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Wintering in the Hamptons: A Chance to Play Winter Golf

By Eric Sedransk

SOUTHAMPTON, NY - JUNE 17: Fans watch Brooks Koepka of the United States and Dustin Johnson of the United States putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 17, 2018 in Southampton, New York. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, NY - JUNE 17: Fans watch Brooks Koepka of the United States and Dustin Johnson of the United States putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on June 17, 2018 in Southampton, New York. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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There are some benefits to playing winter golf. One of them? Being able to get onto courses and experience them when you otherwise might not be able. Case in point… The Hamptons.

At the tip of Long Island sits the Hamptons; a bastion of wealth filled with beautiful beaches, world-renowned restaurants, and ideal summer weather. It’s also home to arguably the greatest collection of golf courses in the world, with 5 courses in the top 67 in the country. Now is the perfect time to try and take advantage of some winter golf if you are able to.

However, during the prime summer months when the beaches are lined with sunbathers and the lobster roll shacks have lines out the door, these elite courses are played exclusively by their members and guests.

Daily fee golfers looking to play, are left only to dream; many of whom while driving out on Montauk Highway for the weekend will turn left onto Tuckahoe Road (explaining to their spouse that it actually saves time by avoiding traffic) to get a glimpse of the venerable Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

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As summer winds down and Labor Day is well in the rearview mirror, these gated links enclaves become just a little less private and for the lucky few, they are able to experience some of the greatest golf courses in the world.

It’s around this time that a “friend of a friend who knows a caddy who works at (insert great golf course” can actually come to fruition. Long have the snowbirds migrated to Florida for the fall/winter; the golf courses are now ghost towns on most days.

But winter golf in the Hamptons in November is not for the faint of heart. The weather usually dips into the high 40s with winds hovering around 25mph, it can make for difficult conditions.

Add to that, most times the driving ranges are closed so you’re left teeing it up stiff as a board after a 2.5hr traffic-filled drive from Manhattan or as many of us do find yourself at the public Southampton Driving Range for a quick bucket. Although if it’s too late in the season it’s already being converted into a skating rink, so you’re out of luck.

It’s very likely that we won’t be allowed in the clubhouse at any of these courses, so the recently renovated Burger King in Southampton acts as a combination warming hut and locker room for putting on your golf shoes and additional layers.

Make sure to bring your own food because the halfway house will almost certainly be closed. If you’re lucky your caddy will offer you energy bars from the caddie shack at a dollar apiece.

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But when you’re walking down the first fairway at one of the greatest golf courses in the world, you seem to forget about all of that, and for a brief moment in time consider yourself to be one of the luckiest people on earth.

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