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Tour pros love touring Long Island's courses

Mark Herrmann

June 26, 2008

On a free day during his week at the Commerce Bank Championship, which begins tomorrow at Eisenhower Park, Chip Beck drove to Southampton and played the National Golf Links of America. David Ogrin was hoping to sneak out to play Bethpage Black.

Danny Edwards made his annual pilgrimage to the Garden City Golf Club. John Cook played at Wheatley Hills. Loren Roberts spent Monday in Baiting Hollow, playing in an outing at Friar's Head, where the co-designer, Ben Crenshaw, usually visits during his annual trip here.

These guys all play golf for a living, and have done it for decades. But when they come here, they can't resist playing a little extra just for the fun of it. They realize what the rest of us already know: inch for inch, fairway for fairway, Long Island is as rich in golf as any place in the world.

"Great golf courses up here, man. All the courses up here are solid," said Jim Thorpe, as he prepared to play a pro-am Tuesday at the Meadow Brook Club, former site of Long Island's Champions Tour event. "There are no gimmicks, although I think Bethpage Black has gotten out of hand a little bit. But there are some beautiful golf courses."

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These golfers appreciate the golf history here. What's more, a lot of them have personal history here. Thorpe, for instance, carved his own niche by winning the Long Island tournament in 2003 and 2004, the first two years it was held at the Eisenhower Park Red Course.

Beck never will forget the day in 1986, when he nearly won the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills (next door to National). He tied the course record with a 65 in the final round. "I played with Seve [Ballesteros] that last day. I hit a 4-iron about four feet on the upside of the 18th hole," he said. "If I had made it, it might have made things different."

He would have had the lead to himself. Instead, Ray Floyd birdied No. 16 and went on to win by two over Beck and Lanny Wadkins.

Ogrin never will forget that day, either. "It was hot," he said the other day, recalling why he felt it more than most back then. In homage to Shinnecock's tradition, Ogrin played the final round while wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and black tie.

"It was a spur of the moment thing. I wasn't doing all that great in the tournament, and I was walking around the clubhouse and saw all the artifacts, I said I've got a tie with me, I've got to put it on," he said, adding that he grew up on a public golf course, so he feels at home at Eisenhower Park. He loved the White Course, where he shot 67 Tuesday to qualify for the Commerce. "And this course," he said of the Red, "is historically great."

Long Island fits into long memories. It goes for Nick Price, the biggest name in this field, who led the 1995 Open at Shinnecock after the first round, playing with Ernie Els and some teenage amateur from California who injured his wrist (what ever happened to that Tiger Woods fellow?). And it goes for Scott Hoch, who wore an American flag-themed shirt when he aced No. 17 at Bethpage in 2002 and tying for fifth, his best career finish in an Open.

"People here love their golf," Peter Jacobsen said. "When I look at the volunteers here, I can see that they deeply, intensely love their golf."

Jacobsen recalled bringing along his own volunteer to Shinnecock in 1986. The guy was a backup caddie who happened to knock down all the other pros' bags. "All the players looked up and saw that it was [Bill] Murray," Jacobsen said, "and he went into a Saturday Night Live sketch. They were on the ground, howling."

Today's tip

"We may not all be able to swing like Tiger Woods, but we should at least be able to address the ball like he does. But since we all don't have a coach or video camera, the mirror is the next best thing to give us feedback. By watching yourself in the mirror you can work on your address and posture, so you can at least imitate a great golfer at address. Do some mirror work as your way to practice in developing a better setup. This will allow for a better swing."

Darrell Kestner

PGA head pro

Deepdale Golf Club

Aces

Fred Kain, Smithtown Landing Country Club, 11th hole, 172 yards, 7-wood

Artie Altman, Tam O'Shanter Club, second hole, 139 yards, 8-iron