The year is 1922, the Great War is over and Who`s Who of New York can be found out in East Egg, wining and dining with Tom and Daisy Buchanan and the great golfer, Jordan Baker. Yes, this image comes straight out of the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but if you know anything about golfing in New York, you know that the fictional East Egg is none other than the area of Glen Head where, should you throw a stone in any direction, you cannot help but land on a green.
Welcome to the Vintage Club of Sands Point, a 6,654 yard, 18-hold course with a par 71 on Bent grass. This golf club was built in 1929, right around the setting of the Great Gatsby and it is just as toni as any club at which Jay Gatsby would have been a member. The Vintage Club of Sands Point is a beautifully landscaped course which borders Hempstead Harbor with its signature 14th hole. The Manhattan skyline can be seen over the trees and the back 9 has glimpses of the bay.
If you`re staying on Long Island`s "Gold Coast," it is conceivable to
play a different course each day for a week. Just northwest of the Vintage
Club is the separate Sands Point Golf Club and to the west lies Harbor Links.
Across the bay to the east is the North Shore Country Club and the Glen
Head Country Club, all within 20 minutes of each other.
Further east
on New York`s Long Island is the North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue. The
NFCC is an 18-hole, 6,160 yard, par 71 course with a rating of 70.4 and
slope of 126 on Rye grass. The country club was built in 1912. Cutchogue
is a quaint little town with fresh produce for sale along Route 25, all
from area farms. There are boutique cafes and sumptuous fare available at
dock-side restaurants.
On the south shore of Long Island is one of golf`s top courses and the museum piece of the Hamptons: The National Golf Links of America. If you are lucky enough to get an invite to this prestigious course, do not pass it up. Just north of Montauk highway 27 and Shinecock Bay, the National is an 18-hole regulation Scottish Links style course with 365 sand bunkers. Needless to say, this is a challenging course, but if you can make it to lunch, you will be treated to Lobster and a beautiful view of the Peconic Bay – all for the meager green fee of $175.
For those of you do not consider yourself dilettantes, Upstate New York offers many public courses including the 9-hole Pearl Lakes course in Skaneateles near Syracuse. This is a 29 par, 1,490 yard course that is great for families and beginners. Further south in White Plains is the Lake Isle Town Park course of Eastchester, a 6,009 yard, 70 par built in 1926 and managed by George Papademetrion. Upstate New York golf offers rolling hills, beautiful farm land and scattered lakes.
New York golf is its own culture. Even in Manhattan where nary a course can be found, there are plenty of pro shops offering memberships to area courses, private lessons, clubs, bags, gloves and anything else the golf enthusiast might need. The next time you travel to New York on New York Flights, don`t forget to spend a few days out on the links.
Lake Placid Golf
Niagara Falls