Golf on Long Island

2024 Summer Golf Camps on Long Island

As golf participation continues to rise, more and more young golfers are filling up driving-range stalls and looking to take live swings on local courses.  With valuable instruction and guidance from Long Island's wealth of teaching professionals, they will be hooked on golf for life. 

Many public courses in Nassau and Suffolk feature summer camp programs that school players of all ages and skill levels in golf's key fundamentals, the various types of swings and strokes, as well as rules, etiquette and course safety.  Kids work closely with teaching pros on the course, at the range and around practice greens and bunkers; in some cases, the pros working with your young golfer have been recognized nationally for their work as junior instructors.  Campers leave each session with skills and knowledge in place for lifelong enjoyment on the course and as overall fans of golf.

The following is a general overview of 2024 summer golf camps offered at various public golf courses around Long Island.  For more information, follow the links below to the course websites and junior camp pages. 

(Please note this list only includes camp programs hosted at public golf courses.  This does not include golf programs held at general summer camps or any type of private instruction.)

Bergen Point (West Babylon):  Weekly sessions run from Monday to Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon, and are open to kids age 7 to 17.  Instruction includes short-game practice, driving range, on-course play and daily contests and competition.  Cost is $300 per session.  Sign-up forms are available on the Bergen Point website.

Bethpage State Park (Farmingdale):  Bethpage's Summer Junior Golf Program is open to players of all skill levels from age 6 to 17.  Half-day programs are geared toward younger players, while full-day camps are designed for intermediate and advanced players with on-course experience.  A monthly program with tournament play is also available for competitive juniors.  All programs feature a combination of skills development and performance-related training and fitness.  Sessions begin the week of July 8.  Register for full-day ($775) and half-day ($500) sessions at the Bethpage / Golf Channel Academy website.

Cherry Creek (Riverhead):  Cherry Creek camp programs are typically available in July and August.  Specific 2024 program details to follow.  Call (631) 506-0777 for the latest information.

Eisenhower Park (East Meadow): PGA Junior Golf operates a series of camps for all ability levels, including advanced camps for competitive juniors.  The program includes full-day camps for players age 11 to 17, modified full-day camps for experienced players age 8 to 12, and half-day camps for beginners and intermediates age 7 to 11.  There is also a special 90-minute session for "Wee Ones" age 6 to 8.  All regular camps include hours of hands-on instruction led by certified PGA professionals.  Full-day camps include on-course play and teaching.  Weekly sessions for all programs begin July 1, and discounts are available for Nassau County residents and First Tee participants.  Visit the PGA Junior Golf Camp site for full information on pricing, session dates and available discounts.

Harbor Links Golf Course (Port Washington):  Harbor Links offers a wide variety of programs led by teachers all named U.S. Kids Golf Certified Instructors.  Camps begin the week of July 1, with sessions available through August.  Weekly programs for kids age 6 to 9 run Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and include games and drills that help develop important skills and fundamentals, in addition to a skills competition and gift packet.  Separate programs for teens age 10 to 16 are split into four-hour AM and PM sessions and run Monday to Friday.  These cover the full swing, short game, course management, rules and etiquette, and conclude with a two-day "Junior Scramble" team tournament.  A "Birdie Program" is also available for advanced juniors looking to improve for competition.  Rates vary based on age group and time of sign-up.  For all program information, schedules and registration forms, visit the Harbor Links website.

Indian Island Country Club (Riverhead):  Indian Island's annual golf camp consists of ten sessions that include lessons, lunch, golf gear and on-course competition.  Camps are open to boys and girls of all skill levels between the ages of 7 and 15.  Week-long sessions run from late June through the end of August.  Each weekly camp ends with a scramble competition and dinner on Friday afternoon.  Registration is $625 per session with multiweek and family discounts available.  See the Indian Island website or call (631) 727-7776 for details.

Long Island Golf Camps / Mike Reilly Golf Academy (Massapequa, Deer Park, Hauppauge):  Long Island Golf Camps runs programs at three public courses — Peninsula Golf Club (Massapequa), Heartland Golf Park (Deer Park) and Wind Watch Golf & Country Club (Hauppauge).  The Peninsula and Wind Watch camps are week-long, full-day programs (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) with sessions beginning in late June.  They include instruction on different aspects of the swing, on-course play and daily lunch.  The Deer Park camp sessions run Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.  Instruction takes place on the course, at the driving range and in the short-game area.  Enrollment is $695 for Peninsula, $795 for Wind Watch and $369 for Heartland, with discounts available before May 1.  For schedules and registration, visit the Long Island Golf Camps website.

