Golf on Long Island

2021-22 Winter Rates Roundup

It hasn't been the best Long Island winter golf season of the recent past, but on the bright side it hasn't been among the worst ones either.  Outside of one shovel-required snowfall, winter fairways have remained clear.

Now if we could just got a slight reprieve from the constant sub-freezing temps, we might have ourselves a mildly comfortable offseason.

Golf On Long Island loves winter golf, and you should too, if only for the chance to play quality courses with limited crowds.  Typically winter rates are part of the appeal as well, though for various reasons, offseason discounts are not quite as deep as in years past.  Listed below are 18-hole winter rates posted at area courses.  (Note that these do not represent offseason rates at all courses.) 

For full details about rates and course conditions, contact the courses directly. 

• Cherry Creek Links:  $40 to walk and $55 to ride on weekdays; $45 to walk, $60 to ride on weekends (nine-hole rates also available)
• Mill Pond:  $32 to walk, $44 to ride on weekday mornings for town residents ($45/$57 for non-residents); $54 to ride on weekends and holidays ($67 for non-residents).  Twilight rates available after 12 noon.
• Pine Hills:  $39 to walk, $59 to ride on weekdays.; $49 to walk, $69 to ride on weekends.  Twilight rates available after 1 p.m.
• Rock Hill:  $43 to walk and $59 to ride on weekdays; $53 to walk, $69 to ride on weekends
• Spring Lake: $47 to walk, $62 to ride weekday mornings; $65 to walk, $80 to ride weekend mornings.  Twilight rates available after 12 noon.
• Swan Lake:  $40 to walk, $60 to ride on weekdays; $50 to walk, $70 to ride on weekends.  Nine-hole rates available, and all rates discounted after 1 p.m.

Town of Babylon considering reduction of Cedar Beach golf course to nine holes

The Town of Babylon has commissioned a feasibility study to explore the possibility of eliminating nine holes of its Cedar Beach Golf Course due to low use, and replacing them with cabanas, lockers and other revenue-generating amenities, according to Newsday.

In 2021 the Cedar Beach course, currently an 18-hole pitch-and-putt, drew its highest turnout in four years, though that followed a pandemic-affected 2020 season that totaled only 890 visitors.  The town charges residents $7 and non-residents $8 to play the course.

"It's not as used as we would like it to be," Babylon Deputy Supervisor Tony Martinez told Newsday.

Babylon hired the engineering firm Nelson & Pope of Melville for $55,000 to conduct the study.  The town's preliminary plans for the converted site include cabanas that could each generate thousands of dollars in revenue per season, as well as seasonal lockers, a miniature golf course and possibly a pool.

Babylon is modeling the new amenities after Nickerson and Malibu beaches in Lido Beach in Hempstead Town, which have hundreds of cabanas that cost an average of $4,000 per season. Martinez said that if the town ends up building cabanas, there would be a lottery rental system and the structures could possibly have a shower, changing area and picnic tables outside.

The lockers, also to be rented seasonally, would be big enough to leave chairs, umbrellas and other beach items, Martinez said.

"This way when they come back the following week or the following day they don’t have to haul this stuff back and forth," he said. -- Denise M. Bonilla, Newsday, 1/13/2022

Cedar Beach is one of several barrier-island pitch-and-putt courses on Long Island's south shore.  The Robert Moses State Park pitch-and-putt course is located nearby across the inlet, and the Nickerson Dunes course at Nickerson Beach -- which was featured by The Fried Egg as a model of innovative entry-level golf -- opened in 2015.  Jones Beach's course closed in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.