Golf on Long Island

Bay Park, Merrick open for play

The last remaining Long Island public golf courses to start their pandemic-era spring seasons have finally opened for play.

After an extended offseason, Bay Park Golf Course, a Nassau County muni, and the Town of Hempstead's Merrick Road Park Golf Course are open for pre-booked rounds only -- a distinct change for two courses that have long been strictly walk-up. 

Tee times at Bay Park can be reserved on the Nassau County Parks website or by phone at (516) 571-7242.  Rounds must be prepaid by credit card.

Tee times are available at Merrick on the Town of Hempstead website.

[NOTE: Pitch-&-putt golf courses within municipal parks are subject to park openings.  Robert Moses and Cedar Beach are open; Nickerson Dunes (Nickerson Beach) is unconfirmed.  Also, Great Rock Golf Club has still not reopened and appears to be permanently closed.]

All Long Island public golf courses open except two Nassau municipal courses

With tomorrow's scheduled reopening of Harbor Links' Executive Course, all but two of Long Island's public golf courses are back open for play in a 2020 spring season where tee times are scarce and social-distance regulations are firm.

Bay Park and Merrick Road Park, municipal nine-hole courses owned by Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead, respectively, are the last holdouts.  (A third still-closed course, Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River, might be out of business.)

Park personnel confirmed on Friday that the golf courses remain closed.  When asked about a scheduled opening date, an employee at Merrick simply answered, "We're not open."  A phone message stated the course is closed "until further notice."

A representative at the Nassau County parks department said by e-mail that Bay Park's golf course is expected to open sometime next week upon approval of seasonal personnel.  However, an employee in the park's main office said she is unaware of any planned opening date.

The rest of the Nassau County munis -- Eisenhower Park's three courses, plus Cantiague, Christopher Morley and North Woodmere -- reopened in late April.  Hempstead Town's other municipal course at Lido Golf Club opened then as well.

Coronavirus Update: Motor carts permitted at county, town courses

Motor carts for single riders only will be available as soon as Saturday at some Long Island county and town golf courses, according to Newsday's Jeff Williams.

The Suffolk County municipal courses at Bergen Point, Indian Island, Timber Point and West Sayville will allow the use of motor carts for golfers age 65 and over, and disabled players of all ages, beginning this Saturday. 

Town-owned golf courses at Brentwood Country Club, Holbrook Country Club, Gull Haven, Mill Pond, Rolling Oaks and Smithtown Landing will also permit single-rider carts under Suffolk County's guidelines.

In Nassau County, all players can rent single-rider carts beginning Monday, May 11, at Eisenhower Park's Blue and White courses.

Following the reopening of golf courses in late April, seniors and players with disabilities complained that New York State's walking-only restriction prevented them from returning to the course.  Under the state's revised business guidelines, as a non-essential business, golf courses can allow play with only security and maintenance personnel on site.  With no golf employees, facilities like the clubhouse, pro shop and presumably a cart shed are to remain closed.

However, municipal facilities are exempt from the state's essential and non-essential classifications.  There is no word yet on when non-municipal public courses will be able to rent motor carts.

Business regulations are expected to be loosened when the state's "NYS On Pause" shutdown expires on May 15.

Coronavirus Update: More courses set to reopen May 1

By the end of this week all but a tiny handful of Long Island's public golf courses will be open for play with a variety of social-distancing measures in place.

This Friday, May 1, Island's End Golf Course in Greenport and the Town of Huntington municipal courses at Crab Meadow and Dix Hills Park will reopen.  All three had been open at times in March and April and closed based on the state's changing business guidelines.

The Town of Islip municipal courses at Brentwood CC, Holbrook CC and Gull Haven are scheduled to open for the first time this season.

Reservations must be booked online and social distancing must be followed.  Unlike the guidelines in place at most other area courses, Brentwood and Holbrook posted that they will be allowing single-rider motor carts and on-site payment (credit cards only).

Coronavirus Update: Suffolk County munis reopening this week

A recent Newsday article indicated that Suffolk County would follow the lead of New York State when it came to making golf courses open again for play, and that's exactly how the county's golf relaunch is taking place.

Following the state's decision late last week to reopen its golf courses, Suffolk County announced that West Sayville and Indian Island will reopen for play tomorrow, April 27.  Timber Point will reopen on Wednesday, April 29.

Bergen Point, the other of the four Suffolk munis, already reopened on Saturday.

There will be no motor carts available and no walk-ups -- reservations must be made and prepaid online.  Tee times will be 15 minutes apart and social-distancing regulations are in effect.

Coronavirus Update: State, county munis begin to reopen

New York State municipal golf courses on Long Island -- Bethpage, Montauk Downs and Sunken Meadow -- will reopen for play on Monday, April 27, with social-distancing guidelines in place.

Bethpage's Black Course will follow with its 2020 reopening on Friday, May 1.  Starting that day, four Bethpage courses will be open daily.

On the county level, Nassau County announced that the Eisenhower Park golf courses and driving range, plus the nine-hole courses at Cantiague Park, Christopher Morley Park and North Woodmere Park are currently open.  The Cantiague Park driving range is open as well.  No word on Bay Park.