Middle Bay (Oceanside):  Six full-week sessions begin on July 8.  Campers meet Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m and receive instruction on the range and the course, with snack and lunch included.  Registration is $549 per week with discounts available for siblings and multiple sessions.  Call (516) 766-1880 or visit the Middle Bay junior golf page for pricing, program details and additional information.

Mill Pond (Medford):  Beginning the week of July 8, Mill Pond is offering a Junior Golf Academy program for players age 12 to 16 and a Junior Development program for kids age 6 to 11.  The 12-to-16 sessions meet four days a week and focus on all aspects of swing technique and fundamentals, plus course management, rules and etiquette.  Each session concludes with a Thursday team scramble held at the Rolling Oaks Golf Course in Miller Place.  The 6-to-11 sessions meet Tuesday and Wednesday at Mill Pond and Thursday at Rolling Oaks, with focus on swing fundamentals and sportsmanship.  Discounts for Town of Brookhaven residents are available.  Visit the Mill Pond website or call (631) 732-8249 for info on registration, pricing, schedules and program format.

Poxabogue Golf Center (Sagaponack):  A total of ten sessions run from the week of June 17 to the week of August 19.  Sessions are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, and are open to boys and girls from age 7 to 16.  Campers will learn basics of the full swing, short game, course management, rules and etiquette, and will receive golf gear, snacks and giveaways.  Cost is $679 per session.  Visit the Poxabogue website for additional info and registration.

Shelter Island Country Club (Shelter Island):  Starting June 27, boys and girls age 7 to 16 will meet once a week on Thursdays for instruction from teaching pros and on-course play.  Younger campers age 7 to 10 will meet from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.; age 11 to 16 will meet from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.  Camp dates are 6/27, 7/11, 7/18, 7/25 and 8/1.  Tuition is $75 for the five-session program.  Visit the Shelter Island CC website for details.

Smithtown Landing (Smithtown):  Smithtown Landing's 2024 camps will meet once a week for six consecutive weeks beginning at the end of June.  Campers meet for one hour at select times on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.  Programs focus on all aspects of the swing, including grip, alignment and address, plus one-on-one instruction adapted for camper skill level.  Registration is $300 per session.  Visit the camp website or call (631) 979-6534 for information.

Spring Lake (Middle Island):  Spring Lake and Swan Lake (Manorville) will be offering a joint camp program this summer led by pros Cristy Jurgens and Peter Cowan.  Four separate three-day sessions are open for registration: July 23-25 and August 13-15 at Spring Lake, and July 30-August 1 and August 6-8 at Swan Lake.  Programs cover all facets of the swing plus course management.  Cost is $315 per session or $1,100 for all four sessions.  Full registration details can be found at the Spring Lake website.

Sunken Meadow (Kings Park):  PGA Junior Golf operates half-day camps for players of all skill levels from age 7 to 13, and modified full-day camps for juniors age 10 to 16.  In each camp, players are divided into groups based on experience and receive hands-on instruction led by certified PGA professionals.  Weekly sessions meet Monday through Thursday beginning June 24.  Cost is $375 per half-day session and $550 for full-day.  Visit the PGA Junior Camps site for complete information.

Swan Lake (Manorville):  Swan Lake and Spring Lake (Middle Island) will be offering a joint camp program this summer led by pros Cristy Jurgens and Peter Cowan.  Four separate three-day sessions are open for registration: July 23-25 and August 13-15 at Spring Lake, and July 30-August 1 and August 6-8 at Swan Lake.  Programs cover all facets of the swing plus course management.  Cost is $315 per session or $1,100 for all four sessions.  Full registration details can be found at the Swan Lake website.

Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course (Woodbury):  Oyster Bay's Lucas Golf Center offers full-day camp for juniors age 10 to 16 and half-day camps for boys and girls age 6 to 10.  Teaching pros cover the full swing, chipping, putting, rules and etiquette, and instruction takes place on and off the course.  Camp dates and times will be announced in late April.  Call (516) 364-3600 or visit TOB's Lucas Golf Center website for information and registration.

