It's been just about nine years since the first edition of Golf On Long Island's "Nassau 18" was published back in spring 2011, and with little else to talk about in local golf except what's open and what's closed during the battle against coronavirus, now's a great time for version 2.0.
Besides, with no sports in general, lists, rankings, nostalgia and more are taking center stage until the real thing returns. So what follows here, like last time, is a fantasy course made up of some of the most notable public golf holes in Nassau County, chosen by hole number and ordered as close to a real course as possible.
With the "Nassau 18," we've highlighted some of the county's most challenging, scenic, historic, uphill, downhill, straight and doglegged holes and attempted to show that there's more to public golf in Nassau than Bethpage Black and Red. Of course, in order to keep the Black Course from dominating the list, holes were selected according to the following guidelines:
- No more than three holes per course;
- No more than nine Bethpage holes in total;
- Holes were selected to conform to a typical course sequence; and
- Holes were selected to offer a variety of styles -- long and short par-4s; uphill and downhill; wet and dry; etc.
So, sure, some of the holes below might not be the absolute "best" in the county (let's face it, the Black Course alone would make up two-thirds of the 18, hands down), but in terms of creating a fantasy golf course out of thin air with a mix of styles and qualities, the 18 holes listed below are certainly worth the praise.
Golf On Long Island's "Nassau 18" begins at, where else, Bethpage...
1) BETHPAGE RED -- par-4, 471/459/438 yards
On the A-list of opening holes not just locally but nationally as well, #1 at Bethpage Red is 471 yards of shattered optimism. All that anticipation to start the round, and one poor drive later you're in the rough staring at a green 300 yards away atop what looks like a small mountain. And that's if you can even see the green at all. The groups of waiting foursomes have a clear view, though, and they don't like what they see. They just watched you closely from #1's stadium teebox and are now muttering to themselves as you slowly make your way up the fairway. There's one way to keep them quiet, however -- hammer a drive into the fairway and follow with a long iron or hybrid to the small, elevated surface. It's a tall order for the first two shots of the day, but pull it off and you're on your way with a swagger in your step.
2) MERRICK ROAD PARK -- par-3, 147/122 yards
Two similar Long Island par-3s reside on municipally owned courses. Each hole directs golfers to the edge of Atlantic bay waters. Only steps from the bay, flags piercing elevated, back-to-front greens whip in strong South Shore gusts. Miss to the sides and balls will tumble down into sand, rough or uneven lies.
One of these holes is Timber Point's famous "Gibraltar," a par-3 celebrated among Long Island's most historic, iconic golf holes. The other is at Merrick Park, free of fanfare. Of course, the 60-yard difference and Timber Point's past life as a storied private club is why only Gibraltar is featured in works like William Quirin's "America's Linksland," but its shorter, rougher-around-the-edges neighbor one county over deserves some respect, if only for the scenery. The Jones Beach tower and amphitheater are visible in the distance.
3) EISENHOWER RED -- par-5, 515/490/356 yards
You'll need to be accurate on this dogleg-right par-5, because there's not much room to play with inside the hole's thickly tree-lined perimeter. A powerful drive will net an outside chance of reaching the green in two, but the risk is a punch-out from under the trees and most likely a third-shot lay-up to boot. Club down off the tee if you're not comfortable with the driver, but beware of the bunker trio waiting patiently in the hybrid/wood landing area.
4) OYSTER BAY -- par-4, 414/380/313 yards
The fourth hole at Oyster Bay is arguably the most difficult hole on Long Island that nobody knows about. Perhaps it's because for a long time the town muni made it very difficult and expensive for non-residents to play the course, or because, just a few minutes up the road from Bethpage, it hides in the state park's shadow. But the dogleg, uphill fourth is worthy of more attention. It bends to the right about halfway down the fairway, then begins a long, rough- and sand-covered climb to a triple-tiered green that can't be seen from down below.
For a full analysis, see Closer Look: Oyster Bay #4.
