Golf on Long Island

No updates on planned Topgolf facility in Holtsville

One year to the day since the Brookhaven Town Board voted unanimously to approve zoning changes that would allow Long Island to land New York's first Topgolf facility, there is no indication that the popular driving range and entertainment venue will arrive here anytime in the near future.

Topgolf, known for its growing chain of modern, neon-lit golf, dining and nightlife centers popular across the Midwest and South, is planning to extend its reach into New York with a new facility to be built on an industrial site near the Long Island Expressway in Holtsville.  Last December, the town board in Brookhaven voted 6-0 to change the site's zoning to "commercial recreation" and approve special permits, per Newsday.

However, with the project quietly awaiting additional town approvals, a representative at Dallas-based Topgolf confirmed there is no news or timetable to share regarding the proposed Holtsville location.  The Topgolf website currently lists 15 new locations "coming soon" around the country and internationally, but none in New York.  Brookhaven Town has not responded to an inquiry on the Holtsville facility.

For now, the closest Topgolf venue to Long Island is in Edison, New Jersey (pictured).  Unlike regular driving ranges, Topgolf features microchipped golf balls and arcade-style target areas for computer-scored games and contests, as well as dining and lounge-style amenities that appeal to non-golfers.  Climate-controlled hitting bays are rented by the hour and typically include televisions, WiFi and access to food and drinks.  Standard range features like lessons and clinics are also included.  Some in the golf industry have credited Topgolf with helping introduce millennials and other non-golfers to the sport.

[Photo courtesy of Topgolf]

Bethpage's Andrew Wilson chats about the 2019 PGA on "Around the Met" podcast

Bethpage State Park's director of agronomy Andrew Wilson joined A.J. Voelpel on the Metropolitan Golf Association's "Around the Met" podcast earlier this month to discuss the park and its preparation for next May's PGA Championship.

Wilson and Voelpel chatted about ideal winter conditions leading up to the event, which will tee off in May for the first time rather than its traditional August slot.  They also discussed recent tweaks to the Black Course, how the PGA will impact Bethpage's other courses and more about the crew's efforts around the park.  Listen to the podcast on SoundCloud at the Met Golf website.

Wilson has also contributed annual updates on conditions and park renovations here for Golf On Long Island.  For a refresher on changes and renovations made ahead of this past playing season, see Wilson's 2018 Bethpage update.

You can also view photos of ongoing renovations by visiting Wilson's and Bethpage Golf's Twitter pages at @Greensideup17 and @BethpageGolf.

Irrigation installation, new carts, October special at Brentwood CC

Improvements are underway late in the playing season at Brentwood Country Club. 

The Town of Islip muni will begin to install a new irrigation system this month, though the course will remain open amid the work.  Beginning in mid-October, nine holes will be available for nine- and 18-hole rounds on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  On Fridays, all 18 holes will be open with some temporary tees.  Weekend play will be unaffected.

Also at Brentwood -- and the other Islip munis at Holbrook Country Club and Gull Haven Golf Course -- new golf carts are in the rotation.  Islip approved a lease for the updated gas-powered carts in August and first rolled them out this summer at Holbrook, according to Newsday.

Brentwood and Holbrook's usual discount is in effect this month, allowing golfers to save on late-morning and afternoon rounds.  After 10 a.m., rounds are $24 to walk and $42 to ride, with reservation and green fees included.  Twilight rounds are $20 to walk and $38 to ride after 2 p.m.

For the latest course information, contact Brentwood CC at (631) 436-6060.

Golf and the "Long Island Express," 80 years ago this weekend

Fall arrived on Long Island this weekend carrying with it bright sunshine and comfortable temperatures -- ideal conditions for the start of autumn golf season.  Eighty years ago this weekend, however, in the first days of the new fall season, Long Islanders on the East End ventured outside not to play golf, but to survey the damage left behind by one of the most vicious storms in local history. 

On September 21, 1938, a storm so fast-moving that it would come to be known as the "Long Island Express" crashed ashore near Bellport as a category 3 hurricane.  Its uncommon speed left Long Island unprepared, weather forecasters flummoxed and areas east of the storm's eye in ruins.  In the days that followed, East End residents picked up the pieces of homes and businesses and first witnessed a newly changed landscape, as the Island's south shore geography changed in a flash.

The Express took its toll on the Long Island golf landscape as well, already struggling through the turmoil of the Depression era.  The Maidstone Club in East Hampton was "battered to pieces," wrote the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, with remnants of the club's cabanas strewn across the beach amid other damage.  The club's 36-hole layout, feared lost at first, was reduced to its current 27 due to storm damage.  A source described the state of the course for the Daily Eagle in the storm's aftermath:

The worst damage was done on the ninth.  There the wind tore through the big protective dunes, swept away the tee and carried on through the tenth.  The ninth fairway is under about three feet of water.  The 15th tee is gone and, freakishly, the waters knifed off the back of the 14th green.  Plenty of mud lies on the 17th, while the holes across the pond, the third and 16th, got a severe salt bath.  Both bridges were tossed almost across the road.

