Source: The Journal News (Westerchester County, N.Y.)
If there were any doubts that golf is one of the most popular pastimes in Westchester County, they were put to rest in April with the long-awaited opening of Hudson Hills Golf Course in New Castle.
After years of planning and construction, the sixth county-owned course debuted to excellent reviews and offered what some felt had been missing from the Westchester golfing landscape: a challenging public track that would be maintained to private-club standards.
"I know the county took some heat about the pricing, but I've always maintained that there's a need for that (sort of course) in Westchester County," Jay Mottola, executive director of the Metropolitan Golf Association, said of Westchester's first new public layout in more than 60 years. "I think it was a great addition.
"I've only played it once, but I was impressed with the setup and the condition. It's a real upper-level experience, from the condition to the way you treat it, to the clubhouse and multiple sets of tees. The condition of the greens, I thought, was great."
Although some were indeed initially put off by the price tag - a round will set you back as much $65 to $75 with a county parks pass and $85 to $100 without one - county officials have promised that Hudson Hills will be cared for at a different level from the other county-owned courses.
Not that Mohansic in Yorktown Heights, Saxon Woods in Scarsdale, Maple Moor in White Plains and Dunwoodie and Sprain Lake in Yonkers have become obsolete with the arrival of Hudson Hills. They all offer an opportunity to play at an affordable price. County residents with a parks pass pay just $23 on weekdays and $27 on weekends.
It's just that Hudson Hills, a roughly 7,000-yard, par-71 course designed by Mark Mungeam, is a bridge to some of the storied layouts for which Westchester is known.
With impressive courses such as Wykagyl Country Club and the West Course at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, it's no surprise that some of the world's best annually come to play in the county. Westchester in 2004 once again hosted the PGA Tour's Buick Classic and Wykagyl was home to the LPGA Tour's Sybase Classic.
Not to be outdone, the Mamaroneck-based Winged Foot Golf Club recently hosted the 2004 U.S. Amateur Championship. Winged Foot's refurbished West Course will be the site of the U.S. Open in 2006. Some consider Winged Foot's West and East courses, taken together, as the most challenging 36 holes of golf in America.
Famed architect A.W. Tillinghast intended as much when he designed them.
"I think that I always will adhere to my old theory that a controlled shot to a closely guarded green is the surest test of any man's golf," Tillinghast said, explaining one of his guiding principles.
Westchester courses have also played host to prominent regional tournaments. The MGA held two of its major events at local courses in 2004 - the Ike Championship at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale and the Met Open at Hudson National Golf Club in Croton-on-Hudson.
And those courses are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to underrated layouts in the county. From Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison to Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough to GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford, any number of Westchester courses might be considered the premier layout in another region.
"I think there's so many courses in this area that, if they were in another part of the country, they'd be the absolute best golf course," Mottola said, before citing a few of his favorites. "Places like Fenway (in Scarsdale), Metropolis (in White Plains) and Century (in Purchase) - they're just terrific. And that's just a few of them."
