[Jim Hoak]

Steve--I heard that same thing from people--good, solid, rational, experienced golfers--"Best course on Long Island!"--before I played Friars' Head.  I loved it, but think that kind of statement is clearly exaggerated.  However, I would put it easily in the Top 3 after playing it and many others there.  To even being talked about as in the Top 3 on Long Island puts it very high up in all of the US.  Anyone who hasn't been fortunate enough to play it, should if they can!

[Tim Martin]

Did Muccii ever join FH? Before construction of the beautiful clubhouse he told me the course wasn’t worth the drive. “Not worth the drive” is the working mans meh.

Pat did not join.


As a local, I offer the following Long Island ranking:


1) NGLA - The Mother Ship.
2) Shinnecock - Open to good golfers having it at #1.
3) Maidstone - As I age, it might be #1.
4) Piping Rock - Raynor fan, so there you go.
5) Fishers Island - It was some sort of Indian treaty or ice age thing, but it is east of Maidstone, and it is in NY State.
6) Garden City GC - It’s flat-ish, but if I was going to ruin 29 years of marriage, this is the place to do it.
7) Friars Head - Amazing updates. I really enjoyed the “Papazian Days” when lunch was on a park bench on the cliff over Long Island Sound.
  Westhampton - It’s painful to put this over #9, but Hanse did an amazing job when he was “under the radar”.
9) Southampton - God bless Brian Silva. Uniqueness in a sea of greatness.
10) Saint George’s Golf and Country Club - If it was “golf only” in a fancier location…


Obviously missing:

• The Creek - Raynor + views, what am I thinking!
• Sebonack - have not played
• Bethpage Black - man oh man, I loved this place until everyone else did - "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.” Yogi Berra
• Bethpage Red - shout out to Kyle
• Atlantic GC - I honestly really liked it in the Rees days. Need to see it in the updated version.
• The Bridge - Really intrigued by Jeff’s work here. We underestimate passion. I only saw the very early day version of The Bridge.

PS - I am only a "rater" on GCA. Never on a ratings panel...
PPS - Timber Point is really flat, except for that one corner

I'll sometimes do a head-to-head hole by hole comparison just out of curiosity to see how some courses stack up against each other.  I'll try to move holes around so that I am comparing a par 5 on course A to a par 3 on course B.  I am not a rater, but I'll just do this for fun after playing a new course.


I have never played Friars Head, but I've heard a handful of people say that it's the best course on Long Island.  Bold statement!  Whether or not they are influenced more by the clubhouse and overall experience remains to be seen.


Mike's post above got me thinking of my LI top 10.  Here it is for what it's worth:


1) NGLA
2) Shinnecock
3) Fishers Island
4) The Creek
5) Maidstone
6) Piping Rock
7) Garden City
  Westhampton
9) Bethpage Black
10) St. George's

Honorable mentions: Rockaway Hunting Club and Montauk Downs

 
 Disclaimer: I have not yet played Friars Head, Southampton, Atlantic, or The Bridge

Steve-I like your list but would dump Montauk Downs and add Inwood, Sebonack, Huntingdon, Southampton and Bethpage Red for honorable mention along with Quogue Field Club and Hay Harbor for nine holes.

[jeffwarne]

Well,
Fisher's Island and Hay Harbor are not on Long Island.
But they are in New York-even if they are far closer to Connecticut

[Tim Martin]

Well,
Fisher's Island and Hay Harbor are not on Long Island.
But they are in New York-even if they are far closer to Connecticut

It’s obvious I never excelled in geography.

[SteveOgulukian]

Fishers is a tricky one. It’s technically part of the Southold township (north fork of LI) so I threw it on there.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

Having played Friars Head quite a few times, I continue to find it more amazing on each play. It is a course that you wake up with joyful anticipation on the day of playing.  The fairways may be wide, but to hit close approach shots, you must position your tee shots in appropriate areas for optimal angles of attack.  Once on the 7th, my tee ball was on the right edge of the fairway, and this allowed me to attack with a driver off the deck for a truly perfect result, though the hole out was luck, the shot was possible because of execution after an ideal tee shot.  For many the beauty of the course distracts them from the awesome strategic nature of the layout.
As for a Long Island list of top courses, it seems like Engineers once again receives it's Rodney Dangerfield role.  Engineers is easily top 10 at worst on Long Island.  Maidstone may be sublime, but it is several levels below Engineers in architectural sophistication, not to mention, interest in the greens. 

