Long Island Golf

I am organizing a trip from the UK in Sept 18. We are going to Crystal Springs for four days and then move on to Long Island for a further week. Could someone help me please with selecting courses to play in Long Island. Everything looks good on the internet but i would prefer to hear from real people who might of played some of the courses. I am aware that the majority of course are private Country Clubs but there are a good number of public courses and it is these that i need some recommendations for. I am aware of Bethpage but think this might be too hard for us, also my days of turning up to queue for golf are long gone. We will be based in Roslyn, anything inside an hours travel would be fine. Any help would be appreciated/

Regards

Phil Davidson

bethpage has more than just the black red is a very good golf course and ferry point i believe is public but a trump prop.

bethpage has more than just the black red is a very good golf course and ferry point i believe is public but a trump prop.

All courses are 18 holes, unless otherwise noted.

NASSAU COUNTY

Bay Park -- East Rockaway (9 holes)

Bethpage State Park -- Farmingdale

Black Course

Blue Course

Green Course

Red Course

Yellow Course

Cantiague Park -- Hicksville (9)

Christopher Morley Park -- Roslyn (9)

Eisenhower Park -- East Meadow

Red Course

White Course

Blue Course

Glen Cove Golf Club -- Glen Cove

Harbor Links -- Port Washington

Championship Course

Executive Course (9)

Jones Beach State Park (Pitch-and-Putt) (closed) -- Wantagh

Lido Golf Club -- Lido Beach

Merrick Road Park -- Merrick (9)

Nickerson Beach (Pitch-and-Putt) -- Lido Beach (9)

North Woodmere Park -- Valley Stream (9)

Peninsula Golf Club -- Massapequa (9)

The Golf Club at Middle Bay (fka South Bay CC) -- Oceanside

Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course -- Woodbury

SUFFOLK COUNTY

Bergen Point -- West Babylon

Brentwood Country Club -- Brentwood

Calverton Links (closed) -- Calverton

Cedar Beach (Pitch-and-Putt) -- Babylon

Cedars Golf Club -- Cutchogue (9)

Crab Meadow -- Northport

Dix Hills Golf Club (closed) -- Dix Hills (9)

Dix Hills Park -- Dix Hills (9)

Great Rock -- Wading River

Gull Haven -- Central Islip (9)

Heartland Golf Park -- Edgewood (9)

Heatherwood Golf Club -- Centereach

Holbrook Country Club -- Holbrook

Indian Island Country Club -- Riverhead

Island's End Golf & Country Club -- Greenport

Links Course at Cherry Creek -- Riverhead

Links at Shirley (closed) -- Shirley

Long Island National (now fully private) -- Riverhead

Middle Island Country Club -- Middle Island

Spruce Course (9)

Oak Course (9)

Dogwood Course (9)

Mill Pond -- Medford

Montauk Downs State Park -- Montauk

Northport Golf Course -- Northport (9)

Pine Hills Country Club -- Manorville

Pine Ridge Golf Club -- Coram

Poxabogue -- Bridgehampton (9)

Robert Moses State Park (Pitch-and-Putt) -- Fire Island

Rock Hill -- Manorville

Rolling Oaks -- Rocky Point

Sag Harbor State Park -- Sag Harbor (9)

Sandy Pond Par-3 -- Riverhead (9)

Shelter Island Country Club -- Shelter Island (9)

Smithtown Landing Country Club -- Smithtown

Spring Lake Golf Club -- Middle Island

Thunderbird Course

Sandpiper Course (9)

Stonebridge Golf Links -- Hauppauge

Sumpwams Creek Par-3 -- Babylon (9)

Sunken Meadow State Park -- Kings Park

Red Course (9)

Blue Course (9)

Green Course (9)

Swan Lake Golf Club -- Manorville

Tallgrass Golf Course (closed) -- Shoreham

Timber Point -- Great River

Red Course (9)

White Course (9)

Blue Course (9)

The Vineyards Golf Club -- Riverhead

West Sayville Golf Course -- West Sayville

Willow Creek Golf & CC -- Mount Sinai

Wind Watch Golf & CC -- Hauppauge

Woods Course at Cherry Creek -- Riverhead

I live near Roslyn. First of all, will you have a car? Since you're not familiar with the area, try to get one with a GPS. How long are you staying on LI? I would suggest that you contact Bethpage regarding their reservation system so you get registered. I don't know how they handle foreign registration but you can contact them and ask. This way you can call them when you're here a week in advance and make a reservation. The phone number is 516-249-0707. You are not allowed to ride the Black but the other 4 you can ride. Red and Blue are the most difficult after Black.

