Private Club 30 minutes from Manhattan

[YoungBorra]

I just joined Lake Success Golf Club (The Lake) and it's the best decision I could have made:

 

30 minutes from the east side of Manhattan (sometimes less). With normal traffic, 40-46 minutes but no longer. Right now it's been 26-29 minutes on average there and back from the upper east.Well manicured, great walking course. Challenging front 9 with a good mix of holes on the back. Greens run great - lots of challenges (I'm 6 rounds in for the season and am far from figuring it out)Huge practice green for putting. Two separate chipping/pitching greens and a practice bunker.Small irons only driving range but good enough to practice and get your game going.Not open yet because of COVID but men's locker room has new updates: showers, steam room, etc. etc. Patio & Grill room look wonderful

Pricing is reasonable 40+ but for under 40, best situation possible. Only thing is $30 cart fees and even if you choose to walk, it's still $30 tacked on. However: no food minimums, no capital fund, no assessments, no initiation. Can't beat that.

 

let me know if you want to come check it out - I'm digging it.

[Twism86]

I love looking at courses on google maps. Your new club looks very nice from the air and im amazed at how much variety they have packed into a small space! Looks like a tight, challenging course that if you can hit it long and stay between the tree you can score! Also, with my signature "power fade with extra fade" I would be donating a lot of balls to the lake on #18!

[indygolfer72]

Sounds like a good setup over there. Curious if you looked at any other courses in the area. I’ve been thinking hard about joining a private club for next season though mostly focused on Westchester County so far.

[YoungBorra]

I've looked at every single club, honest to god. I've been a member at three in the area over the years and the issue is if you're not made of money, it's really tough to play private golf in the metropolitan section of NY. My buddies who live in Georgia and Tennessee are paying $3000 for a whole year at wonderful clubs: here, $3000 will get you one month in a small one bedroom in Manhattan (which you probably already know).

LS (The Lake) is a great situation for me because yes, I do live in the city and yes, for under 40 it's a great deal. Unlike other clubs that are going to cost you $7000-9000 a year for dues PLUS $300 a month for capital assessments, $300 a quarter for food minimums and then $80-120 every time you play on a weekend with a mandatory caddy, LS doesn't have any of that extra extra jazz that turns said 7-9K into 14-16.

Granted this: if you have the money and can pay a 10-30K initiation fee, check out these clubs which are close to the city:

Pelham / North Hills (LI) / Bonnie Briar (Larchmont) / Rockland CC . All have good ranges, good courses and are within 35/40 minutes from Manhattan.

[fundustrial]

Glad to hear you found a good place! I joined Wykagyl as I wanted a CC. Great course and facilities and without traffic around 30mins from my home which is fine for me as most of my rounds are early morning.

[ChillyDipper]

Very interested to see this. My in-laws live very close by and I spend most weekends there. Thinking about joining a club in the next year or two. Glad to know it is relatively affordable for the sub-40 crowd.

[indygolfer72]

Fundustrial, any feedback you can share of their joining process? Wykagyl would be on my short list based on outside in impression though still trying to calibrate selectivity / number of hoops to jump through with clubs on that tier.

[YoungBorra]

shot you a private message.

[YoungBorra]

WYK is one of the best places - course is unreal great facilities - the clubhouse is HUGE.

[chas521]

FYI, my friend is the club champion there.

[YoungBorra]

he's very good. Very consistent player.

[fundustrial]

Replied.

[fundustrial]

PM sent.

[dmanzo]

Great club and 20 mins with no traffic from my Manhattan Apt. No brainier if you are under 40 as the dues are very affordable. PM me if you want to check it out or have any questions

[waukamp89]

@fundustrial any chance you could share some info on Wykagyl? Looks pretty awesome but am just curious about dues and process to join. Thinking of joining a club next year and looking anywhere near Brooklyn.

[fundustrial]

PM sent.

[falcons]

I’m actually interested in possibly joining. Can’t find the pm button (on mobile) but could you message me? ?

[johnnybogey]

Would love to hear more about Wykagyl. Actually drive by the other day.

Ive lived in Westchester county since 2013. The public courses (Westchester county) are only 6 courses and rounds can be brutally long.

scarsdale Golf Club is down the block from me but ridiculously expensive like all things in Westchester county.

[Smart Water]

Would love to hear more about Wykagyl as well. Just moved to UES and looking at clubs in Westchester. Could you send me a PM?

[jlazaro]

Wykagyl is a fantastic club. But, I would not characterize it as affordable. You are looking at north of $20k in annual carry before you stick a tee in the ground.

Pelham CC is down the road. Less expensive than Wykgyl and the course was just renovated. That said, it's not as nice, and it has i-95 running through it.

