To Those Committed to Great Golf Experiences:…read more
On Friday 9/1/2023, we played Green Lakes State Park Golf Course. I booked a tee time 7 days in advance and there was only a single open tee time available on Friday at 2:20 PM going into a busy Labor Day weekend. When we arrived at 12:20 PM a cancellation had just occurred and the PGA Professional Jeff Carson was kind enough to let us take the open time at 12:30 PM. His offer was much appreciated since we drove 2 hours and 20 minutes one-way from the Albany area and planned to return after golfing.
The park and the grounds in the area of the golf course are in extraordinarily great condition that reflected a truly strong commitment to a regular schedule of well-timed and planned maintenance and upkeep.
Green Lake State Park Golf Course stands out as one of the best, if not the finest, golf courses we have played in the last 10 years and that includes both public and private courses. We play between 50 and 75 rounds of golf in a typical year. The place is absolutely in immaculate and outstanding condition. The tee boxes, fairways and greens were perfectly groomed and manicured, the rough was fairly deep and challenging and the greens, well the greens were simply amazing; fast, very undulating with many severe and challenging breaks that were difficult to read, but the putting was quite fast and very true. The traps were well raked and maintained with ample amounts of sand. The layout was designed by famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones in circa 1930 and he made full use of a dramatically beautiful wooded landscape with severe elevation changes to create a challenging (but fair) exciting layout that is as stimulating to play as it is beautiful to observe with its many scenic views of Green Lake and the surrounding forest where the park is located. The par 3's were all challenging, well protected by bunkers, but set at fair yardage lengths. The par 5's ranked among some of the most interesting holes on the course due to their dramatic changes in elevation and the par 4's were all reasonably long, often with doglegs that required executing difficult approach shots to well-bunkered greens and tough pin placements. The greens are a wide variety of sizes, but every one was rolling fast and loaded with interesting undulations, unusually large and sometimes multiple breaks, and great, very challenging, but fair pin placements. The course was in perfect condition and this would have been challenging enough to maintain if this were a lightly played private country club course, but this is a very fairly priced, extremely well-played, busy public golf course in a desirable State Park setting. The golf course is itself nothing short of a real jewel that NYS should be proud to list among its finest State Park golf offerings.
The golf course, as great and enjoyable as it was, is only part of the story. I believe the clubhouse and all of the amenities went through a significant remodeling project in 2015 or 2016 and the end result is a really nice bar and a well run restaurant that offers a terrific menu with great drinks and an awesome view of Green Lake from the veranda located at an elevated point maybe 150 to 200 feet above the lake itself. The renovations to the facility and all the surrounding amenities just added to the first rate dining and golf experience. The restaurant/bar concession is known as Yards Grill and it is exceptionally well run with great food and well made drinks and a sizable menu with a wide range of meal choices.
The one thing I would like to stress and add to this review is that this kind of experience doesn't just happen by accident. It begins and ends with the commitment the NY State Parks Department is making to have Green Lake State Park be an amazing destination and a truly great golf experience. That could not be reflected better than by the current PGA Professional Jeff Carson and the commitment of his entire dedicated team who operate and maintain this wonderful facility. Even on what had to be one of their busiest days, they operate a golf facility in a manner that is professional, friendly, kind, considerate, and truly customer service focused and oriented and from what we experienced and saw while we were there, that approach applies whether you are golfing there on a regular daily basis or just visiting on an occasional trip like we did. Kudos to Jeff Carson, the PGA Professional, and all involved with his team and thank you for a truly great golfing experience that stands out and will be memorable for a long time in the future.
I cannot give Green Lakes State Park Golf Course a stronger recommendation or a higher rating to anyone who loves to play golf. This place is a 10 on a 5 scale in my book and this rating is truly well-earned and richly deserved! You won't regret playing at Green Lakes State Park Golf Course and/or eating at Yards Grill. Thanks so much!
Jim Dombrowski
Delmar, New York
