[UPDATE: The Vineyards Golf Club has transitioned back to a members-only private club after several seasons offering tee times direct to the public or through sites like GolfNow. The flyover below reflects course status as of the original date of publication.]
The Riverhead golf hotbed has added another course to its public menu, despite the fact that area courses are more often closing or converting than newly opening. The public got one back though, now that The Vineyards Golf Club, formerly fully private, is now a semi-private facility open to non-members.
Though just a short drive from bustling downtown Riverhead, The Vineyards' personality is more in line with that of its namesake North Fork wine country. The course is tucked away within a bucolic stretch of East End farmland -- on one side is the adjacent Woods Course at Cherry Creek; on the other is an expanse of seasonal vegetable crops.
The Vineyards shares rural scenery with its two neighbors at Cherry Creek, but on the course itself, it more closely resembles some of its other Long Island counterparts. Sporting close to 100 traps that range from small pot bunkers to serpentine pits to massive, irregular splotches, Vineyards' sandy layout and its fast-paced greens are reminiscent of Willow Creek in Mount Sinai. The short yardage and often dramatically sloped green complexes, all amid a wide-open, breezy landscape, are on par with the recently departed Tallgrass Golf Course in Shoreham.
Previously known as the Olde Vine Club, The Vineyards became a fully private member-owned club in 2014, then began allowing limited public play on a temporary basis the following season. The course is now open to the public without restrictions (tee times are available through GolfNow).
LAYOUT:
The par-70 -- 36 on the front, 34 on the back -- tops out at 5,873 yards, and until the 18th, players don't see a par-4 that touches 400 yards. Vineyards is heavy on mid-length par-4s that are strengthened by gusty winds, undulating greens and bunker placement. It starts with its first of three par-5s, this one a 481-yarder from the tips with fairway bunkers encouraging shots to remain on the right side. The green sits on a slight diagonal to the fairway, with big bunkers left and right.
The first two par-4s take hard right turns with trouble inside the bends. On #2, a series of six circular traps dot the right side from mid-fairway to the green. Wonderfully executed tee shots through the corner and over the sand could leave just a 50-yard pitch to the flag. Ahead at #4 (pictured left), the fairway curves around a pond and drastically narrows as it approaches the green. Once off #4 green, you're done with the course's curving par-4s. The rest play straight ahead -- strategy off the tee, largely determined by wind, centers solely on avoiding fairway bunkers.
At 338 yards from the back tees and 303 from the middle, #5 is short enough on the scorecard for some to consider a go at the green, but large traps in front and another in the back are cause to rethink the plan. Playing back in the opposite direction, the sixth presents a couple of left-side fairway traps and a scattering of more sand around the front and sides of the green.
The par-5 eighth brings a little curve back to the course -- its fairway drifts left around a trap, then continues past alternating left and right bunkers before stopping at a well-protected green. An accurate, sand-free tee shot brings the green within reach on the second shot. Some might instinctively reach for the driver on #9, a short, downhill par-4, but a bad pull risks a watery conclusion to the front nine. Better to play short and try to get up and down for birdie.
#10 offers a little breather -- emphasis on little -- before the big test ahead at #11. The back nine's opening hole is a par-3 that feels shorter than its listed 132 yards. Pop a wedge to the center of the green to usher in some positive vibes ahead of the 556-yard giant, whose carry from back tee to fairway is far longer than the 10th hole itself. An imposing sand complex deep into the fairway's left side is a major concern on second shots -- players looking to leave themselves a short pitch to get on in three will need to fly the far reaches of the sand. Conservative plays to the right side net a third shot over a greenfront trap.
False fronts boost the challenge midway through the back nine. The par-4 13th features a sand-fortified green that can hold its own with a front slope ready to repel balls that come up short. More dramatic though is the 14th, an uphill par-3 where underclubbed shots can wind up 30 yards back in the fairway and far below the surface.
While irregular traps defend the elevated 14th green, the next par-3 ahead at #17 (right) is loosely protected by a scattering of round traps found mostly behind the green, save for a deep pot bunker in front. The closer is Vineyards' lone 400-yard par-4 (first picture above) -- like many of those that came before, it features sand on alternating sides of the fairway. The hole narrows alongside a pond before reaching a thin green secured by no fewer than eight traps.
CONDITIONS:
Besides the speedy greens and stiff winds, another impediment to a low round at The Vineyards is the fescue, which lingers beyond the rough on almost all holes. This is Erin Hills-type fescue, the kind of dense, unforgiving growth that would have cranky pros smarting on Instagram. Any ball that even grazes it is likely lost or barely playable. One of our prolonged searches through the deep unknown netted 14 found balls, though not the particular one we were looking for. Long story short -- stay out of it.
The winds can shift significantly during the course of a morning or afternoon. One Golf On Long Island reader who described a 36-hole day at Vineyards noted that the change in wind speed and direction were dramatic enough to make a two-club difference from AM to PM on the par-3s.
The Vineyards has the manicured appearance one would expect to find at a club originally built for private membership. Both grounds and scenery are impressive. The fast putting surfaces require a cautious but confident stroke. "This is one of the few courses in the area where leaving yourself a downhill putt is very dangerous," says a GOLI reader.
Homes in the adjacent residential community are largely out of play, though there are a few spots where white stakes signify when what appears to be a favorable lie in playable rough is actually someone's side yard.
It took some time to adapt to the tee colors, since Vineyards eschews the standard blue/white/red for what is actually a North Fork-inspired color scheme of purple and green. Fittingly, the tees are Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet.
HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER:Dial in your yardages before reaching the par-3 14th (right). This is no ordinary 132-yard shot, given the green's steep false front and its tiny yet terrifying backside bunker. A rejection by the front slope is frustrating enough when it leaves a second-shot pitch way back up to the green; much more aggravating is a third-shot recovery after your blast from the sand went careening off the front.
AREA(S) TO AVOID:
It takes great shot after great shot just to pick up a par on the 556-yard 11th, so don't tempt the triple-bogey gods by messing around on the hole's left side. Yes, the meat of the fairway is a long way out there, but yanking an overaggressive drive into the fescue does you no good, and even if you have a shot somewhere in the left rough, the big bunkers ahead are more in play than they would be had you challenged the right side instead.
NEARBY COURSES:
Cherry Creek - Links / Woods (1/4 mile)
Sandy Pond (2 miles)
Indian Island (5 miles)
WHERE TO GRAB A BITE AND A BEER:
The Vineyards' rural locale means that outside Stonewalls Restaurant next door at Cherry Creek's Woods Course, dining options require a little bit of a ride. South of the course, Old Country Road has just about any chain bar and grill or fast-food place you could want. In downtown Riverhead, PeraBell Food Bar offers a bistro setting and local beers. While Turkish food might not be the first choice after a summer round, Turkuaz Grill features some cool riverfront tables for added relaxation. Also keep in mind that Riverhead has become a hotbed for microbreweries in recent years -- taps are open at Long Ireland, Moustache Brewing and others.
CONTACT:
9 Tyler Drive, Riverhead 11901
(631) 740-9300
www.thevineyardsgolfclub.com
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