EMPIRE STATE OF GOLF

As the PGA Championship's appearance in Rochester attests, when it comes to first-class courses, New York is much, much more than its Big Apple core

- Evan Rothman

To the average golfer, New York’s reputation for possessing perhaps the finest selection of courses in the country rests on two downstate regions: Long Island and Westchester County, home to major championship icons (Shinnecock Hills, Winged Foot, Bethpage Black), Golden Age legends (National Golf Links of America, Fishers Island, Quaker Ridge) and modern marvels (Friar’s Head). The Empire State currently has more Top 100 Courses in the U.S.—13—than any other state, and that’s only its crème de la crème. You could do a Top 50 Courses of Long Island and Westchester alone and barely see a dropoff in quality from top to bottom.

The 2023 PGA Championship’s arrival at Oak Hill CC (East) in Rochester—No. 37 on GOLF’s Top 100 in the U.S.—is a timely reminder that excellent New York golf goes far beyond the suburbs and exurbs of Manhattan. Venture upstate to Albany (hello, Donald Ross’ Glens Falls CC, No. 83) and then west on I-90 to Syracuse, Rochester and, finally, Buffalo, and architecture buffs will find a sterling array of classic layouts with serious pedigree, even if their names are unfamiliar to all but locals and hardcore cognoscenti.

While most of the dozen golf courses that follow are private, they’re generally more accessible to outside play than their downstate siblings if you’re at least somewhat connected, polite, charming and/or resourceful, according to GOLF Course Rater panellists familiar with the area.

New York, New York: It’s a heaven of a golf state.

(1) Country Club of Troy
TROY, NY ARCHITECT: WALTER J. TRAVIS