nLooking for the best public-access golf around New York City? If you’re willing to drive a bit, there are more than a dozen courses available that appear on the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top public-access layouts in each state.
But it’s not as easy as pulling up our state-by-state rankings, because the Big Apple sits at a crossroads of states and golfers frequently cross state lines to find a game. This list includes courses in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
How’d we come up with that? For the purpose of this exercise, we limited driving time to two hours from the city, with LaGuardia Airport as a starting point.
Why two hours? Because it takes awhile to get around New York, of course, and two hours seemed like a reasonable amount of time in a car to reach great golf.
And why LaGuardia? Because that airport is a fair starting point for the courses to the north and those out to the west. (We used Google Maps for its drive times, keying in LaGuardia on a mid-afternoon that showed no significant traffic slowdowns; take all drive times around New York with a grain of salt, of course, as backups can be considerable.)
Included with this list is a general map of where to find all these courses. Each one on the list below is represented with a number on the map – keep scrolling to see the numbers. These numbers are not intended to be a ranking of the best courses around New York, but simply indicate their position on the map.
However, included with each course is its position in its state on the Golfweek’s Best public-access list. For courses that appear on other popular rankings lists, those positions are included as well.
A little background: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.
The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.
1
Bethpage State Park (Black)
Where: Farmingdale, N.Y.
State ranking 2023: No. 1 public-access in New York
Other rankings 2023: No. 26 among all classic courses in the U.S.; No. 10 among public-access courses in the U.S.
Designer: A.W. Tillinghast
Distance: About 40 minutes’ drive east of LaGuardia Airport
2
Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point
Formerly known as Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point
Where: The Bronx, New York
State ranking 2023: No. 3 public-access in New York
Other rankings 2023: T-90 among public-access courses in the U.S.
Designers: Jack Nicklaus and John Sanford
Distance: About 20 minutes north of LaGuardia Airport
3
The Links at Union Vale
Where: Lagrangeville, N.Y.
State ranking 2023: T-6 public-access in New York
Designer: Stephen Kay
Distance: About an hour and 35 minutes north of LaGuardia Airport
4
Bethpage State Park (Red)
Where: Farmingdale, N.Y.
State ranking 2023: T-6 public-access in New York
Designer: A.W. Tillinghast
Distance: About 40 minutes’ drive east of LaGuardia Airport
5
Pound Ridge Golf Club
Where: Pound Ridge, N.Y.
State ranking 2023: No. 12 public-access in New York
Designer: A.W. Tillinghast
Distance: About an hour north of LaGuardia Airport
6
In New Jersey: Crystal Springs Resort (Ballyowen)
Where: Hamburg, N.J.
State ranking 2023: No. 1 public-access in New Jersey
Designer: Roger Rulewich
Distance: About an hour and 40 minutes northwest of LaGuardia Airport
7
In New Jersey: Neshanic Valley Golf Course
Where: Neshanic Station, N.J.
State ranking 2023: No. 2 public-access in New Jersey
Designers: Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry
Distance: About an hour and a half west of LaGuardia Airport
8
In New Jersey: Rock Spring Golf Club
Where: West Orange, N.J.
State ranking 2023: No. 5 public-access in New Jersey
Designer: Seth Raynor
Distance: About an hour west of LaGuardia Airport
9
In New Jersey: Architects Golf Club
Where: Lopatcong, N.J.
State ranking 2023: No. 6 public-access in New Jersey
Designers: Stephen Kay and Ron Whitten
Distance: About an hour and 50 minutes hours west of LaGuardia Airport
10
In New Jersey: Knoll Country Club (West Course)
Where: Boonton, N.J.
State ranking 2023: No. 7 public-access in New Jersey
Designer: Charles H. Banks
Distance: About an hour and 15 minutes west of LaGuardia Airport
11
In New Jersey: Crystal Springs Resort (Crystal Springs)
Where: Hamburg, N.J.
State ranking 2023: No. 9 public-access in New Jersey
Designer: Robert von Hagge
Distance: About an hour and 40 minutes northwest of LaGuardia Airport
12
In New Jersey: Crystal Springs Resort (Wild Turkey)
Where: Hamburg, N.J.
State ranking 2023: No. 11 public-access in New Jersey
Designer: Roger Rulewich
Distance: About an hour and 40 minutes northwest of LaGuardia Airport
13
In Pennsylvania: Morgan Hill Golf Course
Where: Easton, Pa.
State ranking 2023: No. 10 public-access in Pennsylvania
Designer: Kelly Blake Moran
Distance: About two hours west of LaGuardia Airport
14
In Connecticut: Richter Park Golf Course
Where: Danbury, Conn.
State ranking 2023: No. 9 public-access in Connecticut
Designer: Edward Ryder
Distance: About an hour and 20 minutes north of LaGuardia Airport
