Last spring I tried to find a convenient course for an after-work twilight round. Stonebridge in Hauppauge fit my location and rate preferences, but I had a very limited knowledge of the course itself. The only reason I even knew of Stonebridge at all was because of its listing as a "can't miss" course on a Long Island golf map. So I set out on an Internet search for course details, but all that turned up were fragments and nuggets of information, scattered across a handful of web listings, that revealed little more than the yardage, the rating/slope, and contact info. Similar searches of other courses later in the summer were equally fruitless.
So instead of waiting around for a central Internet resource for Long Island golf to appear, where in-depth and timely information devoted solely to the Island's public golf could be found within a few mouse clicks, I decided to create it. Six months ago today, GolfOnLongIsland.com introduced itself in cyberspace with a post entitled "Getting Started" and a "flyover" of the North Woodmere Park Golf Course, a fitting tribute to the place where I was first introduced to the sport.
In the time since, I've collaborated with Hicksville-based Golfing Magazine through the offseason by bringing to the site its Long Island Dream Club. The site has been highlighted by East of NYC, a popular local food and culture site, and was recently featured by the Long Island Business News. Despite having only two in-season golf months to work with since launching Golf On Long Island, I've covered in detail nearly 20 courses, in addition to updates on promotions, rates, course news, and off-course golf facilities. Web presence and readership has steadily grown through the winter, a strong indicator of the site's potential in the 2009 season.
There are two main goals for the site in 2009. One is to continue adding to the list of course flyovers and make it as complete and detailed as possible. Part of that will involve maintaining and updating past flyovers as courses evolve and our collective golfing eye picks up a new quirk or tidbit it may have overlooked before. The other goal is to add the voices of the Long Island golf industry to the site.
All this is an effort to promote the wonderful golf everyone on Long Island has access to, in a way that keeps area golfers informed and is entertaining to read.
The ultimate goal remains the same — to give scratch players through high-handicappers a resource to turn to for quality information about the great public golf facilities we have here on Long Island.