New York City may not seem like the best place to go golfing. The city brings to mind concrete and chrome, with trains, buses, cars, and high rises all around—at least, that’s what you might think.
Flash back just a hundred years, and each of the five boroughs of New York City was predominantly grassland, with soaring trees and rolling fields of wheat. You can glimpse what NYC used to be if you travel to the outer edges of boroughs like Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Fortunately, there is still enough green space to have several world-class links spread across each of the boroughs. Here is the best of each.
Bronx: Pelham Bay / Split Rock Golf Course
The Bronx may be the best borough for golfers. The Bronx has many beautiful links, but the Pelham Bay / Split Rock Golf Course takes the cake. This whopping 36-hole course is the biggest in the city and is open to the public.
From the links-style courses for beginners to the narrow fairways for advanced golfers, you can bring the whole family and all your friends to Pelham Bay / Split Rock, and everyone can find their niche.
Brooklyn: Marine Park Golf Course
Brooklyn is a massive borough, a sprawling jumble of ultra-urban neighborhoods, totally green, unincorporated spaces, and hybridized urban/rural spaces.
Stop by the Marine Park Golf Course if you travel to southern Brooklyn. An official Championship Course, Marine Park has 18 holes and some of the finest views in New York City. You can get panoramic water views from the clubhouse, where you can sit back and sip on some bubbly.
There are country club quality fairways spread across its 7,000 yards of links. Just make sure your outfit is posh enough to rub shoulders with the Marine Park crowd by upgrading your outfit at Stitch Golf.
Queens: Clearview Park Golf Course
Queens gives the Bronx a run in the best golf courses challenge. As the largest borough in New York City, Queens has room to spare for a course like Clearview Park.
Clearview is one of the best golf courses in New York state, let alone the city. You cannot miss it with an 8,000 sq ft. putting green, brand new forward, mid, and back tees, and a newly renovated clubhouse.
Staten Island: Silver Lakes Golf Club
The Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environment Justice has an initiative to maximize the green space available to New Yorkers, despite relatively little room and high demand for housing and roadways. That task is easier on Staten Island, the greenest borough in New York City.
Silver Lakes Golf Club is the pride of Staten Island, with perfectly groomed fairways, a new club car with charging capabilities, and beautiful views all around.
Manhattan: Douglaston Golf Course
Okay, yes, this is a bit of a cheat, as Douglaston is in Queens. This public golf course is accessible via the Long Island Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway.
Still, we are putting it under Manhattan because it has the best views of the Manhattan skyline anywhere in New York City, trust us.
Golfing in Gotham City
New York is not all skyscrapers and crowded subways. Try out one of these golf courses and see for yourself.