West Sayville Golf Course (West Sayville):  West Sayville offers four sessions that meet Monday to Thursday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. during the weeks of July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29.  Sessions are open to new and experienced juniors age 8 to 13.  Under lead instructor Sean McLaughlin, head golf coach at Sayville High School, campers learn all aspects of the swing, plus rules and etiquette, and practice on the golf course daily.  A special competition camp for advanced juniors is also available the week of June 24.  Cost for all sessions is $450.  Visit the West Sayville junior camp page for info and registration.

2024 golf course reopen dates on Long Island

It took an extra day to get here this year, but today is the start of Reopening Month.  March is when Long Island's seasonal golf courses put the pro-shop lights back on, stick the pins into the cups and start taking tee times.  Except for Bethpage Black, just about every golf course on Long Island will be open for play by the end of March.

Reopenings typically begin around St. Patrick's Day, so if the weather warms up on March 8, you'll still need to head to one of Long Island's many year-round courses.

The following is a list of tentative 2024 opening dates for Long Island's seasonal golf courses.  (Year-round courses remain open as the weather allows and are not included in this list.)  Courses will be added or updated as information becomes available.  Be sure to check back through March for the latest info.

*All dates listed below are subject to change.  Call the courses directly for updated dates and times.

2024 GOLF COURSE REOPENINGS:

• Sandy Pond Links – March 1
• Woods Course at Cherry Creek – March 14
• Timber Point – March 15
• Bergen Point – March 15
• Holbrook CC – March 15
• Brentwood CC – March 15
• West Sayville – March 15
• Bethpage Green – March 16
• Harbor Links - Championship/Executive – March 23
• Bethpage Red – March 30
• The Golf Club at Middle Bay – March 29
• Town of Oyster Bay GC – April 1
• Bethpage Black – April 13

DATES TBA:

• Eisenhower Red 
• Sumpwams Creek

[This post was updated on March 12, 2024.]

Winter Golf 2023-24: Mild, snow-free offseason forecasts to be tested with looming storm

It's been nothing but good news of late for Long Island's winter golfers — going back to the fall, forecasts for the 2023-24 offseason predicted milder temperatures and precipitation in the form of rain, not snow, thanks to an El Nino weather pattern.  And that's following a 2022-23 winter that was entirely snow-free.

But that prediction is facing a staunch test this weekend as a major storm heads toward the East Coast, with Long Island riding the edge between snow and heavy rain.  How the storm progresses will determine what kind of winter golf season local players can expect.

Winter golf on Long Island used to be for the rugged few.  Now, with milder weather and many more players, offseason golf is mainstream.  Courses stay busy and prime tee times remain hard to find.  

Here's the scoop on Long Island's golf season from January to March:

Until major snow hits and sticks on the ground for a prolonged period, conditions remain decent.  If you can tolerate sometimes bitterly cold temperatures, have at it.  There are plenty of courses open and waiting for you to come out and play.  Once significant snow finally arrives, stays a while and melts, winter golf turns soggy and sloppy until spring. 

Frost delays are common; temporary greens are not (though they used to be).  When there's a mild day above 50 degrees, expect a run on tee times.  

No matter the temperature, don't expect a break on green fees.  Winter rates are a thing of the past.  Courses keep their offseason rates much closer to peak prices than the $35-45 rounds with cart (and maybe lunch) from just a few years ago.

If you prefer to stay warm, Long Island now has a booming indoor golf scene, too.  Modern facilities like X-Golf in Commack and Westbury, Birdies in Patchogue, Simplay in Hauppauge and the semi-enclosed TopGolf in Holtsville are all comfortable options serving food, beer and cocktails.

Golf On Long Island posts relevant course information as necessary throughout the offseason.  Be sure to follow local courses on social media for the latest on weather closures, frost delays and more.

2023 closing dates at Long Island's seasonal golf courses

December is golf's closing month on Long Island, which might come as news to the many players who pack the clubs away before Halloween.  It's true — plenty of people play golf well into December, if not the whole year round.

A handful of courses, though, don't join them, and instead lock the doors and the cart shed sometime between Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas.  Most of them reopen by late March.

The following golf courses are preparing to close for the season in the next few weeks:

• Sumpwams Creek -- December 9
• Bay Park -- December 10
• Bergen Point -- December 10
• Timber Point -- December 17
• Harbor Links -- December 17
  
• Holbrook Country Club -- December 17
  
• West Sayville -- December 17
• Christopher Morley Park -- TBD/weather permitting

Some courses have already closed for 2023, including:

• Bethpage Black
• Eisenhower Red
• Bethpage Red
• Bethpage Green
• Harbor Links - Executive Course

Check back daily as other courses are added.  And for more information on Long Island's winter season, stay tuned for our annual Winter Golf On Long Island primer.