Westhampton, just east of the storm's landfall, was leveled by the storm.  More than two dozen people were killed in Westhampton alone.  At the Westhampton Country Club, the clubhouse was temporarily repurposed as a morgue.  On the course itself, debris littered the fairways, and a boat thrown ashore by the storm was left with its anchor resting in a bunker.

Just to the east in Quogue, two bridges connecting the beach to the mainland were destroyed.  The Quogue Field Club itself was spared in the short term, but the rerouting of an access road through the heart of the course to a new beach bridge eventually caused the club to downsize from 18 holes to nine.

Montauk Downs, like the rest of the Montauk area, was stranded at sea as the Atlantic surged over land and reached Napeague Bay, temporarily turning Montauk into an island.

Meanwhile, to the west, many of the Island's courses were spared lasting damage from what the Daily Eagle described as, at least in some areas, merely "one big rain."  The Lido Club suffered $100,000 in damage along the shoreline.  Stately trees fell at Rockville Links, Hempstead, Garden City and Wheatley Hills.  Fresh Meadow (then in Queens) flooded and lost several trees, though Ralph Trost of the Daily Eagle viewed it as a positive. 

"Two were meant to go," Trost wrote.  "They always cast too much shadow on the 14th green.  But until the wind did the job, no one had the heart to cut 'em down."

[Photos courtesy of East Hampton Library and Westhampton Beach Historical Society.]

Three greens destroyed by vandalism at Crab Meadow, course offering 10% green-fee discount

Three temporary greens are in place at Crab Meadow Golf Course in Northport after an act of vandalism last week destroyed the regular surfaces, and as a courtesy to players the course is offering a 10% discount on green fees.

According to an announcement on the Crab Meadow website, the greens on holes #1, #11 and #17 sustained major damage and have been replaced by temporary surfaces.  An article by the The Times of Huntington-Northport indicates the vandalism occurred between the close of business on July 30 and around 2 a.m. on July 31, with damages totaling approximately $124,000.  The surfaces were gouged by some type of blunt object.

A fourth green was vandalized but can be repaired in-house, the Times reported.  Repairs to the three destroyed greens will take approximately four to six weeks.

For the inconvenience, Crab Meadow is offering a 10% discount on all green fees except the already-discounted non-resident weekday rate.  For more information, contact the course at (631) 757-8800.

Newsday: Long Island towns lowering fees, counting on promotions to attract golfers to muni courses

Two Long Island towns and one village have turned to reduced green fees and new or popular promotions to fill tee times at their municipal golf courses, according to Newsday's David Reich-Hale.

The Town of Huntington adjusted its green fees earlier this season at the municipal Crab Meadow Golf Course to make non-resident rates equal to discounted resident fees at off-peak playing times.  Huntington, which operates both Crab Meadow and the nine-hole Dix Hills Park course, cut non-resident rates by nearly 40% -- from $46 to $29 -- under what it calls a "demand-based pricing" schedule.  Fees at high-volume playing times like weekends and early mornings have not changed.

Huntington is trying to rebound from a decline in total rounds played in 2017, largely due to the brief lack of a golf-cart contract, per Newsday.

In a June press release, Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci said demand-based pricing is "one of several creative revenue-producing measures the Town is working on that will allow us to continue to provide new and existing services to our residents without increasing the tax burden.”

In the Town of North Hempstead, the Championship Course at Harbor Links, among Long Island's priciest golf destinations for local non-residents, last season had its highest total of rounds played since 2013, in addition to a slight increase over 2016 on the nine-hole Executive Course.  Harbor Links general manager James Viras told Newsday part of the success is due to the course's weekday Golf & Grub promotion, a staple at the course for several seasons.

"It's driven a lot of people to the course," Viras told Newsday.

Harbor Links, however, does not promote the special on its website or on social media, and asks interested golfers to call the course for details.

Newsday also points to Port Jefferson Village, where membership has declined in the past decade at its municipal course, the private Port Jefferson Country Club at Harbor Hills.  The village hopes attractive packages will help boost attendance as well as a partnership with local schools to introduce more kids to the sport at the club.

Town of Hempstead examining ways to restrict development of golf course properties

With an ongoing moratorium on development of The Woodmere Club golf course set to expire in August, the Town of Hempstead is now looking to utilize zoning changes to prevent its golf course properties from being overrun by residential building, according to Newsday.

