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

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

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., announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi.

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.

The jewel of Nassau County’s park system and centrally located in East Meadow off Merrick Avenue between Hempstead Turnpike and Old Country Road, Eisenhower Park is 930 acres and offers a range of recreational activities.