Eisenhower Park, East Meadow, Stewart Avenue and Merrick Avenue

General Telephone Number: 516-572-0327 or 0328
Golf Waiting Times: 516-572-0330
Pro Shop: 516-222-2620

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Playing season: March/April (weather permitting) through December. The course is currently closed through March.

Normal Hours: The course is open six-day-per-week. Initial hours are Tues. - Sun., 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. (last tee); the course is closed Monday.

• To see a visual representation of each hole on the Red course, with related details about pars, handicaps and yardages, click here.
• To see a grid detailing each hole, with information about pars, handicaps and yardages, scroll down the page.

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The 15th hole on the Red course demands a well-placed tee shot.

THE RED COURSE, one of three 18-hole golf courses at Eisenhower Park, has a storied history. Originally, it was part of the exclusive Salisbury Golf Club, begun by wealthy Long Islanders such as A.T. Stewart, a 19th-century retailer and property magnate who created the planned Village of Garden City out of the prairie known as the Hempstead Plains.

During the heady 1920s, the Salisbury Club was a centerpiece in the social life of wealthy families along the North Shore. The golf facility sported five 18-hole courses and played host to the 1926 PGA Championship, won by the legendary Walter Hagen for a purse of $11,100. Hagen, who won five PGA championships during the 1920s, is credited with having elevated the profile and prestige of professional golfers during that era.

During the Depression, however, Nassau County took over the Salisbury Club when the owners were unable to pay the property taxes. In 1944, the County established its first major public park on that location,

initially known as Nassau County Park at Salisbury and rededicated in 1969 as Eisenhower Park.

The Red course was designed in 1914 by a prominent local golf course architect, Devereux Emmet, who was married to one of A.T. Stewart’s nieces. Emmet was also a descendant of Thomas Addison Emmet, a founder of New York City’s Tammany Hall political machine. Devereux Emmet was himself a skilled golfer who spent a great deal of time in the U.K. and made the quarter-finals of the 1904 British Amateur tournament. Emmet also enjoyed a long career as a golf architect, building off his experience in Europe.

Most of Emmet’s courses were designed during the era of hickory-shafted clubs and were short by current standards, at around 6,000 yards. (The U.S. Golf Association did not accept the use of steel shafts until 1924.) Today, the par-72 course measures 7,107 yards from the championship tees, 6,416 yards from the middle tees, and 5,470 yards from the forward tees.

The Red course’s history with championship golf goes back to the PGA Championship in 1926, but in recent years the course has hosted the PGA’s Champions Tour. Professional golfers on that circuit have lavished praise on the Redcourse. PGA golfer Lee Trevino has called Eisenhower Red “one of the better and one of the toughest courses we play.” Mike Reid,2005 Championship Tour winner, summed up his views of the Red for Newsday by calling it “a marvelous course in its simplicity, that’s what impresses me about it. It doesn’t put on any airs, it just requires good golf from the first tee to the 18th green.” Loren Roberts, the 2008 winner, also praised the Red as a PGA favorite and told Newsday the course is “the deal of the century” when he learned about the fees.

During golf events, the Red course is considered friendly both for golfers and spectators, with relatively flat and short distances between greens and tees. The course also has many crosswalks that allow fans to get around easily and see the players.

 

In Survey, Long Island Press Touts Two Country Parks Among Top Three,
Eisenhower Golf No. 2 Among Public Courses

The Long Island Press has named Eisenhower Park and Wantagh Park among its top three parks on Long Island and the Eisenhower Park golf facility as No. 2 among public golf courses, announced Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. The rankings were provided by the weekly newspaper in its “Best of L.I.” survey for 2010, published in January. The comprehensive annual survey covers 215 categories and is based on voting by tens of thousands of the newspaper’s readers.

For Eisenhower Park, the second-place finish comes on the heels of being selected for the top spot in 2009. Wantagh Park placed right behind Eisenhower at No. 3 among Long Island’s best parks. In designating Jones Beach Park No. 1, the Long Island Press acknowledged the difficulty of selecting a top finisher. “There are so many great parks on Long Island that it’s really hard to pick the best one,” the newspaper said. “So let’s just consider this list the best of the best.”

Centrally located in East Meadow off Merrick Avenue and larger than Central Park, 930-acre Eisenhower Park (516-571-0348) is the flagship of the Nassau County parks system. The park offers a variety of recreational opportunities, including a swimming pool and fitness center at the world-class Nassau County Aquatic Center (571-0501); mini-golf; a batting cage; athletic fields; playgrounds; a 2-mile fitness trail; basketball and tennis courts; bocci and lawn bowling; and the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre. In addition, the park includes large and beautiful memorials to the nation’s veterans and victims of the 9/11 attacks.

There’s also the Eisenhower Park golf facility, one of the metropolitan area’s busiest courses and selected second-best in the Long Island Press survey of public golf courses. Golf at Eisenhower consists of three 18-hole courses –including the championship Red and White courses, along with the Blue course – as well as a driving range with 60 bays. During the winter, the White and Blue courses (571-0327/28) are open as weather allows, along with the driving range (571-0336).

Wantagh Park (571-7460), located off the Wantagh Parkway by Merrick Road, is one of the most scenic spots on the South Shore, offering 111 acres on beautiful East Bay. The park provides numerous opportunities for recreation, including ball fields and athletic courts, a playground, picnic areas, a two-mile fitness trail, a marina, and a fishing pier. During summer, Wantagh’s spectacular water theme park (previously named “Best Public Pool” by the Long Island Press) has an Olympic-sized main pool, a diving pool, a “kiddie” pool, training pool, an interactive water-play area and two 30-foot waterslides.

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Golf Digest Accords Eisenhower Park Red Course a Four-Star Rating

Golf Digest magazine has included the Red course at Eisenhower Park among its “Four Stars Best Places to Play 2008/2009,” recognition granted to a select number of courses throughout the U.S.

The monthly magazine’s four-star ranking is reserved for courses considered “outstanding” and worthy of “plan[ning] your next vacation around.” In its comments section, Golf Digest noted several of the course’s attributes, including “great price,” “great shape,” “phenomenal big greens” and “beautiful walk in the park.”

The Red, one of three 18-hole golf courses at Eisenhower Park, has a storied history. It was designed in 1914 by a prominent local golf course architect, Devereux Emmet, and was originally part of the exclusive Salisbury Golf Club, begun by wealthy Long Islanders such as A.T. Stewart, a 19th-century retailer and property magnate who founded the Village of Garden City.

In 1926, the course hosted the PGA Championship and legendary golfer Walter Hagan, and in recent years PGA Tour golfers have gathered at the course for the Commerce Bank Championship. The par-72-course is 7,107 yards from the championship tees.

The two other 18-hole courses at Eisenhower Park, the White and Blue, were granted three stars (“very good”) by Golf Digest. In addition to the course, Eisenhower Park offers a driving range with 60 bays. For more information about golf at Eisenhower Park, call 516-572-0327/28.

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