Does the East end of Long Island have the best golf courses in the world ?

[Patrick_Mucci]

With Friar's Head, Long Island National, Laurel Links, Westhampton, Southampton, Shinnecock, NGLA, Sebonack, The Bridge, Atlantic, Easthampton, Maidstone, Montauk, Noyack is there a better assembly of golf courses in such a confined area ?

Forgive me if I left out any other worthy courses.

What's conspired to produce such wonderful golf courses ?

[Doug Ralston]

Money

[Phil_the_Author]

Once upon a time, the Long Island Rail Road...

[Eric Franzen]

Nice grounds for golf, Charles Blair MacDonald, Seth Raynor, William Flynn, Crenshaw & Coore, Ken Bakst, Michael Pascucci, passion for the game and it's tradtions and history, Tom Doak & Jack Nicholaus... among other things.

[Kevin Pallier]

Patrick,

From what I've seen - the Surrey / Berkshire area for mine would be hard to beat:
Sunningdale (Old)
Sunningdale (New)
Wentworth (West)
Wentworth (East)
Wentworth (Edinburgh)
West Hill
Woking
Worplesdon
Swinley Forest
The Berkshire (Red)
The Berkshire (Blue)

Maybe even the golf coast region from Royal Lytham to Royal Liverpool ?

over the Sandbelt region's courses which are even closer in proximity ?
Royal Melbourne (West)
Royal Melbourne (East)
Kingston Heath
Metropolitan
Victoria
Commonwealth
Woodlands
Yarra Yarra
Huntingdale
Spring Valley

NB: the courses are listed on no particular order.

[Brian_Ewen]

I dont think Patrick meant to put "World" at the end of his question .  

[wsmorrison]

Location, location, location offering sand, sea and wind.  The classic and modern era architects took advantage (to different degrees) of the architectural underpinnings with those more closely conceptual connection to Old World golf providing some of the best golf courses in the world.  

Philadelphia with its surrounding suburbs is pretty darn good as well.  

[Evan_Green]

Surely another contender would have to be Carmel/Monterey...

[Allan Hutton]

If you are talking purely Geographic proximity...how about Lothian/Fife.

If you were based in Earlsferry, you are within about 10 miles (as the crow flies) from the all the courses in the St. Andrews area and all the courses in the Gullane/ North Berwick area.

As to what transpired...some guy thought hitting a rock around with a stick in the dunes...seemed like a fun idea at one point.

[Tyler Kearns]

Patrick,

I would agree that Long Island has one of the world's greatest concentrations of excellent golf, but Melbourne's "Sandbelt" and adjacent Mornington Peninsula offer a superb selection that certainly gives Long Island a run for its money. In addition to Kevin's list above, add Peninsula County (North & South) to the "Sandbelt" list, plus the golf on the Mornington Peninsula;

St. Andrews Beach
The National (Moonah, Ocean & Old)
Portsea
Sorrento
Moonah Links (Legends & Open)
The Dunes

TK

[Tim Leahy]

Surely another contender would have to be Carmel/Monterey...

Cypress Point, Pebble, MPCC dunes & shore, Spyglass, Poppyhills, Pacific Grove, Bayonet, Blackhorse, the Preserve, Tahama, Pasadera, Carmel Valley, Rancho Canada east and west, etc.

[Gene Greco]

I'd rather play a middle of the road links than all but NGLA if all were equally accessible.  But I may garner some criticism on here for that statement.

Not from me.

[JESII]

Nor me.

Links golf is it.

[wsmorrison]

Bill V

You'd rather play Dunbar than Shinnecock, Merion or Pine Valley?

[Tom_Doak]

Tim Leahy:

I can't believe you put Tehama and Rancho Canada in your list in an attempt to SUPPORT Monterey as the greatest concentration of courses.

Then again, Patrick put in Noyac.

Why don't you guys just pull out The Confidential Guide and add up the ratings for the top dozen courses in each area.  If you tell me what newer courses you want to include in the top twelve, I'll tell you how many points they get.

But you should skip the "as the crow flies" part.  If boats are going to be involved, then Patrick gets Fishers Island and Yale, and you're in worse shape than you started.