Hempstead is currently exploring its options at The Woodmere Club, a century-old private golf facility in the Five Towns area that has been at the center of a debate among club owners and local residents since the club was sold last year.  Area homeowners have spoken out in opposition to developmental plans that could include several hundred new homes in addition to related traffic and environmental issues.  Meanwhile, the developers filed a lawsuit against the town in May in response to the moratorium.

While no specific building plans have been announced, the developers said they plan to keep the course open until 2022.

One option Hempstead is considering is the creation of a "golf course coastal residence district" that would restrict residential development due to environmental issues like flooding and impact on area wetlands.  This district would also cover two other coastal golf courses -- the private Inwood Country Club and the privately owned Golf Club at Middle Bay in Oceanside.  Among other options are the creation of a park district to keep much of the club as open space, or purchase of the club for conversion to a municipal golf facility.

The Town of Hempstead is not the first Long Island municipality to turn to zoning to protect golf properties.  Last year, the Town of Brookhaven created a zoning designation called "golf course district" in order to prevent residential, office or retail development on course sites.  Three municipal and privately owned golf courses are currently zoned under the new category.

[PICTURED: The Golf Club at Middle Bay, located on the water in Oceanside, would be included in Hempstead Town's proposed golf course coastal residence district.]

New demand-based pricing lowers weekday green fees at Crab Meadow

Looking for ways to attract more golfers during off-peak hours, the Town of Huntington has implemented "demand-based pricing" to reduce green fees for non-residents at the municipal Crab Meadow Golf Course in Northport, according to a town press release earlier this month.

Under the new pricing schedule, rates for non-residents (and residents without a town golf card) have dropped from $46 to $29 for rounds played Tuesday through Thursday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.  Green fees for seniors and disabled persons are now $21.  The near-40% reduction means non-residents pay the same price as Huntington players during these low-demand times.  Weekend and early-morning rates are unchanged.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the public to take advantage of the beautiful 18-hole golf course at Crab Meadow,” said Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci. “It’s one of several creative revenue-producing measures the Town is working on that will allow us to continue to provide new and existing services to our residents without increasing the tax burden.”

The new pricing model will remain in effect at least for several months, effectively through the summer season, according to town officials.

“We have the most beautiful public golf course on Long Island," said Greg Wagner, Huntington's Parks and Recreation director.  "The more we can expose and attract our neighbors, the more word spreads and generates interest in returning for another great day of golf and food at Macs at the Meadow."

Crab Meadow, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, is one of many Suffolk County golf courses designed by William Mitchell in the 1960s and 1970s.  The property overlooking nearby Long Island Sound has hosted golf since the 1920s, when it was originally home to Devereux Emmet's Northport Country Club.

For more on Crab Meadow, visit the course flyover.

Public golf options near Shinnecock Hills

Shinnecock Hills is the capital of the golf universe this week, and there are plenty of agonizing East End traffic reports to prove it.  And while vaunted Long Island clubs like National, Sebonack, Maidstone and others are picking up some of Shinnecock's spotlight rather than the likes of Pine Hills and Poxabogue, let's just say those places don't exactly welcome walk-ups.

So where does that leave the public golfer who happens to be staying in the Hamptons or the Riverhead area this week for the U.S. Open?  Here are some friendly outlets, from closest to farthest from the epicenter:

EAST OF SHINNECOCK

Right there in the middle of the Sunrise Highway soup is the Southampton Golf Range, a family-owned throwback with a driving range, mini golf and batting cages.  It's located about a mile east of Shinnecock and offering extended hours during Open week.  Bonus points for media members -- it's directly across the street from media parking, so keep your bags in the trunk (it's open until midnight).

Poxabogue Golf Center is a quaint par-30 that's been a fixture in the Bridgehampton area for more than 50 years.  Its suitable for all skill levels and features one of the biggest practice ranges on the Island.  It also attracts a fair share of celebs for a little public nine-holer.

Also nine holes, the Sag Harbor State Golf Course is the least known of Long Island's NYS munis, though it's been around for nearly a century.

Keep heading east, almost until you can't go any farther, and you'll find one of the most popular NYS munis at Montauk Downs.  Nothing can replicate Shinnecock, but with the ocean to the south and bays to the north, the swirling winds at Montauk are similar.

Shelter Island Country Club -- aka "Goat Hill" -- is nearly as old as Shinnecock.  A ferry to Shelter Island plus nine holes make for a nice Open Week afternoon.

On the North Fork, Cedars Golf Club is another pleasant nine-holer tucked away in Cutchogue.

Like Montauk Downs on the South Fork, Island's End Golf & Country Club is perched almost on the tip of the North Fork, hence the name.  It features one of the most picturesque par-3s on Long Island -- public or private.