Pitch & Putt Tournament at Robert Moses State Park on October 1

The New York State municipal golf course at Robert Moses State Park is hosting a Pitch & Putt Tournament on its 18-hole course next Sunday, October 1.  Spots will be held for the first 72 golfers who register.

The tournament tees off at 10:00 a.m.  Breakfast and check-in begins at 9:00 and a post-round lunch with awards and giveaways is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.  There are prizes for team low gross, men's and women's low scores and closest to the pin.

Entry fee is $40 per person, $160 per foursome.  Call the park recreation office at (631) 321-3510 to register.

Robert Moses State Park's golf course is one of three barrier-beach pitch-and-putts on the south shore (Nickerson Beach, Cedar Beach).  It is located in a secluded area at the western end of the park with 18 holes ranging from 60 to 110 yards.

Rebranded Sandy Pond Links to reopen in March under new ownership

Riverhead's Sandy Pond Golf Course is taking a rare winter break this offseason, and when it reopens in March, it will do so with a new name, a modernized logo and an ownership group looking to blend the old with the new.  Brian Stark, one of the new controlling owners of the rebranded Sandy Pond Links, plans to restore some of the features he recalls from his youth, when the small par-3 course on Roanoke Avenue was in its infancy. 

And the way he sees it, one of the most effective ways to bring the course back to its roots is by reaching down and pulling them up.

"We've been in the ponds, removing the reeds from the ground instead of just cutting them back, so the water is clear like it used to be," says Stark, who worked at Sandy Pond while growing up nearby in the late '70s.  "When I was a kid, the third hole had a clear pond, and there were sand dunes and a big green up on the hill."

The 2023 season will be one of change at the course, including in the layout itself, the facilities and the amenities, but it will retain the quaint East End vibe it's been known for since it opened a half-century ago.

Previous owners Ken Weinstein and Chris Wahlers "built a great clientele," Stark says, since they took over operation of the course in 2012.  "They brought in leagues and outings, they have a few members.  There is a real religious following here."

On the course, much of the focus will be on expanding the greens to their original size.  "We're going to bring back the contours of the original greens," Stark says.  "You can still see areas where the contours were lost, and how the greens have shrunk significantly over time.  They used to have more character and pin positions." 

Stark, one of the original owners of the neighboring Long Island National Golf Club, also wants to reintroduce some of the course's original sand-dune features.  Sandy Pond was built out of an old sand quarry, after all.

The orientation of the course will change too, with the ninth hole flipping to the top of the scorecard as Sandy Pond Links' new opener.  (The other eight holes will move down a slot.)  That modification is being made to accommodate a new clubhouse to be built on the north side of the property near the current ninth tee.  Plans there include a simulator, an outdoor patio and beer and wine service.  Food trucks, a common sight at wineries and breweries in the Riverhead area, could eventually be part of the offerings as well.

Most noticeable on that end of the property will be the addition of a miniature golf course, which is currently pending approval by the Town of Riverhead.  Stark hopes it will be ready by the fall.

Even though the course's longtime shack (and its famous green-fee dropbox) will eventually become part of Sandy Pond's past, the new owners don't expect the facility to lose any of its charm.

"Complaints about golf always revolve around three things -- it's too hard, it takes too long and it's expensive," Stark says.  "Sandy Pond is none of those."

[PICTURED: Sandy Pond, as seen in 2014, following upgrades under previous ownership.]

Resurrecting long-lost Lido golf -- the Lido Springs Par-3 course

Turns out it's true.

Down in Lido Beach, a small oceanfront community that plays a giant role in golf history, there is an old, lost golf course, after all.  It's right next door to the present-day Lido Golf Course, and its features, drawn up by one of Long Island's most influential golf builders, remain almost fully intact.  One putting green is split by a knob in its back half, another sits with rimmed edges.  Raised tees, buried beneath a tangle of tree branches and weeds, rest amid overgrown hazards and muddy ponds, waiting to be found.

No, this isn't the glorious hallucination of the most ardent Lido Club enthusiast.  Plenty of golf historians have studied those hallowed grounds, and some have even walked the streets and Lido Beach dunes, knowing they'll never stumble across some trace of the famous pre-World War II masterpiece.  This other course, well, nobody's trying to find it.  And if they are, they better be toting bug spray.

