Just ahead of Thanksgiving, Golf Magazine has reminded Long Island golfers that there are plenty of reasons to be grateful this holiday season. Seven reasons, to be exact -- that's the number of Long Island golf destinations included on Golf's list of Top 100 Courses in the World for 2021-22.
Most notable for public players, of course, is Bethpage Black, one of the few public locales to find its way onto the list. The Black is ranked #52, and sixth out of the seven Long Island courses, just ahead of Maidstone and a few spots behind Garden City.
"The Black is one of the great routings," according to the magazine panel, "highlighted by the masterful way Tillinghast placed the fairways and greens from the second hole in a valley all the way through the dogleg left ninth. The par-5 fourth and its iconic cross-bunkering is a world-beater."
Shinnecock Hills and National Golf Links of America are ranked #4 and #5, meaning two of the top five golf courses in the world, as determined by Golf Magazine's panel of 107 raters, look out over each other's doorsteps in Southampton. The panel rated Fishers Island #16, Friar's Head #21, Garden City #45 and Maidstone #56.
Earlier this summer, Golf Digest put Bethpage Black at #8 on its ranking of top New York State golf courses, with Long Island courses and clubs making up nearly half the list. (Shinnecock, National Golf Links, Fishers Island and Friar's Head all landed in the top five.) Black was also #8 on Golf Digest's Greatest Public Courses list.
The vast majority of local players would be even more thankful if they could just once find their way onto those vaunted club courses, but for now most will happily make do with access to the Black Course, which closed for the season earlier this month and will reopen for play in April.
For the full World Top 100, visit the Golf Magazine website.
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