5) HARBOR LINKS -- par-4, 333/305/280 yards
The first of three double-fairway holes at Harbor Links, this short par-4 finds a near-perfect balance of risk and reward. A lower, more approachable fairway is open on the right, but the second shot is totally blind and must fly over a slope of merciless rough. Getting caught in there is practically a penalty stroke. The upper fairway ensures a clear shot at the green, but landing there safely in the first place requires a precise tee shot to an ever-shrinking sliver of short grass that's no more than 15 yards wide in the ideal landing area. (RIGHT: The view from the lower fairway.)
6) BETHPAGE BLUE -- par-4, 462/446/437 yards
Envision trying to make a hard left turn going 40 mph -- in a Mister Softee truck -- and you'll begin to understand the difficulty of this Bethpage behemoth. Not your everyday dogleg-left par-4, this version starts from an elevated tee, then climbs back uphill from fairway to green. Ideally, a mighty draw finds the sweet part of the fairway with minimal risk, but since many players don't have that shot handy, a different route might be necessary. You can try to cut the corner blindly over trees, but miss and you're lost. Go straight out to the turn, just keep in mind the elevation brings a far-side bunker within easy reach. Plus, it's not too hard to overshoot the turn and scoot down to the fourth fairway. Even with the perfect drive, there's still close to 200 uphill yards to go on one of the best holes in the entire Bethpage complex.
7) GLEN COVE -- par-4, 410/304/292 yards
The toughest hole at Glen Cove's municipal course is a left dogleg with a unique teeing area. The back tee is recessed behind a tight corridor framed by trees, a creek and some shrubbery, which leaves only a small part of the fairway visible in the distance. A trio of bunkers waits to gobble up long, straight drives outside the turn, but play the tee shot short of these traps or draw the ball to the left-center of the fairway and all that's left is a mid- to short iron approach to a flat green.
8) BETHPAGE BLACK -- par-3, 210/191/152 yards
The hills of Bethpage are hard to capture in photographs and even harder to envision in mind if you've spent any prolonged stretch of time in central Nassau. Stepping up to #8 on the Black Course, one wonders if they're really just a mile from flat, soulless Route 110. The hole plummets from stacked teeboxes. Black's lone water hazard fronts the green, while a tree overhangs on the right and bunkers sit left and long. Wind and the descent force you to think hard about club selection.
9) BETHPAGE RED -- par-4, 466/449/433 yards
It's tempting to snip some yardage off this lengthy par-4 by cutting the corner of the soft dogleg, but a cluster of bunkers in the rough between #8 and #9 calls for a carry of up to 250 yards. Mess with them if you wish, but it's usually best to steer clear and head over to the right side of the fairway for a slightly longer approach. Unless you're coming in from the right side, you'll have to take this green from the air, as a trap short of the surface guards the left half.
OUT: Par 35 - 3,428/3,146/2,823 yards
10) BETHPAGE GREEN -- par-4, 343/328/290 yards
After some cruelly long par-4s, how about opening the back nine with a shortie. The toughest part of this hole might be the hike to the elevated teebox. A well-struck iron or hybrid down the hill to a tree-lined fairway will set up a short-iron approach. If you play with wild-eyed abandon, or you're a pro that can thread powerful drives into a tiny window, you can rip driver and see what happens. Two bunkers clogging the neck of the green convince you not to bother.
11) MIDDLE BAY -- par-4, 331/308/298 yards
When the first edition of GOLI's "Nassau 18" was published back in 2011, Middle Bay Country Club was more than 50 years into its run as a private club. After Hurricane Sandy in fall 2012, and a brief rebirth as South Bay, it reemerged as publicly accessible The Golf Club at Middle Bay. And its signature hole -- a gusty, waterfront par-4 with the barrier beaches in the distance -- lands here at #11 (up until a few years ago, it was hole #8). The tee is just steps from the bay's edge and takes aim at a diagonal fairway running from right to left. From tee to green, the nearside "rough" is a 10-yard-wide sandy waste area separating short grass 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 against wind-aided driving attempts and wind-stopped wedges.
