Our preferred route to the North Fork farms and wineries is a scenic one that begins at exit 71 off the Long Island Expressway. The first bit of "scenery" en route to Sound Avenue — for the golfer in the car — is the front nine at Calverton Links. After dozens of day trips taking me past the Links' doorstep, it was only a matter of time before I got the itch to head east and actually step inside again.
A case can be made that Calverton Links has the most diverse set of greens among Long Island publics. Just down the road, Swan Lake's are the biggest, and also nearby, Great Rock might have the fastest. But Calverton's mix of irregular shapes, pronounced slopes and closely lurking hazards creates a variety of green complexes matched locally by very few courses.
In the event there's nobody on your tail and you have time to drop a few balls on and around the greens, do it. There's the diamond-shaped fourth with a slope running toward the front corner; the diagonal ninth wedged between sand and water; and the shallow tenth — shaped like the Nike swoosh — elevated and sandwiched between bunkers while falling from right to left.
The greens get funkier on the other side of the woods. A swale precedes the surface on #11, and the green itself features a thumbprint depression (pictured above; note the pin near the edge of the slope). Safe players on the risk/reward 12th might find the green nearly impossible to hold — it's about 15 paces deep and lifted behind three traps. Ahead at #15, a three-lobed surface boasts one of the steepest drops you'll find. And on #16, the right lobe of the heart-shaped green is protected by water, while the left side is completely exposed to attack from the highly elevated tee.
Pictured right, the par-4 eighth is an anomaly at Calverton for its geometrically identifiable shape (it's an oval). But it fits in with the rest of the greens thanks to a ridge separating front and back. (For a clearer shot, see the Calverton Links flyover.)
Also of note at Calverton:
If you're playing from the middle white tees, and the markers are up on the par-5 fourth ahead of where the cartpath crosses the road, pay no attention to the scorecard. The hole plays about 430 yards from there, not 500-plus. Get your tee shot up the hill and make a run at eagle.
Directly behind the 15th green, mounds of dirt used to overlook your putts courtesy of a neighboring construction site or landfill. Today that collective pile is covered with growth, turning it into a somewhat natural-looking berm that creates a more appealing backdrop for the hole.
Near the end of a strong round, don't lose one into the greenside trap on #17. It's far below the surface, there's only a thin sliver of green to work with, and waiting on the far side to collect (and keep) bladed escapes is dense Calverton woodland. Stay to the right side of the awkwardly angled 17th at all costs.