Top Golf Courses in New York: 10 Must-Play Tracks
New York golf is absurdly deep. Golf Digest’s current rankings say the state has 15 courses on its America’s 100 Greatest list, more than California, and that depth is not all one flavor: Long Island brings sand, wind and old-school architecture, Westchester brings bruising parkland classics, and Rochester brings major-championship heft. If you are building a real New York golf trip, these are the courses that set the standard.
How we ranked
I leaned on the latest New York rankings from Golf Digest and GOLF, then filtered those lists through architecture, championship pedigree, shot value, conditioning, and the simplest golf question there is: how badly would you want another loop tomorrow morning? When two courses were basically tied, I gave the edge to the one with more lasting influence or a more distinctive experience.
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Top 10 golf courses in New York
- Shinnecock Hills Golf Club — Southampton
If one course has to represent New York golf, this is the one. Shinnecock is a William Flynn masterpiece laid across natural rolling ground, and the place carries serious weight as one of the five founding clubs of the USGA and a longtime U.S. Open stage. The width, wind and scale feel fair right up until the moment the course exposes every weak swing in the bag.
- National Golf Links of America — Southampton
National is strategic golf in pure form. C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor built it as an American answer to the great holes of the British Isles, and the template-hole lineup still feels alive because angles and positioning matter on nearly every shot. This is less a slugfest than a chess match with a sea breeze.
- Fishers Island Club — Fishers Island
Getting there already feels special, and the course more than pays it off. Seth Raynor’s links-style design pairs bold geometric greens and bunkers with outrageous Long Island Sound views, and the whole place has the secluded, old-world aura golfers dream about. It is one of the rare courses that feels both grand and intimate at the same time.
- Winged Foot Golf Club (West) — Mamaroneck
Winged Foot West is championship golf with zero soft edges. Tillinghast’s West Course has hosted six U.S. Opens, and its famous greens are still the real defense—get above the hole or short-side yourself and the round can unravel fast. This is the kind of place that makes elite players look conservative.
- Friar’s Head — Riverhead
Friar’s Head feels like several great landscapes stitched into one round. Coore and Crenshaw routed it through dunes, open ground and bluff-top views over Long Island Sound without making the transitions feel forced, and the back stretch is pure theatre. It is modern golf done with old-soul restraint.
- Oak Hill Country Club (East) — Rochester
Oak Hill East is a heavyweight test, but it is not just major-championship muscle. Donald Ross’s design pedigree, Andrew Green’s restoration work and the course’s unmatched tournament history give it a rare mix of stature and substance. You have to strike it properly here, and that is exactly why good players love it.
- Bethpage State Park (Black) — Farmingdale
Bethpage Black is the people’s monster and still the best public golf flex in the state. The first-tee warning sign is not marketing fluff, and the course backs it up with long, punishing par 4s, deep bunkering and a resume that includes U.S. Opens, a PGA and the 2025 Ryder Cup. If you want a New York round with teeth that you can actually book, start here.
- Maidstone Club — East Hampton
Maidstone is seaside golf with manners until the wind turns on you. The East Hampton setting is absurdly good, but the real lasting impression comes from the Willie and John Park greens, the false fronts and the way the course changes personality from one weather pattern to the next. It feels elegant, exposed and completely alive.
- Garden City Golf Club — Garden City
Garden City does not need ocean frontage or dramatic elevation to be memorable. Its genius is subtler: pot bunkers, tilted greens, old-school strategic questions and the Walter Travis influence that turned it into one of the country’s foundational thinking-player courses. If architecture matters more to you than postcard scenery, this place climbs fast.
- Sleepy Hollow Country Club — Scarborough
Sleepy Hollow is a Hudson River showstopper with brains. Macdonald laid the foundation, Tillinghast added to it, and the Hanse/Bahto work restored the course’s template-hole swagger, which is why the place lands on both the eyes and the strategy nerve. The late-round reveals around the river are as memorable as anything in New York.
And that is the brutal part of making a New York golf list—leaving out places like Sebonack and Winged Foot East still feels wrong. That is how deep the state runs.
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FAQ SECTION
Best time to golf in New York?
Late spring through fall is the reliable window. Public golf at Bethpage runs on published spring, summer and fall schedules, and for pure playing conditions, September into early October is usually the sweet spot.
Are most of the best courses public or private?
Private, by a mile. The biggest names on the current New York lists are mostly private clubs, while Bethpage Black is the standout public-access exception every traveling golfer knows.
What’s the hardest course in New York?
Overall, Winged Foot West has the strongest case. Its major history and reputation for brutal greens make it the state’s most intimidating championship test. For a course you can actually book, Bethpage Black is the toughest public answer, and its first-tee warning sign tells you everything.
Is Bethpage Black the best public course in New York?
Yes. It is the public course with real bucket-list status, and its tournament resume separates it from the rest of the state’s public options. You may shoot lower somewhere else, but if you want the headline public round in New York, this is it.
Which part of New York makes the best golf trip?
Long Island is the obvious answer if you want the deepest concentration of great courses, especially around Southampton and the North Shore. Westchester adds classics like Winged Foot and Sleepy Hollow, and Rochester gives you Oak Hill, so the best trip really depends on whether you want seaside golf, Golden Age architecture or championship pedigree.
Can you build a great New York golf trip without private-club access?
Absolutely, but it becomes a public-golf itinerary instead of a private-club fantasy camp. Bethpage alone gives you five 18-hole courses, with Black as the star, so you can still build a serious New York golf trip without a member connection.