12) BETHPAGE YELLOW -- par-4, 313/300/289 yards
Once part of Bethpage's original Blue Course, the 12th on today's Yellow is a remnant of A.W. Tillinghast's signature "Reef" hole, a design that asks golfers to weigh the risks and rewards of challenging a diagonal hazard near the green. More than 80 years after the hole's debut, no such hazard exists, so what's left is a driveable par-4 that provides some fun ahead of Yellow's formidable par-4 13th. Give it a go from the tee -- you can send a runner up the far end of the fairway with little to worry about except a far-left bunker and mounding on the right. On the other side of the mounds, the hole's designed bailout area lives on as a small arm of fairway.
For a deeper dive into this hole, see Closer Look: Bethpage Yellow #12.
13) BETHPAGE RED -- par-4, 400/385/372 yards
At Red #13, A.W. Tillinghast crafted a hole where the worst thing you could do is drive it dead center. That's because the fairway branches off into split left and right fairways, leaving an expanse of tall rough and eight bunkers in between. Picking a fairway is tough -- the right side looks open and inviting, the left narrow and hidden, but there's deception at work. Choosing what appears to be the safe play leaves a tricky angle into the green.
For a full breakdown of this hole, see Closer Look: Bethpage Red #13.
14) LIDO -- par-4, 402/376/351 yards
The threat of water is present all over Lido's closing holes, whether it's Reynolds Channel along the preceding 13th or interior hazards on 14 through 17. Water ripples on both sides of #14's narrow fairway -- a large hazard flanks the entire right side while a smaller pond splashes far and left. The best tee shots begin down the left side and fade back into the fairway. You can start balls out to the right, but if they don't draw back, they're sunk. The green is offset to the left and protected by a deep trap. Left of the green, the pond remains in play to catch pulls and hoppers through the side rough.
15) BETHPAGE BLACK -- par-4, 478/430/417 yards
Another of the Black's iconic par-4s, this brute seems surprisingly tame from the tee. The fairway is wide open, at first glance, compared to the rest of the Black. But it's a heck of a 50-foot climb to the green, and a drive into the rough makes the sand- and rough-riddled slope impassable with the second shot. It's hard to grasp just how high up this green sits until you make that walk down the 15th fairway for the first time.
16) LIDO -- par-5, 487/460/430 yards
Bring a map, compass, GPS, caddy; whatever it takes to navigate around Lido's double-island fairway. There are several methods of attack on the 16th, but none of them offer clear views of their targets, and only the most precisely executed plans will result in a spot on the green in two or even three strokes. Tee shots are directed to an island landing area that offers a conservative path to the green and a daring one. Shortcuts follow the right side. Here, the water carries on both the drive and approach are much longer, the margin of error much slimmer and the angles much less favorable. There's plenty more dry land to work with on the left, but short drives will force you to play the rest of the hole on the defensive. Oh, and don't forget the whipping wind!
17) BETHPAGE BLACK -- par-3, 207/195/178 yards
Nassau boasts some memorable one-shotters at #17 -- see the penal varieties at Harbor Links and Lido -- but there are few better places to be on a Long Island golf course than the tee at Black #17. Up ahead, the wide oval green is tucked amid waves of bunkering. To the left, a look at the starting holes sweeping across the valley and the Bethpage clubhouse atop the hill, and to the right, the preceding 15th and 16th. Add to this the imagery of the world's best players taking the same shots amid thousands of fans in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.
18) MIDDLE BAY -- par-5, 549/537/511 yards
Thanks to a 2015 reconfiguration, Middle Bay -- and the Nassau 18 -- now ends with a massive par-5 that can play closer to 600 yards if the wind is more foe than friend. Roughly 200 yards from the tee, the fairway begins a soft, steady right turn around a water hazard before a second pond joins in on the left side about 150 yards from the green. In all, the hole bends 90 degrees, meaning there are two different wind directions to contend with, on top of the threat of hazards on every shot.
IN: Par 37 - 3,510/3,319/3,136 yards
TOTAL: Par 72 - 6,938/6,465/5,959 yards
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