Golf on Long Island: Flyover: Stonebridge Golf Links

[This flyover was updated on July 6, 2024.]

To experience the famous hole designs built by early-1900s icons C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, Long Island golfers need to somehow find their way onto the courses of esteemed private clubs like National Golf Links, Piping Rock and Fisher's Island, to name a few. For the public player, there is one outlet — Stonebridge Golf Links in Hauppauge — featuring 18 replica versions of the work by Macdonald, Raynor and their associate Charles Banks, designed by a Macdonald historian and author.

Formerly the Hauppauge Country Club, Stonebridge Golf Links is a par-70 that weaves its way around a residential golf community. Its transition from Hauppauge to Stonebridge in the late 1990s involved the reimagining of its holes into architectural shout-outs to the classic designs of Macdonald, Raynor and Banks. George Bahto, author of The Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair Macdonald, collaborated with architect Gil Hanse to turn these replicas into reality. Holes like "Alps" (#2), "Redan" (#4) and "Biarritz" (#7) are styled after layouts found out east at the famed National and other courses a bit farther east across the pond in Europe. Curiously, in an age where review and celebration of classic early-20th-century golf design has become mainstream, Stonebridge has long remained quiet about its inspiration. Neither Macdonald nor Raynor are mentioned anywhere on its website or promotional material.

The on-course residences at Stonebridge's center are a bit close to the action in spots, enough to make some players feel claustrophobic. The course forms a rectangular perimeter around the development, with holes running side by side, often in close proximity. But overall, the looming OB does not play nearly as much of a role as do the large, often severely sloped or tiered greens. The course is not long (6,200+ from the back), but its lack of yardage is countered by its steep demands in terms of pin placement and approach angles.

Because of these dramatic features, Stonebridge tends to draw very polarized opinions. Some players deride the course for the overly tight layout and what they perceive as gimmicky greens. Others, often with an appreciation for the design's nod to architectural history, love Stonebridge for its unique characteristics, diverse hole types and a level of strategy that is simply not found at many local public golf courses.

LAYOUT:
Despite its name, don't head to Stonebridge expecting links golf. The closest thing to links you might find will be cooking on a grill on one of the stone patios along the 10th or 16th fairways. If you're in search of something close to a traditional links layout, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Start the day with a downhill par-4 that eases you into your round. You'll appreciate the soft start when you step up to the second tee. Hole #2, the 432-yard "Alps," gradually works its way uphill toward a slope that protects the approach to the green. But the tee shot on #2 can be intimidating. Two ponds sit in front of the tee, and while they won't come into play as long as you put your drive in the air, they do serve as somewhat of a deterrent. There is a thin line of trees on the right that can disrupt your second shot, and on the left, out of bounds is not too far from the edge of the fairway.

All those factors combine to create a view from the tee (left) that is narrow with trouble every which way.

There are three par-3s on the front, beginning with #4, "Redan," where the pin is guarded in the front by a bunker and small stream. Like on all redan holes (reverse redan, in this case), the entrance to the front of the green is tilted so that balls will flow quickly toward the back right edge. The seventh hole — "Biarritz" — measures 194 yards and falls off into strips of bunkering on all sides. Its most notable feature is the gully that crosscuts the two sections of the elevated putting surface. Sand makes its most significant appearance on #9, aptly named "Sahara," where gaping bunkers await anyone who plays the short and simple downhill shot with too much finesse.

[See also: Detailed "Closer Look" posts on Stonebridge #4 Redan and #7 Biarritz.]

Knowing your way around a tricky green becomes vital after the turn. The otherwise mild par-4 tenth ends at a triple-tiered green. The par-5 11th plays straight out and wide open, but a raised spine running from front to back through the center of the green can turn an unfortunately located birdie opportunity into a string of muttered expletives. On #12, being on the green doesn't necessarily mean you have a clear path to the pin, thanks to the sloped green's boomerang shape.

The double-tiered green on #14, elevated atop a hill, is followed by the shorter-than-it-appears 15th ("Short," formally) that features a green with a big thumbprint depression in the center. "Hog's Back" at #16 (pictured) is severe enough that a playing partner and Stonebridge veteran once stopped me in mid-practice stroke to tell me my line wasn't even close to correct. "Course knowledge," he put it.

Stonebridge concludes with a dogleg par-4 that turns to the right. It seems rather straightforward until you arrive at the green. The wide putting surface features two high ledges on the left and right with a valley in the center, and unless you land your approach on the same level as the pin, you'll end your round with a severe uphill or downhill putt, if not both.

CONDITIONS:
The greens at Stonebridge require frequent visits before you begin to get the hang of them. From the tee or fairway, newcomers will take note of the flag color and adjust accordingly. But experienced players know better, well aware of where to attack and where to miss. Reading the greens isn't as frustrating as keeping your ball in the proper spots. Some feature spines and ridges, others are steeply tiered or canted.

Many of the greens at Stonebridge are designed with the characteristics of classic courses in mind (Biarritz, pictured left). With such distinct features on and around the greens, all holes take on a completely different identity — and require an adjusted strategy and approach — with each change in tee and pin placement. This gives the course an added dimension of playability, and makes it so that Stonebridge players must always be on their toes.

The houses, mainly on #2, #10, #14 and #16, might have no impact on some players, but for others, they could play head games. In some spots, a ball can be sitting in plain view no more than a few paces from the fairway, but will be considered out of bounds on private property. On the third tee, one can theoretically split the fairway with their 3-wood and high-five the neighbors on their patio, all in one motion, before heading up toward the ball.

HOLE(S) TO REMEMBER:
Quirkiness plays a big part at Stonebridge, so much so that one worker I spoke to my first time around was downright giddy about it. "So what'd you think of #6 and #14?" he asked excitedly. "Fun holes, right?" Both are short par-4s (269 and 290 from the whites, respectively). You can drive the green from the elevated sixth tee, but the "Principal's Nose" -- a grassy bulge in the far end of the fairway (pictured), with a hump surrounded by three small bunkers -- threatens anything short and center. Get overzealous and pull-happy and you might find yourself in someone's pool. Bail out to the right side and you leave yourself an approach to a green running hard to the left. The 14th almost seems too short and simple to be true, but the two-tiered hilltop green can quickly cause fits of rage if you loft a shot onto the wrong level or stick your approach into its rough-riddled face.

AREA(S) TO AVOID:
Until you've played Stonebridge a few times, it's impossible to know exactly where and where not to be. But as a quick guide, try to keep yourself on the pin-side of the 11th, 15th and 16th greens, and know the pin location on #14 before pitching up to the green.

Also, the boomerang-shaped greens at #5 and #12 are wide enough for the fringe and rough to cut off a badly placed shot on one end of the green from the cup on the other end.

NEARBY COURSES:
Wind Watch Golf & Country Club (3 miles)
Brentwood Country Club (4 miles)
Smithtown Landing (6 miles)

CONTACT:
2000 Raynors Way, Smithtown 11787
(631) 724-7500
www.stonebridgeglcc.com

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