A number of the courses above are from 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 hour drive from Roslyn. You should consider Bethpage, Harbor Links, Middle Bay, Lido, not Eisenhower Park since I believe you need to play with one person who is a resident and has a leisure pass. These are just a few. Unless you don't mind driving some stay out of Suffolk County although there are some nice courses in Suffolk County. Personally, I like Rock Hill and Willow Creek.

Montauk if you want to make the trek also

Only need a resident with leisure pass to book a tee time at Eisenhower. Pretty sure anyone can walk up.

Get a round at Rock Hill. If you want to go further, try Links at Cherry Creek. Very open and fun. :)

Willow Creek is always good and challenging at some holes too due to water on a lot of holes.

Within reasonable driving distance (less than an hour).

• Bethpage Red
  
• Harbor Links
  
• Willow Creek
  
• Wind Watch
  

If you want to go further out east (1.5-2+ hours)

• Rock Hill
  
• Cherry Creek
  
• Montauk Downs
  

Also, while you are at Crystal Springs, Ballyowen and Wild Turkey are a must play, the others aren't worth it. Crystal Springs is an ok third option (if you are up for a serious challenge and don't want to leave the vicinity) but I would make the 20 minute drive to Berkshire Valley as a third option, highly recommended.

Montauk downs is worth the trip, Im friends with the pro and he is a great guy. Willow Creek is very nice and all the Bethpage courses are very nice, i like the green the best after the black.

Crystal springs is Meh. Ballyowen and wild turkey are well worth it. I play those two instead of crystal.

Ferry point is the best in the area. Its kinda between crystal springs and Long island so it will prob work for you

Montauk Downs is great but its at the end of long island and can be a miserable drive at the wrong hour (although Montauk is a great town and worth a visit in its own right)

Bethpage as others have said

Otherwise Long island public golf kinda sucks frankly. Not really the place for a golf trip.... If you have some private connections its the best in the world of course

as stated before, depends where youre staying on long island. the black is a must play, followed by, IMO, the red, montauk downs, ferry point, willow creek & pine ridge. i would skip rock hill, middle bay or lido. ike red is challenging and ike white was just redone, but they are county courses & thus hard to get on. for all of POTUS's BS, ferry point is a pretty cool golf course with amazing views.

Montauk Downs is great but its at the end of long island and can be a miserable drive at the wrong hour (although Montauk is a great town and worth a visit in its own right)

Is there a ferry across to the mainland at the Montauk end?

be prepared for some longggg rounds in long island. probably the mecca of private clubs in the US but the public scene is like a death sentence while waiting for the next shot.

i once played bethpage black in a touch over 6 hours. O.o

Montauk Downs is great but its at the end of long island and can be a miserable drive at the wrong hour (although Montauk is a great town and worth a visit in its own right)

 

Is there a ferry across to the mainland at the Montauk end?

Not really. Long Island has some ferry crossings from Connecticut, but that's no help if you are on the Island, and there's no direct ferry to Montauk. Check out L.I. on a map and you will see that it's technically an island, but it is more like a long peninsula stretching east from Manhattan.

Anybody know if great rock in wading river is still open? Have tried calling multiple times but always get an answering machine and they're website doesn't seem updated

Harbor Links is the closest one to Roslyn and is a nice course

If you are planning this as a travel trip and don’t play at least one Bethpage course you will kick yourself. You know the Black. The Red is also great and I like the Green. Harbor Links is near Roslyn and is a very good course. But looong rounds. Ferry Point is great and if that is in your range it should be on your list. Willow Creek is also good.

1. Harborlinks (18 +9 exec)

2. Bethpage

That’s all you need.