WEST OF SHINNECOCK

Indian Island Country Club is one of Suffolk's four county munis and the only one on the East End.  Parts of the course play along the Peconic River and Flanders Bay; the rest is more of a parkland layout.

Sandy Pond is another throwback nine that has been rejuvenated under new ownership in recent years.  There are water holes, fescue and an overall friendly vibe.

Once the private Olde Vine Golf Club, the Riverhead course known as The Vineyards Golf Club features Shinnecock-esque winds that team up with very fast greens with slope.

Next door to The Vineyards are Cherry Creek's Links and Woods courses.  Though not a links design in any sense, the Links 18 is one of the longest layouts on the Island and features the region's only par-6 at #18.  The Woods is a shorter, more strategic course with trees bordering nearly all fairways.

Manorville delivers a trio of 18-hole options with varying styles.  Swan Lake Golf Club is comfortably open and offers some of Long Island's most spacious putting greens.  Rock Hill Golf Club is roomy in some areas, tightly wooded in the rest, but challenges throughout the course with thick, unforgiving rough over hilly terrain.  The par-73 Pine Hills Country Club is nearly as long as Bethpage Black.

For courses beyond those areas, check out our Long Island course map, which includes links to flyover descriptions of all courses, as well as our Visitor's Guide to Long Island Golf for a broader overview of the local scene.

Bethpage bolsters digital marketing and social-media voice under pro Kelley Brooke

Bethpage State Park is officially a member of the modern era, and it's not only because booking tee times has migrated away from *66 ("the busy-signal fix").

Nearly two decades after hosting its first U.S. Open and entering the international golf discussion, management at Bethpage is now marketing the Black Course and its four sibling layouts in a way befitting America's leading public-golf facility.  Gone are a sparse NYS Parks landing page and dreary unofficial website.  In their place, a newly designed site and a newly found voice have turned Bethpage from a largely silent golf powerhouse into one of the most socially engaging facilities on the Island.

The park's digital transformation arrives under the watch of Kelley Brooke, the Golf Channel Academy instructor with a resume that lists decades of accomplishments in teaching and golf operations in the New York City metro area.  Since winning a New York State bid and taking over at Bethpage earlier this year, Brooke has been in charge of the pro shop, private lessons, clinics and women's programs.  Her to-do list continues to grow as junior-camp season approaches.  "I'm running everything here but tee times," Brooke says.

Among Brooke's top priorities is marketing, specifically connecting with Long Island golfers on social media, a space where the park has remained mostly quiet outside of the informative @BethpageGolf Twitter feed and that of superintendent Andrew Wilson (@greensideup17).  Over the past few seasons, both have been valuable outlets for photos and information on renovations, aeration schedules and other happenings around the courses.  Brooke's focus, though, is on promoting and growing the many instructional programs, including junior and women's clinics and the park's first-ever summer golf camp, that now make Bethpage what she calls a "full-service academy."

Inside the clubhouse and out on the range, Brooke and her staff teach using a variety of launch monitors, swing and putting analyzers and state-of-the-art video and biofeedback systems.  Instructional programs include sessions focusing on specific areas like driving distance and wedge play, as well as group practices and couples' clinics.  The "Start to Finish Women's Program" meets once a week for five weeks, covers all aspects of the swing and takes players onto the course for a supervised test of skills.

To amplify Bethpage's new voice, Brooke hired Zach Toste, a digital-marketing consultant with golf in his blood.  Toste played at Notre Dame, graduated in 2016 and works remotely from Florida, where he runs Bethpage's new Facebook and Instagram pages, tweaks the website and creates video content.  Toste first learned of Bethpage the way young players in the 1990s discovered TPC Sawgrass -- through video games. 

"I remember seeing the 'Warning' sign in Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf and thinking, 'Wow, that's so cool,' " Toste says.

In addition to promoting Bethpage programs, the digital-marketing team updates the Facebook page with video demonstrations by Brooke and her staff of instructors and fitness professionals.  Action shots around the courses and in training sessions appear on Instagram.  Last week, they launched an e-commerce section on the Bethpage website, enabling fans to purchase head covers, hats and on-course accessories branded with Bethpage's iconic caddy logo.  Toste's also introduced a short-and-sweet Bethpage slogan -- "Experience Tradition."

Their goal, overall, is to connect with all golfers and make Bethpage synonymous with playing, learning and experiencing golf, not simply the Black Course and sleeping in cars for tee times. 

"Golfers haven't really heard much from Bethpage over the years," Toste says.  "We want them to start thinking, 'Hey, there's something going on at Bethpage.' "

[Screenshots courtesy of Bethpage Golf Course via Facebook and Instagram.]