Here's a general rule of thumb about golf courses on Long Island -- the closer you get to Long Island Sound, the more likely it is that you'll square off in an 18-hole battle with hilly, tumbling terrain. Up in Kings Park, not far from where the Nissequogue River flows into the Sound, Smithtown Landing Country Club is ready to duke it out.
Smithtown Landing is a town-owned municipal course sporting an up-and-down layout that culminates with one of the most dramatically sloped closing holes on Long Island. It's hillier than its north shore neighbor courses at nearby Sunken Meadow and Crab Meadow and plays longer than the modest 6,199 yards measured from the tips.
Besides the terrain, what contributes to Smithtown's challenging 18 is the persistent threat of closely looming treelines. Areas of forgiving width are scarce around the course, putting a premium on accuracy and control on nearly every shot. The course features small greens closely surrounded by rough, and a relatively high frequency of internal out-of-bounds -- all the more reason to have some semblance of control over your ball flight as you set out upon the hills of Smithtown.
LAYOUT:
Smithtown Landing begins with one of its many dogleg par-4s, this one an uphill climb that bends to the right. Trees line both sides of the fairway at and beyond the turn, so position on the left is key to ensuring a clear shot at the green. The putting surface is relatively small with mounding around the back and sides that give this green -- and several others around the course -- a mini-amphitheater effect. The same goes for the par-3 second, a 145-yarder (185 from the tips) with rough that slopes down toward a broader green. Getting caught on these sidehills can make up-and-downs for par a real test.
You can breathe easy on the 260-yard third, which presents one of very few wide-open tee shots (just don't miss badly to the right and go careening down onto the adjacent par-3 course). You'll need your strength up ahead at the par-5 fourth, a 580-yard behemoth that requires two mighty clouts and an accurate approach. The first segment of fairway narrows between trees before opening up to a roomier second half, all while the green waits way out, seemingly on the horizon, a tiny target (pictured right) sitting behind stands of tall trees and a gully. Offline approaches are subject to ricochet, blocked recoveries and hillside bounces into the unknown.
The sixth is a much more forgiving par-5 -- at just 450 yards, the hole merely asks for a solid drive down the middle in return for a coveted opportunity to reach in two. The fairway turns a bit to the left and runs downhill before rising again toward a plateau green. Two straight par-4s over level ground bring the front nine to an unadventurous close. A pair of bunkers guard the approach to the 300-yard eighth, while closely encroaching trees loom on both sides of the ninth fairway. The 360-yard ninth offers a flat green and a scenic, high-altitude view of the club.
Players ease into the back nine with a tee shot toward a diagonal fairway on the 273-yard tenth. A little touch is required on the short approach, as there's a bunker in front and just about zero real estate to accommodate misses long. Ahead at #11 is the first of Smithtown's two back-side par-3s, both of which feature tiered greens. The 11th is the shorter of the two, measuring 145 yards from the middle (180 from the tips) with a ridge separating the lower front half from the raised back half. The 180-yard 16th requires a solid long iron to get over the trio of small front-side traps and reach an upper-tier back pin.
Two par-5s on the back move to the left and sport heavily sloped fairways. The 469-yard 12th is another scoring opportunity not only because of its modest yardage, but also because it offers the roomiest tee shot on the course. The fairway here is wide, spacious and pitched from left to right. You'll want to take advantage because the second shot needs to clear a cross bunker directly in front of the green. The 465-yard 14th takes a much harder turn to the left with a slope that filters balls to the outside of the bend. You can try cutting the corner a bit, but beware of internal out-of-bounds on the left side.
In terms of terrain, and hopefully not your score, it's all downhill from the 17th tee. The 320-yard par-4 drops steadily from tee to green -- any well-struck shot should find its way down the slope and settle within a short pitch of the cup. Take a par here and make your way to the memorable finisher (see below in Holes To Remember) with some momentum.
CONDITIONS:
With a couple of exceptions, most notably the cross bunker on the par-5 12th and the traps on #18, there is not a lot of sand protecting Smithtown's greens. Or its fairways for that matter. In fact, the course has filled in a handful of greenfront traps over the past decade. Still, there are not many opportunities to send runners up onto the undersized greens because many of them are cut off from the ends of the fairways by rough, or in cases like the par-5s #4 and #6, by gullies. The greens, most of them small, need to be taken by air.
Not surprisingly, there are a noticeable amount of unrepaired ball marks on many of Smithtown's greens.
Given the high volume of play as a town muni and the wooded nature of the layout, pace of play seems to be a common concern among longtime players.
It's important to note that Smithtown has a significant amount of internal OB, something to consider when trying to cut corners on doglegs. The right side of #1 (aka #10 fairway) is out of bounds, and so is the left side of #18. Though the par-5 14th is fairly wide open throughout the rough inside the bend, shots that stray just a bit too far left -- even if easily found and playable -- will be subject to penalty.
HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER:
Smithtown Landing boasts one of the top closing holes among Long Island publics. The 18th is a fitting conclusion to a round played over such dramatic hillsides. At 390 from the tips and 360 from the middle, #18 makes a near right-angle turn to the left about halfway home, diving straight downhill toward a tiered green. There are two ways to play it -- aim straight out from the tee and leave yourself a downhill approach from the 150-yard marker, or take an aggressive line over the corner and let the slope pull your ball closer to the green. No matter what you choose, you will have a clean look from above at the course's most heavily bunkered putting surface (one big trap short, small ones long) and its only water hazard (right of the green). Unmowed mounds also come into play near the hazard. The upper tier on this wide green is on the right side -- given the trouble that lurks to the right, point the final approach to the lower left half.
AREAS TO AVOID:
Anyone with a propensity to miss left could have a problem on #7, a straightforward par-3 with some breathing room on the right but just about none left of the pin. The hole is 160 yards from the middle tees, and to the left, a very slim sand trap sits below the green. Beyond that, nothing but dense foliage, though white stakes save you the trouble of searching for a ball that's likely unplayable anyway.
OTHER NOTES:
Smithtown Landing also features a par-3 "Learning Links" nine-hole course situated at the center of the property.
Deer sightings are common, and there is plenty of tall, unkempt grass beneath the trees, so use caution to avoid ticks, especially when searching for balls beyond the rough.
NEARBY COURSES:
Sunken Meadow State Park -- Red/Green/Blue (6 miles)
Stonebridge Golf Links (7 miles)
Crab Meadow (9 miles)
SIMILAR COURSES:
Crab Meadow Golf Course
Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course
Great Rock Golf Club
CONTACT:
495 Landing Ave., Smithtown 11787
(631) 979-6534
www.smithtownlandingcc.com
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