No, this is the story of Lido Springs, a short-lived par-3 course that came and went, following dozens of other little-known area golf courses that also came and went, and made a few memories along the way.  It was lit up for night play and pitched side attractions like mini golf and a game room -- not exactly the type of place commemorated in club histories or sepia-toned coffee-table books.  Yet there's some history worth exploring, and for now it holds a very unique distinction in Long Island golf history.  Lido Springs is likely the only instance of a long-gone local golf course sitting untouched, undeveloped, right out there among all of Long Island's hustle and bustle.

And thanks to modern technology, plus help from one of the key figures involved in next year's resurrection of that other lost Lido course, we can see Lido Springs today, down to the finest detail, as if unobstructed by 40 years of physical neglect.

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When Lido Springs opened in the summer of 1963, the big Robert Trent Jones layout next door -- today's municipal Lido course -- was just a few seasons old.  And it had been only two decades since the famed original, C.B. Macdonald's Lido Club, was repurposed for military use in the early years of World War II.  That renowned course was to the west.  Lido Springs, on the other hand, played along Lido's eastern flank, its nine short par-3s wedged into a little triangular parcel dotted with five ponds.

"New Golf Course Opens at Lido," read the headline in The Leader, a Freeport newspaper, on July 11.  "Golf pros of the Nassau County clubs, as well as many other luminaries of the golf world were present at the opening," the article said.

John Brennan, a writer who chronicled the development and construction of Long Island's golf courses for various publications in the 1950s and '60s, indicated in one of his "Off the Fairway" columns that the new Lido Springs was built as an annex to RTJ's neighboring 18.  "Lidoites feel the addition of the short course will help take some of the load from the big course, with some of the older men members ... being detoured to the par-three layout," he wrote prior to its opening.

Players could enjoy a round well after sundown thanks to the "newest and finest daylight illumination on Long Island," according to the Leader.  Advertisements that ran in Newsday highlighted night golf as a selling point, and the course, at least in its early years, was open until midnight.  Rounds after dark were a novelty, and many who played Lido Springs fondly recall them.  Some just remember swatting the gnats and mosquitoes.

"It was so well lit, you saw the ball all the way up in the air and down to the green," says Jeffrey Bernstein, who moved from Brooklyn to Atlantic Beach in 1966.  Summers for Bernstein included trips to the driving range on the south side of Lido Boulevard, and eventually nine holes at Lido Springs.  He would grab one or two clubs and a putter and bike with friends from one end of the barrier island to the other.  Sometimes they'd leave the bikes home and hitchhike to the course instead.

Other elements set Lido Springs apart from the typical pitch-and-putt course.  It was initially planned as a semi-private club with memberships, tee times and an on-site pro.  Most notably, the design of its nine short holes was credited to William Mitchell, the golf course designer whose frequent work in the 1960s and early 1970s altered Long Island's golf landscape the same way Macdonald, Seth Raynor, Devereux Emmet and others left their marks in the early 20th century.

By July 1963, Long Island's second golf building boom was already well underway, and Mitchell played a big part.  His course at Pine Hollow Country Club in 1955 was the first to be built in the region since the end of the Depression and ensuing war years.  When a dozen new courses opened locally in 1961 and 1962, Mitchell's hand was on at least two of them -- Old Westbury and Woodcrest.  Mitchell would come to be known as golf's "public defender" -- he felt strongly about designing courses public players could take pride in, with features that were fair to the average high-handicapper.  He was a proponent of executive-length courses for their smaller demand on time and land use, and his goal was to eventually build a women's golf course on Long Island.  (Plans had already been drawn when Mitchell passed away in the early '70s.)

It's hard to know exactly how much time and energy Mitchell invested in the Lido Springs layout (his 18-hole course at Noyac in Sag Harbor opened the same year), but it certainly incorporated many of his design principles.  Greens featured some interesting contours, though nothing too "gimmicky," as he described movement that could potentially penalize good shots and reward bad ones.  For the less-skilled player, bunkers were in full view, mostly fronting greens.  ("I don't like to hide a trap," he often said.)  A series of small ponds came into play on all but two or three holes.  As far as time and land use, the nine holes took up less than ten acres and likely no more than an hour to play.

