A years-long battle over a proposed senior housing complex in Centereach that would cut the Heatherwood Golf Club from 18 holes to nine has instead reduced the entire course to overgrowth as the future of the development dims. Heatherwood has been closed since early 2020, and it appears likely the course will stay closed for good.
Heatherwood slowly grew into an eyesore along busy Nesconset Highway during its abandoned 2020 season, Kyle Barr of TBR News wrote in October. At one point a sign that read "What Should We Build?" was erected over the dormant golf course.
The deserted course and weedy lot are the culmination of a lengthy struggle pitting the Town of Brookhaven against a Commack-based real estate developer that wants millions of dollars in tax breaks to build 200 housing units for seniors on part of the golf course property. Arguing that tax breaks would take revenue away from local school districts, the Brookhaven Town Industrial Development Agency rejected several requests in 2019 for economic-aid packages for the developer, Heatherwood Golf and Villas, ranging from $2 million to $7 million in exemptions. Heatherwood contends that the project — which would keep nine of the club's 18 holes — is dependent on the tax breaks.
The developer was originally granted a zoning change for the project in 2014 and already has most of the approvals it needs to start construction of the housing complex, according to Newsday. Local residents and civic associations spoke out against the development at the time, and after continued opposition, some feel that the abandonment of the golf course is a "vindictive" counter to the town's aid rejection, Barr reported.
As for Heatherwood Golf Club, part of the Long Island public-golf scene for more than 50 years, it filled a niche as the Island's only 18-hole executive-length course. The 4,100-yard course featured six par-4s and a dozen par-3s, most of which played longer than 150 yards. Its signature hole was the 148-yard ninth, where shots to a deep green needed to sail over a small pond.