Aerials of the golf courses of Long Island. Episode 1: Engineers

[Charlie Goerges]

I am an aerial photo and map nut. Given that fact, I’m gradually compiling aerial photos of courses that have interested me. I’ve not played or seen any of them so I can’t provide ground-level photos, but perhaps folks here would be interested in the aerial photos, as I am. The first is Engineers Golf Club. Some that follow will be The Creek Club, Garden City, Fenway (I know that Fenway is not on Long Island), Piping Rock an others that I have found which have been shot in high-resolution aerials.

(Note: I've added a half-size version of the images in another post below for those who don't want to have so much scrolling for each hole)

So here goes, in order (to the best of my limited knowledge):

Hole 1





Hole 2





Hole 3





Hole 4





Hole 5





Hole 6





Hole 7





Hole 8





Hole 9





Hole 10 (resized smaller so it would fit better)





Hole 11





Hole 12





Hole 13





Hole 14





2 or 20





Hole 15





Hole 16





Hole 17





Hole 18





If I’ve messed up the order/hole numbers, let me know. Feel free to add commentary as I know nothing about the course other than what I’ve seen in some images. In the coming weeks, I’ll gradually post other courses that I’ve found.

[Ronald Montesano]

I have never seen anything like the 11 consecutive bunkers up the side of #16.  Is the 2/20 hole not on the regular 18 hole rotation?  I remember a recent read on its restoration.  Nicely prepared.

[Charlie Goerges]

Half-size version by request:

Hole 1





Hole 2





Hole 3





Hole 4





Hole 5





Hole 6





Hole 7





Hole 8





Hole 9





Hole 10





Hole 11





Hole 12





Hole 13





Hole 14





2 or 20




Hole 15





Hole 16





Hole 17





Hole 18

[Charlie Goerges]

I have never seen anything like the 11 consecutive bunkers up the side of #16.  Is the 2/20 hole not on the regular 18 hole rotation?  I remember a recent read on its restoration.  Nicely prepared.

Thanks Ronald.

I have no idea of whether the hole is in regular use. Perhaps someone can chime in?

Also, to all, are the images too big? Should I go with the half size images from now on?

[Sean_Tully]

Charlie

Thanks for posting these aerial views, I can imagine that took some time! I think that the small versions work just fine. I have been interested in this course as well and dont want to prejudge the course too much from the aerial views, will have to see whats on here for on the ground photo.

Tully

[John Mayhugh]

Smaller aerials work much better for me.  It takes around five separate page downs to look at a single large photo on my notebook monitor.  I think you could go even smaller w/o losing any info.  In the case of Engineers, the aerials only tell a bit of the story as the land is far from flat.  Engineers is really unique and well worth a visit. 

I can post photos of some of the holes if you let me know what you would like to see.

The first hole looks pretty tame from the tee and your overhead.




But check out this green!  From the front right.


And from the back of the green looking back towards the fairway.  I wish the shadows weren't there and that I had taken many more pics of this green.  Note the punchbowl effect on the right side.  This green was an appropriate introduction to the rest of the course.
 

[TEPaul]

Charlie:

If you are a nut on golf course aerials you will be very happy to know there just may be a stash of some very old aerials hanging around in some one nooks and crannies on LI. I'm not certain of it at this moment but a good friend is looking into it as we speak. If it's true hopefully they may provide some aerial perspectives of some important LI courses that haven't been seen in many decades. One turned up in the last year that made an awful big difference to us on the evolution of a particular hole at The Creek.

[Charlie Goerges]

Thanks for the images John, I would like to see more. I'm not sure how to narrow it down, but like your first set of images, anything that you noticed as remarkable would be worthwhile.

Tom, I'm glad to hear that. Hopefully we'll get to see some of them on GCA. I don't know if that's possible, but it would be lovely to see.

[John Mayhugh]

I'll try to post hole by hole, at least the more interesting pics.  Probably won't get started til later this week as I have to make sure everything is labeled and then upload to photobucket.

[Buck Wolter]

Is Engineers as narrow as the aerials make it look? Many of the fairway bunkers look to be sitting 10-15 yards in the rough so I would assume it's lost some width. It looks like there is plenty of room between the trees to expand the fairways.

Buck

[John Mayhugh]

Finally getting a chance to upload and post a few more photos.  The second hole at Engineers is around 400 yds.  Morning tee shots were into the sun.  This photo from behind the green shows the movement of the land.


As you can see, the green is rather well protected and if you didn't hit a good tee shot, you will have a tough time getting on this green with your second.  The green fits beautifully into the hillside and slopes quite bit from back left to front right.
 

This is the green from the right side.  You won't get bored putting at Engineers.

[Charlie Goerges]

Nice shots John, I'd never be able to tell the amount of movement from the aerials. I especially like the second image. (I've seen images of the course online, but it's been a while.)

[David Stamm]

Engineers is a hell of a course and one I loved playing. It is so bold! As John pointed out, 1's green has to be seen to be believed. One of the best and toughest greens one can play for an opener (or period for that matter!). The aerials don't show just how dramatic the property is. As for the 2 or 20 hole, it is NOT in play all the time and is rotated with anoher hole. I'll have to dig up the scorecard to help me remember how it works out in the sequence. We need Deruntz to chime in!

[Brian Potash]

I played Engineers a few times over the last few years through a friend who is a member of Tour GCX golf.  As David mentioned, 2 or 20 is rotated in with the par 3 11th, which as I remember is the most pedestrian hole on the course.  The cool thing is even when they didn't give out the "classic" scorecard, which includes 2 or 20, they still have the pin in the hole, so you can kind of play it anyway.  That hole is so much fun.  Overall, I thought the course was really tremendous, especially the stretch of holes 4-7. 

[John Mayhugh]

The third at Engineers is a 200+ par 3 with a huge bunker up the left side.  Sorry I don't have a photo from a bit closer to the green.  There is a huge thumbprint kind of depression just short of the flag. 




Charlie,
Where did your aerials come from?  The third hole aerial looks to be pre-restoration.  It's probably worth going through on Google Earth and comparing the ones you posted to the most recent.

Here's what the third hole bunkering looks like (middle of the pic).  The second hole fairway and green is seen above it.

[Charlie Goerges]

John, the aerials that I used were taken in 2004, the ones in google earth are 2007. I chose the ones I did (without knowing about the restoration) because they were slightly sharper images.