"It was a real golf course, just scaled way down," says Rob Koff, a lifelong area resident who recalls many night rounds there, complete with burgers and fries at the snack bar.  "The greens were legitimate, and the fairway areas were kept in great shape."

"They took care of it," Bernstein says.  "It was in better condition than Lido next door." 

Beyond the initial grand opening, and some newspaper advertisements that ran through the '60s and '70s, there's not much else that officially documents the course's 20-year run, which ended with its abandonment sometime in the early '80s.  It's not mentioned in any profiles or retrospectives about Mitchell's design career, and there are no reports of its closure.  Yet signs of it are still as clear as day to anyone driving down Lido Boulevard or up the 12th fairway at the current Lido course.  The light poles that illuminated so many summer nights and brightened so many memories still stand tall and slightly crooked above the overgrowth.  One that towered over the ninth green is just steps from the boulevard, not far from the rusted remnants of a chain-link fence that separated the course from the parking lot.

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That's the fascinating thing about Lido Springs.  It's still there, waiting to be found.

All Peter Flory needed was an aerial photo and some public data to bring Lido Springs back to life.  Followers of Lido golf history might recognize the name -- Flory, a Chicago-area golfer who counts digitally reconstructing lost golf courses as a hobby, is serving as an advisor for the Lido Club restoration at Sand Valley in Wisconsin.  He spent three years meticulously generating incredibly detailed renderings of the Lido Club by piecing together clues from aerial photos, ground-level images and written works, then posted them on Golf Club Atlas to be studied and scrutinized by fellow historians and designers.  His work drew the attention of Tom Doak, then Sand Valley's Mike Keiser, who used his images to pitch a restored Lido to prospective members.  That highly anticipated course is scheduled to open in 2023.

Resurrecting Lido Springs took Flory about two days.  An inquiry at the Long Beach Historical Society found its way to Flory, by now established as a trusted Lido Beach golf-architecture historian.  Using archived and current aerial images, he was able to quickly estimate and sketch the location of tees and greens, and publicly available LiDAR data allowed him to paint the picture.  The precise surface elevation data not only revealed that all but one green remain on the ground at Lido Springs, it also pulled up all of their ridges and slopes.  Once plugged into his golf-design software, the LiDAR exposed the surface as if it was bare ground with no overgrowth.  Flory used his judgment to flesh out rough and short grass around the holes, but the greens needed no manipulation. 

"The contours that you're seeing on the image are actually there on the ground," Flory says.

So we know now that the first hole was around 80 yards, give or take a few by tee placement, with a pond short left.  "There's a very cool pocket on the right side of the green," Flory says.  Only three of the holes went beyond 100 yards.  One of them, the fourth, had ponds long and right, and a front bunker with a raised lip.  The 121-yard ninth required a pond carry to a green with a back-half knob and raised shoulders.  By the looks of it, misfires there could easily find themselves lost onto Lido Boulevard.

With the three-dimensional model finished, Flory can make Lido Springs playable on a gaming PC, PlayStation, XBox and even some golf simulators.  It's something Flory did with his Lido Club renderings, complete with his digital self decked out in vintage golfwear, hickory clubs in hand.

As far as playing it again outside under the Lido Beach sun (or stars), technically it's not that far-fetched.  Anyone with a few million dollars handy and the stomach for a battle with the Town of Hempstead or Nassau County could conceivably resurrect the course in real life.  The property has been up for sale for years and is zoned to allow municipal recreation.

Bernstein thinks of the course every time he walks the fairway of the adjacent 12th hole at Lido.  Just a few paces away, on the other side of a fence, Bernstein once stood on a raised tee, looking across the entire Lido Springs course lit up in full view from one end to the other.

"You saw fathers and sons, groups of friends, kids with six-packs," he says.  "People from all walks of life out there just having a lot of fun."

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[PICTURED (click to enlarge): TOP -- Rendering of Lido Springs #1; MIDDLE -- Advertisements printed in Newsday in May and September 1966.  The course advertised in the paper throughout the '60s and '70s and typically promoted night golf; MIDDLE RIGHT -- Aerial photo of Lido Springs, the triangular property at center, as seen in 1966.  Lido Golf Course is to the left, and the Lido Beach Nike missile base is seen to the right; BOTTOM RIGHT -- The full Lido Springs routing, as interpreted using public LiDAR data.  All greens remain intact on the site except #2.  The rendering of #9 shows a bunkerless green with raised shoulders and a knob at back center.  Lido Boulevard was located directly behind the hole.]