The Suffolk County municipal course at Bergen Point reopened today.  Its fellow munis at Timber Point and West Sayville are still listed as closed; phone calls to Indian Island were not answered.

[EDIT: The other Suffolk munis will begin to reopen on April 27.]

As previously posted, the Town of Oyster Bay muni reopened on Friday.

State courses will have 16-minute intervals between tee times (18 on the Black) and there will be no motor carts or pull-cart rentals available.  All reservations must be made online and payments must be made over the phone prior to play. 

Full details can be found for each course on the NYS Parks website.

Coronavirus Update: Oyster Bay muni open, Cedars sells first tee time

While New York State, Nassau County and Suffolk County municipal golf courses remain closed, along with other city- and town-owned courses around Long Island, the Town of Oyster Bay will reopen its 18-hole muni in Woodbury today, weather permitting.

First tee time at Oyster Bay will be 7:00 a.m.; twilight rates will be offered from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. 

Cedars Golf Club, the little nine-hole course tucked away in a residential area of Cutchogue on the North Fork, will reopen Saturday.  Of note there is that in order to conform to the state's social-distancing regulations, Cedars is selling tee times for the first time in its 55-year history, according to co-owner Tim McManus.  The course opened in 1965, though some of the grounds have been a part of Cutchogue-area golf as far back as the 1920s.

As for the state and county munis, there are no reopening dates as of yet.  According to a recent Newsday article, Suffolk County is following the lead of New York State as far as reopening its courses.

Coronavirus Update: Public courses announce openings following NYS relaunch

The second leg of Long Island's spring golf season will soon be underway as public golf courses plan for reopenings following New York State's business revision that permits play during the "NYS on Pause" shutdown.

By early Sunday afternoon, a handful of local courses began to announce reopen dates, including Cherry Creek and Swan Lake, both of which will open tomorrow.  Sandy Pond, the nine-hole course in Riverhead already familiar with "honor system" green fees when the clubhouse is empty, posted Sunday afternoon that it is open effective immediately with under-the-door payments accepted.  Other reopening dates were announced by Peninsula (Wednesday) and Stonebridge (Thursday).

Even though play is permitted, golf is still designated as a non-essential business according to Empire State Development guidelines, meaning employees cannot be on site and facilities like clubhouses and locker rooms cannot open.  Maintenance and security personnel can be present, however, and security (in many cases a golf pro or starter) will be responsible for letting players onto the course and enforcing social-distancing measures.  No motor carts will be available, and tee times must be reserved and prepaid online.

Also today, an alert on the NYS Parks golf website was amended to say that "state parks will continue to evaluate the situation and will announce any change in status."  The alert previously read that all park courses were closed until May 15.  Expect the new date to be much sooner.

There will likely be a steady stream of reopening announcements.  Check back here for the latest updates.

Coronavirus Update: NYS says public and private courses can open

The wheel of New York State golf spun again on Saturday and this time it landed on a new spot -- private and public golf courses can reopen for play.

Following New York State's vague rewording of its non-essential designation for golf courses on Friday, which appeared to open the door for private clubs to allow member play while prohibiting public courses from doing the same, today came word that the new Empire State Development guidelines do in fact allow public courses to reopen.

That clarification was published Saturday in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle by government reporter Jon Campbell, who confirmed the status of both public and private courses with Dani Lever, communications director for Governor Andrew Cuomo.  Campbell then posted on Twitter that the information was rechecked with and confirmed by the state.

In order to reopen, courses and clubs cannot open their clubhouses, pro shops or locker rooms and cannot have employees on site except for maintenance and security.  Security personnel will be responsible for making sure players abide by social-distancing regulations.  Motor carts and caddies will not be available.

Meanwhile, as of Saturday night, the NYS Parks website still lists state golf courses as closed through May 15.

Coronavirus Update: New NYS language indicates private clubs can allow member play, but not publics

In the latest nonsensical twist to New York State golf in the age of the coronavirus, it seems that private clubs are now permitted to allow member play on the sly, while public golf courses are to remain shuttered.

Empire State Development, which kept golf courses open for weeks before categorizing golf courses as non-essential just eight days ago on April 9, updated its language this afternoon to read that courses remain non-essential, though "private operators may permit individuals access to the property" provided social-distancing measures are followed and no employees are on site.  However, golf pros or starters can work on site as "security."

While that new language seems vague, Mike Dougherty, golf writer for the The Journal News (@lohudgolf on Twitter), provided some additional context by citing a Friday e-mail from the New York State Club Association that indicates the following measures were approved by New York State, among others:

• No employees within the golf operation except for security, which is responsible for ensuring members adhere to the CDC mandate for social distancing.  Security can be a golf pro or starter.
• All club facilities are to remain closed, including clubhouses, locker rooms and pro shops.
• No caddies.  No carts, except for pull or push carts. 
• Admission of guests is to be determined by the security personnel on the golf course.

Meanwhile, in line with Governor Andrew Cuomo's Thursday extension of the current "NYS on Pause" regulations, the NYS Parks website indicates all state golf courses are closed through May 15.  As outlined by Golf On Long Island since the start of the pandemic, Long Island's public golf courses have followed the lead of NYS municipal courses, specifically Bethpage.

The situation will undoubtedly change again in the next few days.  Check back at Golf On Long Island for updates.