The issue you are going to have in lower Westchester is the concentration of people/wealth and the fact that most all clubs are geared towards families. There is really no such thing as a pure golf club. Every club has a bunch of other amenities, which you will be paying for.

[socccer4life3]

If your looking for value and close to Manhattan look no further than @YoungBorra and Lake Sucess Country Club. I had a chance to play it a few weeks ago and i would say there is a high percentage i join next season. Great little course, well priced (under 40), staff was friendly etc. Only thing that it doesn't exactly have is a driving range. It has a 4 stall, 180yd driving range which is more for warming up than anything else.

[ButterCutter2]

some of the more affordable westchester clubs are Rye, westchester hills, hampshire, leewood & mahopac beach club (which is way up north of chappaqua). of course, none of those are perfect and that's why they're currently affordable, but for westchester they are worth looking into.

for long island besides the aformentioned lake success, the other village clubs such as lawrence & sands point tend to be more affordable. a couple of the other clubs near lawrence are also reasonably priced. also may find deals at tam o'shanter & muttontown, as neither are owned by their members anymore.

throughout NJ, there are far more deals but you're looking at a much longer drive and much worse traffic. numerous threads in here about NJ clubs but some that come to mind / have been mentioned are NJ national, shackamaxon, newton cc, forest hill fc, panther valley & watchung valley. the latter of which considers (or did as of 2 years ago) NYC residents to be out of town / national members, thus reduced dues.

additionally, a lot of clubs because of the pandemic have moved away from mandatory caddies and some even mandatory carts, so its something worth looking into.

having said all that, even with golf tee sheets booming during the pandemic, the economic fall out hasn't been truly been felt yet in the middle/upper class (not a groundbreaking statement here). but with that in mind, there could be loads and loads of deals coming this fall & winter as members begin to drop out due to belt tightening. you may also find families decide to drop out & Reallocate funds to travel for next summer when it'll likely be allowed again. (on the contrary, ive heard some area clubs benefited this summer from lack of sleepaway camp & european travel, as those who could afford it decided to join clubs). regardless, there were tons of deals to be had in NYC area 2009-2011 coming out of the great recession, and i'd have to think the same thing will occur coming out of the pandemic.

 

 

[dmanzo]

@ButterCutter2 nice summary. You have done your research.
Adding a few random thoughts here:
Hampshire complete dog track and overpriced
Rye good value and nice course with nice sound views
Westchester Hills and Leewood were quite expensive when you add all the fees up (maybe they have relaxed those a bit?)
Mahopac was phenomenal really enjoyed it and price is right it is just a major haul from NYC area
Sands Point was great but also a bit pricey.
Have not played Lawrence but heard it is a bit of a dog track very good pricing though
After doing all my research I believe Lake Success is the best if you are on a budget and proximity is your top priority.
If proximity to NYC non factor, the best overall courses are Watchung Valley or Mahopac in my opinion

[Douglas007]

Giving this a bump if anyone is thinking of joining a private club close to NYC, Lake Success is terrific and a great deal if under 40

[ronw04]

thank you for the bump. I live in Westchester and am looking around now.  Can anyone speak about their experience at Rye or Mahopac CC??

[SLUGCC2002]

13 hours ago, ronw04 said:

thank you for the bump. I live in Westchester and am looking around now.  Can anyone speak about their experience at Rye or Mahopac CC??

 Happy to tell you about Rye. What would you like to know?

[ronw04]

4 hours ago, SLUGCC2002 said:

 Happy to tell you about Rye. What would you like to know?

Thanks! 

I'm looking at a weekday membership. How full is the tee sheet most weekday mornings? 

What's the pace of play generally? 

Is the course in decent shape? 

Nice members? 

I live 30 minutes from Rye and have never played it. I'd be going in blind. Basically any CC in the 914 is out of my price range. This certainly is manageable. 

[Guy In Lyon]

On 5/19/2020 at 8:01 AM, YoungBorra said:

I just joined Lake Success Golf Club (The Lake) and it's the best decision I could have made:

30 minutes from the east side of Manhattan (sometimes less). With normal traffic, 40-46 minutes but no longer.

Having lived in New York I have to believe that there is nothing on the island that is 30 minutes from the east side of Manhattan (except Astoria), unless your tee time is at 3AM on a Sunday morning.

Then there's parking in Manhattan, if you can find it.

What's the nearest Subway/LIRR station?

Edited January 27, 2021 by Guy In Lyon

[ButterCutter2]

if you're teeing off before 8, you can absolutely get to lake success, wheatley hills or a few of the clubs near JFK in 30 mins while living on the east side of manhattan, provided you're driving with the desire to do the trip in 30 mins. did it hundreds of times.

[chas521]

All I can say is to have your driver's license on top so you can get to it easily when the cops stop you for speeding! 🤣