[Tim Martin]

Having played Friars Head quite a few times, I continue to find it more amazing on each play. It is a course that you wake up with joyful anticipation on the day of playing.  The fairways may be wide, but to hit close approach shots, you must position your tee shots in appropriate areas for optimal angles of attack.  Once on the 7th, my tee ball was on the right edge of the fairway, and this allowed me to attack with a driver off the deck for a truly perfect result, though the hole out was luck, the shot was possible because of execution after an ideal tee shot.  For many the beauty of the course distracts them from the awesome strategic nature of the layout.
As for a Long Island list of top courses, it seems like Engineers once again receives it's Rodney Dangerfield role.  Engineers is easily top 10 at worst on Long Island.  Maidstone may be sublime, but it is several levels below Engineers in architectural sophistication, not to mention, interest in the greens.

Robert-I agree on Engineers and forgot about it when I posted. I’m a fan of the courses mentioned but would put it ahead of Southampton and St. George’s if I had only one play between the three.

[Jeff Evagues]

Having played both I put Sebonack just ahead of Friars Head.

[John Kavanaugh]

Having played both I put Sebonack just ahead of Friars Head.

Thank you.

[Garland Bayley]

...
I used to sail, and that bridge is a scar on the landscape for the Long Island Sound sailers.
...

A bit of hyperbole perhaps?

Whether ecologically sound would depend on the engineering I imagine. Perhaps Mike Keiser should take note, because the walk from 13 to 14 at Pac Dunes is my least enjoyable part of the experience. I do pity the golfers that walk that bridge and have to see the littering of the seascape by all those "sailers" (sic).
 

[Mike Sweeney]

...
I used to sail, and that bridge is a scar on the landscape for the Long Island Sound sailers.
...

A bit of hyperbole perhaps?

Just so it does not get lost - F you.

[Tim Martin]

...
I used to sail, and that bridge is a scar on the landscape for the Long Island Sound sailers.
...

A bit of hyperbole perhaps?

Just so it does not get lost - F you.

It won’t

[Billie Phillips]

Did Muccii ever join FH? Before construction of the beautiful clubhouse he told me the course wasn’t worth the drive. “Not worth the drive” is the working mans meh.

Pat did not join.


As a local, I offer the following Long Island ranking:


1) NGLA - The Mother Ship.
2) Shinnecock - Open to good golfers having it at #1.
3) Maidstone - As I age, it might be #1.
4) Piping Rock - Raynor fan, so there you go.
5) Fishers Island - It was some sort of Indian treaty or ice age thing, but it is east of Maidstone, and it is in NY State.
6) Garden City GC - It’s flat-ish, but if I was going to ruin 29 years of marriage, this is the place to do it.
7) Friars Head - Amazing updates. I really enjoyed the “Papazian Days” when lunch was on a park bench on the cliff over Long Island Sound.
  Westhampton - It’s painful to put this over #9, but Hanse did an amazing job when he was “under the radar”.
9) Southampton - God bless Brian Silva. Uniqueness in a sea of greatness.
10) Saint George’s Golf and Country Club - If it was “golf only” in a fancier location…


Obviously missing:

• The Creek - Raynor + views, what am I thinking!
• Sebonack - have not played
• Bethpage Black - man oh man, I loved this place until everyone else did - "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.” Yogi Berra
• Bethpage Red - shout out to Kyle
• Atlantic GC - I honestly really liked it in the Rees days. Need to see it in the updated version.
• The Bridge - Really intrigued by Jeff’s work here. We underestimate passion. I only saw the very early day version of The Bridge.

PS - I am only a "rater" on GCA. Never on a ratings panel...
PPS - Timber Point is really flat, except for that one corner

Are you suggesting that St. George's IS golf only and the name should reflect that?  Or that it is NOT in fact golf only?

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