Shinnecock Hills and its equally photogenic neighbors at National Golf Links of America, Sebonack and Southampton received plenty of love and adoration during this month’s U.S. Open, though all of Long Island golf shared a bit of the spotlight amid the tournament coverage. In the lead-up to the Open, Golf Digest ranked the best courses on Long Island, then followed with a player-driven ranking of the best public courses in the region.
Not surprisingly, the two facilities to show up on both lists were Bethpage and Montauk Downs. The Black Course at Bethpage came in at #4 on Golf Digest’s best Long Island courses list. Only Shinnecock, National and Friar’s Head ranked higher.
Its state-park sister course in Montauk landed at #26, trailing just behind Old Westbury, Noyac and Seawane. Of the Downs, Golf Digest noted that it’s “a challenging municipal course that New York residents can play for under $50. Given the proximity to the ocean, the wind is often strong and can make the course play vastly different from day to day.”
For its survey of Long Island’s top public courses, Golf Digest gathered feedback from Long Islanders on its staff and on its course-ranking panel to highlight courses that are not the typical darlings of magazine ratings. So after a top three of Bethpage Black, Montauk Downs and Bethpage Red (“in the Red you get the whiff of a major championship design and something far more profound than any run-of-the-mill ‘second best’ golf course”), the panel featured:
Eisenhower Red
“Designed by Devereux Emmet, one of the most strategically brilliant architects of his day, there are bones of his interesting bunker complexes and philosophies, though decades of lengthening and the loss of green size show just signs of the great design.”
Harbor Links
“…has unique features, including several split fairways and a large, rocky bluff.”
Willow Creek
“[Stephen] Kay moved nearly 1.6 million cubic yards of excess material to lower the level of the course by 15 feet — and some of the features include a split fairway, water hazards, a circulating man-made creek, waterfalls and an island green on the signature 16th hole.”
Middle Bay
“This course is always in fantastic shape and has a great routing with some signature holes right along the water.”
Mill Pond
“It’s a great, modern test of golf that can get windy and difficult.”
Pine Hills
“…offers a sleeker look with some tree removal and new manicured waste area bunkers … As good of value you will get on the Island.”
Rock Hill
“The front and back nines are quite different, with the front nine rolling through elevated terrain in the Pine Barrens of Suffolk County while the back nine drops down into a flat meadow area.”
Cherry Creek Links
“Home to one of the only legitimate par-6 holes in the Northeast.”
Crab Meadow
“…offers a great balance of challenge and forgiveness for golfers of all abilities.”
View the full lists and descriptions and the Golf Digest links provided above.