No further confirmation was really needed -- the abrupt closing last fall, the disconnected phone line, frozen-in-time social media and lack of a 2020 playing season were all dead giveaways regarding the fate of the Great Rock Golf Club. And without an official notice or a brief snippet in the newspaper, it seems a three-word sign on the course's locked gate is as close to a confirmation as local golfers are going to get.
Great Rock Golf Club is out of business. The sign reads "CLOSED for Business" -- obscured behind it is a previous posting that the Wading River semi-private golf facility would reopen in the spring.
From the time the course suddenly closed last October until early January of this year, "closed for the season" and "See You Next Year!" were the main messages sent out to area golfers on the club's website and social media outlets. But as Golf On Long Island wrote in May, next year never arrived. Before the course closed last fall, golfers complained about deteriorating conditions as rumors of a sale lingered.
Public golf on the East End has taken a couple of heavy blows since 2013 when Calverton Links closed in similar sudden fashion, and that includes Long Island National turning private that same year and The Vineyards switching back to fully private play in 2020. (A detour while apple picking in Riverhead featured a drive past the remains of Calverton Links, a stop at Great Rock and could have quickly added a visit to the massive solar farm now occupying the former Tallgrass Golf Course.)
Great Rock opened in 2001 during the latest course-building surge and came to be known for fast greens and elevated service. Holes like the signature tenth (with the namesake rock) were featured by Newsday and Golfing Magazine. In 2010, Newsday highlighted Great Rock's staff -- some of whom were brought over in 2008 from Shinnecock Hills -- and its focus on customer service and pristine conditions.
The course briefly closed prior to the 2014 season but reopened later that year under new ownership. A year later, the club completed a dramatic remodel of its on-site restaurant and opened Pure North Fork, a modern American bistro.
Last year, golfers turned to review sites like Golf Advisor to voice their displeasure over what was essentially an abandoned golf course, complete with crabgrass-strewn fairways, weedy bunkers and bare greens. Unfortunately, for some, that will be the lasting image of the Wading River club.
Long Island National went private a few years back, also. Hampton Hills was open to the public for a while. Oldtimers recall Flagg CC before it became Fox Hollow and then Baiting Hollow (or whatever it's called now). Cherry Creek sale is long-rumored. Alas.
Posted by: John Usher | September 27, 2020 at 12:28 PM
Links at Shirley too if you go back to '09.
Posted by: Phil | September 28, 2020 at 10:11 AM