The digital renderings published here are the intellectual property of Peter Flory.

For more reading on Lido golf history, see previous Golf On Long Island entries below:

• The Golfer's Journal podcast and magazine piece examine past, present and future of Lido-inspired golf
• Lido Golf Club, famed Macdonald masterpiece, to be recreated in Wisconsin
• A brief look back at the original Lido Golf Club in its "centennial" season
• Street Names: The Ghosts of Long Island Golf's Past, Part 2 (Lido Club)
• Original Lido Club featured on Golf Channel, golf history podcast
• Newsday slideshow features 11 places that were formerly golf courses
• Closer Look: Lido Golf Club #16

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.

Harbor Links, Sunken Meadow to host 2021 Drive, Chip & Putt local qualifiers

Long Island junior golfers with an eye on competing at Augusta National can start the journey to Georgia today by registering for local qualifying rounds of the annual Drive, Chip & Putt Championship, to be held this summer at three area golf courses.

Qualifying rounds for the 2021-22 Drive, Chip & Putt Championship will be held in July at Harbor Links in Port Washington (July 7), Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park (July 19) and the private Colonial Springs Golf Club in Farmingdale (July 20).  The event, which is made possible by the United States Golf Association, the PGA of America and the Masters Tournament, is open to boys and girls from age 7 to 15.  It gives juniors in all 50 states the opportunity to qualify at local courses and compete for a chance to play in a televised championship at Augusta National on the eve of The Masters.

Top performers at the Long Island qualifiers will advance to the sub-regional round, scheduled for August 22 at the Town of Colonie Golf Course near Albany.  The eighty open spots at the Augusta championship -- 40 boys and 40 girls -- will then be determined at regional finals.

Participation in the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship is free.  Players accumulate points for performance in driving, chipping and putting challenges.  Complete competition rules, eligibility requirements and scoring outlines are available at the Drive, Chip & Putt website.

What's become of Long Island's recently departed public golf courses

With signs that Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River might be returning to Long Island's public golf roster, it's worth taking a look back at other lost courses in the area.  Back when Golf On Long Island began covering the region's public golf scene in 2008, the list of local courses was a little bit longer.  Over the past decade-plus, the Island -- especially the East End -- has seen a couple of public courses lose out to development, privatization or other factors.

Here's a look at Long Island's recently lost golf courses and where they stand today, if at all:

CALVERTON LINKS

What it was:  A mix of parkland-style holes on the front nine and sprawling, rolling, wide-open terrain on the back.  Originally a nine-hole course, Calverton Links expanded to 18 in 1999 with new holes built on farmland.  Aside from its very distinct personalities, the course featured a variety of tiered greens -- including a massive slope on its par-5 15th -- and a generally low-key vibe.

What it is now:  Calverton's run on the East End came to a sudden close in fall 2013 with word that the owners were no longer interested in running it.  Eventually the property was leased to a nearby company operating paintball and other outdoor activities.  Passing motorists on Edwards Avenue in Calverton will find land that still resembles a golf course, though much of it is used for various sports and events.  The back extension of the course sits largely untouched, as seen on aerial imagery.

[2022 Update:  After years of discussion and planning, a solar farm was built atop Calverton Links in early 2022.]

DIX HILLS GOLF CLUB

What it was:  A quaint nine-hole fixture in Dix Hills with a small, shaded cabin for a clubhouse and lots of old-fashioned charm.  It was a 2,600-yard par-35 with deep rough and a ravine that cut across two of its holes.

What it is now:  The course closed in 2012, and its gravel driveway and wooded cabin sat weedy and overgrown for more than a year.  Today, the property is the site of luxury housing.

GREAT ROCK

What it was:  In its prime, Great Rock offered as close to a private-club experience as any public course on the Island.  Off the course, staff members loaded your bag and cleaned your clubs, and a Zagat-rated steakhouse and bar (later a refurbished American bistro) hosted plenty of post-round cocktails.  The stories told over beer and burgers likely centered on Great Rock's fast greens and extremely hilly terrain, including its dead-uphill 10th and roller coaster-ish closing par-5.

What it is now:  A course that might be on its way back for a second time (it closed once for six months in 2014 during an ownership change).  Great Rock's latest run in Wading River came to a sorry end in 2019 -- the restaurant closed and the course was largely neglected, leading many players to voice their displeasure online about overgrown fairways, weedy bunkers and scorched greens.  Great Rock closed that October, hinted at improvements for 2020, and never reopened.  There have been whispers though that a new owner might resurrect the golf course sometime in 2021, though details are scarce to date.

