409/400/350 yards
9) SWAN LAKE -- par-4, 373/343/319 yards

OUT:  Par 36 - 3,331/3,065/2,789 yards

10) WIND WATCH -- par-5, 491/480/468 yards

For a hole that's dealt with an uncommon amount of change in recent years, Wind Watch's tenth has maintained the most memorable part of its identity -- the scenic drive that looks out from one of the Island's highest points.  It was a par-4 until 2010 when it was stretched to the max and converted into a 491-yard par-5.  The renovation included three redesigned bunker complexes, each gobbling up more space in the fairway as they get closer to the green.  In 2012, Wind Watch renumbered its holes, sending its picturesque opener to the back.  Nevertheless, it remains an exhilarating downhill drive even if it's no longer a classic starting hole.

11) TALLGRASS -- par-4, 384/353/303 yards

A sandy waste area on the left and a grassy berm on the right frame one of Tallgrass's signature holes.  At the foot of the berm, a ribbon of sand runs the entire length of fairway.  Throw in an elevated tee and what you have is a scoreable par-4 with a fine panoramic vista.  The green is hidden from view, but stay left off the tee and the approach opens wide.  What you see from there is an amphitheater-style green with little humps on its right side that set up some tricky putts.  Lose any shot too far wide, however, and the hole bares its teeth.  Awkward recoveries abound from the sand, and the berm can turn some unfortunate shots unplayable.

12) MONTAUK DOWNS -- par-3, 221/192/161 yards

Another of Long Island's iconic par-3s awaits visitors out in Montauk.  It's all there in front of you from a slightly raised tee box -- a wide green behind two large bunkers.  Check that...it's almost all there in front of you.  What you can't see is Montauk's most overpowering ingredient -- the wind, which has the ability to transform an already daunting par-3 into an unpredictable test of strength and accuracy.

13) CHERRY CREEK, LINKS COURSE -- par-3, 224/184/164 yards

The 13th doesn't have quite the same panache as most of the other par-3s in this layout, but it does sport one very unique characteristic.  Cherry Creek's Links Course not only has Long Island's only par-6, it also features, here on #13, what's arguably the Island's narrowest green.  The surface is not much more than a dozen paces wide, and what's more, the right-side bunker is just about identical in size.  Add in another left-side trap and this is a very difficult green to hit, especially since, with close to 200 yards to cover, you'll need a long iron or hybrid to do it. 

14) SMITHTOWN LANDING -- par-5, 475/465/450 yards

This dogleg par-5 puts you on the defensive as soon as you step on the tee.  Drives that hug the turn risk ending up inside one of a trio of small bunkers, while the poorest tee shots can slice out of bounds on the right or fly into interior OB on the left.  A nice drive, however, and a strong clout on the uphill approach shot should yield a birdie opportunity, though the tricky green will not give strokes away easily. 

15) WILLOW CREEK -- par-5, 545/526/505 yards

Like a mutant golf hole brought to life to destroy scorecards, the 15th at Willow Creek is an amalgam of formless fairways and shape-shifting hazards. A massive, claw-like bunker in the left fairway threatens to grab drives that venture too close.  Next up is a risky shot to a second fairway that's pinched by bunkers and the ever-present threat of the creek on the right.  Finally, the approach is to an offset green that's elevated behind another huge trap and a second creek crossing.  With the procession of hazards and the wacky angles, it's hard to come up with a battle plan, yet each shot carries a slim margin of error.

16) ISLAND'S END -- par-3, 210/185/170 yards

It doesn't get much better than the 16th tee at Island's End, where Greenport's north shore could easily be mistaken for the California coast.  The hole is elevated on a bluff looking over Long Island Sound; the Connecticut coast is in view in the distance.  It's not just eye candy, though.  The task at hand remains getting the best of a long par-3 with a cluster of sand traps protecting its right.  Aim toward the open left side -- if you miss, you'll be playing into the slope with the Sound serving as a sweet backdrop.

17) WILLOW CREEK -- par-4, 430/415/353 yards

Willow Creek's longest par-4 doesn't feature as much sand as most others on the course, but it makes up for the scarcity of sand with placement.  Single medium-sized traps are situated in spots on each side of the fairway that allow them to at least mildly influence both short and long tee shots.  At the second of the two traps, the fairway bottlenecks between the sand and a water hazard and remains narrow the rest of the way.  A third center-line bunker short of the green cuts off any ground approaches.

18) WIND WATCH -- par-4,  367/328/325 yards

To cap off the Suffolk 18 and a back nine that demands a lot of length on its par-3s and par-4s, it's time to club down and have some fun.  And there's fun to be found climbing the same hill the Suffolk 18 descended when it teed off on Wind Watch #10.  While opinions might vary on the architectural merits of 90-degree doglegs, it's hard to deny that rounds at Wind Watch conclude with some heightened suspense.  A 200-yard tee shot, preferably one with right-to-left movement, will land in perfect position for the final approach of the day -- an uphill short iron to a tightly bunkered diagonal green.  You'll need to be aware of the pin placement, because the excitement on this hole is in its triple-tiered green, and it's bad enough putting up or down one slope, let alone two.  Plus, the back bunkers are hidden from the fairway, so overclubbing on the way up can have nasty consequences.

IN:  Par 36 - 3,347/3,128/2,899 yards

TOTAL:  Par 72 - 6,678/6,193/5,688 yards

NEXT WEEK: Suffolk 18, Second Course

Disagree with any of our selections?  Let us know in the comments section below, or become a fan on Facebook and let us know over there.

Early Bird gets a deal on Golfing Magazine's annual "Free Golf Program"

You can save on summer green fees even in the dead of winter thanks to Golfing Magazine and its annual Free Golf Program.  And you can save a few additional bucks on top of the deal by taking advantage of the mag's Early Bird Special, available now through April.

For $39, early subscribers receive "free" green fees at a variety of Long Island golf courses (participating courses to be determined later this spring) plus a one-year subscription to the Hicksville-based magazine, and other perks.  Starting May 1, the subscription rises to the standard $49 rate.

Eight courses took part in the 2016 program, including Brentwood Country Club, Cherry Creek's Woods Course, Holbrook Country Club, Island's End and Middle Bay.  It also featured free simulator time at Simplay in Hauppauge.

A certificate will be sent to each subscriber in the spring, valid for a single use at each of the participating facilities.  Only a cart fee is due on the day of play (other terms and restrictions may apply). 

The certificate also gives subscribers the opportunity to sample golf courses around the Northeast.  It is valid at dozens of courses across upstate New York and New England.  A full list of courses on and off Long Island will be available when the program officially tees off in May.  Certificates are valid until the end of the year.

Visit the Golfing Magazine website or call (516) 822-5446 to sign up.