Well — I’m back! Just came back from playing some golf at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island – sight of the 2018 Men’s US Open. I say some golf, as we were playing in rain all day and it got even worse after the 11th hole!

So — we ended up playing 11 holes!  Though it definitely was not the best weather, I did have a lot of fun playing the course. It was tough – long made even longer by the rain; the fescue was 2 feet high (you DO NOT want to be in fescue); and since there are practically no trees left on the course due to renovation a few years back –it was windy all around. Yes, tough course – but I love the links-style type of courses that are part of what golf on Long Island golf is all about. A few of my favorites  — Bethpage (all 5 courses) Montauk Downs, Rockaway Hunt Club, Creek, Piping Rock, Maidstone, Links @ Lido, Shinnecock Hills.These are just a few examples, but all these courses exhibit links-style conditions — most of the time by the water where the wind comes into play on every shot; having to decide your target and know that the wind will dictate where your ball lands; having to bump and run your ball up to the green. The smell of the wind and sea spray, and the seagulls gulling.  It really livens your sense of feel and smell. You need to have an imagination for these shots. That is what I think is fun about playing these courses.

  

 

I’m sure you have had shots that you remember in your mind that may have happened maybe years ago – and you still remember it. One for me – playing at Rockaway Hunt Club in the Womens Met PGA on Long Island. I don’t remember the hole number, but the hole played parallel to the beach of Long Island Sound. My second shot was a nice 9 iron to the green. Problem was there was such a hard right to left wind off of the water that I ended playing playing the ball 20 yards to the right of the green OVER the water to the green. The wind played the ball exactly as I wanted it to – 10 feet right behind the hole. (I made the birdie).

What are your favorite courses to play?  E-mail/text me and tell me YOUR story of why you like the course(s) you have chosen.

Until next time — Mary