[2022 Update:  So...a lot has changed over the past 18 months.  Great Rock reopened as The Rock in July 2022 after a few seasons of prep, then kicked the public out in September and became fully private.]

HEATHERWOOD

What it was:  A rarity on Long Island -- an 18-hole executive course.  With a dozen par-3s and six par-4s, Heatherwood sported an easygoing par-60 with no frills.  It wasn't a total pushover though -- all but three of its par-3s stretched out between 150 and 200 yards.

What it is now:  An overgrown lot being used as a political football between a real estate developer and the Town of Brookhaven.  For the past few years it's been no secret that the course would be cut down to nine holes to make way for a senior housing complex, but late in the approval process the developer, Heatherwood Golf and Villas, told the town its project couldn't get off the ground without millions of dollars in tax breaks.  When Brookhaven swatted down several aid requests, the developer abandoned the course and let it grow into a very visible eyesore.  The standoff is ongoing.

[2022 Update:  Heatherwood is now the site of a fully redesigned nine-hole golf course called Heritage Spy Ring that developers are touting as Long Island's version of Sweetens Cove.  Designed by Tyler Rae, the course is due to open sometime in 2023.]

JONES BEACH PITCH-AND-PUTT

What it was:  For almost as long as there's been a Jones Beach State Park, there's been a short golf course just to the southeast of its iconic tower.  The pitch-and-putt course was a simple, no-frills respite for beachgoers looking for fun in the sun while confining the sand to bunkers.  Fun fact -- one prominent mid-1900s golf writer credited the design of the course -- erroneously, most likely -- to Alister MacKenzie.

What it is now:  It turns out that beachfront golf courses and Long Island storms aren't a great match, and Jones Beach was repeatedly battered by the region's frequent nor'easters and hurricanes.  Flooding and saltwater damage were a seasonal nuisance.  In 2010, the opening was delayed until summer due to storm damage, and two years later, Hurricane Sandy shut the course for good.  The site is now a climbing and adventure park called WildPlay.

LINKS AT SHIRLEY

What it was:  A high-end public course known for a private-club feel and immaculate conditions.  Like many of the courses on this list, it arrived during the Tiger boom, and within a decade it was fending off pressure from developers.  It was a challenging course that the owner described as the "fulfillment of a dream."  Ultimately it was likely done in, at least in part, by some of the Island's highest green fees.  The course closed in 2010.

What it is now:  Part of the Links is now home to a luxury retirement community called The Colony Preserve.  More than ten years since they closed, some holes still exist on the back end of the development and, at some point, will be used as parkland.

LONG ISLAND NATIONAL

What it was:  A Robert Trent Jones Jr. course with as much rolling, wind-swept, links-style golf as one could find on Long Island's public side.  Wavy, fescue-bordered fairways led the way, in some spots, to double greens.  The contours of the course were all the more impressive given its prior life as a flat Riverhead potato farm.  According to the design company's website, Jones Jr. was so proud of the course that he hosted his 60th birthday there when it opened in 1999.

What it is now:  A private club.  New ownership took over in 2013 and made that the last season in which public golfers would be welcome.

MILL POND (EAST)

What it was:  The third nine of what for a short time was the 27-hole Mill Pond Golf Course in Medford.  The East course arrived with its 18 companion holes in 1999, but by 2006 it was taken out of the rotation and left to decay in plain sight for years next to the present-day 12th hole, until construction eventually began on a new development. 

What it is now:  The entire course was replaced by a Meadowbrook Pointe residential community.

TALLGRASS

What it was:  A Gil Hanse design that was consistently ranked among the best publicly accessible golf courses in New York State.  Unfortunately, it was also consistently trailed by rumors about development.  Like Jones Jr. at Long Island National, Hanse took a flat expanse of agricultural land and made it move, in this case by digging down and creating a berm with several holes playing around its rim.  Sandy waste areas and namesake fescue bolstered what was a relatively short par-71 (later a par-70).

What it is now:  Its final years were spent parrying the approach of a proposed solar farm.  Though the course held out longer than expected, in the end, the development won.  Today Tallgrass is covered head to toe in solar panels.  Don't look at Google Earth if you're squeamish.