[John Kirk]

Since Long Island is the comparison, isn't the length of Long Island about the same distance as San Francisco to Monterey (about 100 miles)?  If we can include the Bay Area with Monterey and Santa Cruz, then the Central California coast is a real contender.

[Tim Leahy]

Tim Leahy:
I can't believe you put Tehama and Rancho Canada in your list in an attempt to SUPPORT Monterey as the greatest concentration of courses.
Then again, Patrick put in Noyac.
Why don't you guys just pull out The Confidential Guide and add up the ratings for the top dozen courses in each area.  If you tell me what newer courses you want to include in the top twelve, I'll tell you how many points they get.
But you should skip the "as the crow flies" part.  If boats are going to be involved, then Patrick gets Fishers Island and Yale, and you're in worse shape than you started.

Tom, I tried to buy a copy of the Confidential Guide online and couldn't find one for under $1000. How about a new printing so some of us newbies can add to our GCA knowledge.

[cary lichtenstein]

Tim:

I'll sell you mine for $999

Cary

[Tim Leahy]

for that much I can play Pebble twice and buy a hotdog!

[Andrew Summerell]

Does the East end of Long Island have the best golf courses in the world ?

No

Is there a better assembly of golf courses in such a confined area ?

Yes

What's conspired to produce such wonderful golf courses ?

Decent land

I would agree with Kevin Pallier's assessment. For mine, Surrey, Berkshire area beats East Long Island easily for the quantity of quality courses.

[wsmorrison]

Here's a nice collection of courses:

Pine Valley
Merion
Huntingdon Valley
Aronimink
Rolling Green
Philadelphia Country
Philadelphia Cricket
Manufacturers
White Manor
LuLu
Lancaster (hey, it takes less time to drive from Philadelphia to Lancaster in the summer than Southampton to East Hampton)
Lehigh
Saucon Valley
Bidermann
Wilmington

[James Bennett]

Patrick,

I would agree that Long Island has one of the world's greatest concentrations of excellent golf, but Melbourne's "Sandbelt" and adjacent Mornington Peninsula offer a superb selection that certainly gives Long Island a run for its money. In addition to Kevin's list above, add Peninsula County (North & South) to the "Sandbelt" list, plus the golf on the Mornington Peninsula;

St. Andrews Beach
The National (Moonah, Ocean & Old)
Portsea
Sorrento
Moonah Links (Legends & Open)
The Dunes

TK

Tyler

and whilst you are at Peninsula, you can nip next door and actually play all of Long Island in 4 hours.  Its eastern end, its northern end, its southern end and its western end all in the one 18 holes (Long Island Country Club).

James B

[Patrick_Mucci]

Wayne Morrison,

How far is Wilmington from Saucon Valley ?

How long would it take to drive from one to the other ?

How long would it take for TEPaul to drive from one to another ?

[wsmorrison]

Pat,

Granted it is pretty far from Wilmington to Saucon Valley, but with Philadelphia smack dab in the middle, it isn't too far fetched.  Alright, we'll take out these two outliers and we're still left with some awesome golf.  By the way, you are long overdue for a visit!

It is probably an 1hr and a half to get from one to the other (or about the time it takes to get from Friars Head to Maidstone in the summer).  It would only take Tom a little over an hour in his BMW and 55 minutes in his Mini Cooper S.  Tom spent a lot of time watching Fireball Roberts and he has a bit of lead foot going and a high tech radar detector (except in VA).

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

Here's a nice collection of courses:

Pine Valley
Merion
Huntingdon Valley
Aronimink
Rolling Green
Philadelphia Country
Philadelphia Cricket
Manufacturers
White Manor
LuLu
Lancaster (hey, it takes less time to drive from Philadelphia to Lancaster in the summer than Southampton to East Hampton)
Lehigh
Saucon Valley
Bidermann
Wilmington

I agree with Wayne, although I'd still put Aronimink ahead of Huntington Valley.  And don't forget Stonewall, Hidden Creek, Seaview, and Atlantic City.  All within an hr. of Center City... maybe even 45 mins.