When you don't want to spend all day playing, when you don't want to spend your last paycheck for greens fees, when you don't want to feel like you have to hit 300-yard drives, then short golf courses are just the ticket. Long Island has a number of short courses that fill a necessary niche in the golf community. They provide beginners, especially women, an unintimidating place to take those first swings. They provide juniors a place to play at an affordable price. They provide senior players with a pleasant walk in the park when they no longer can play the big courses.
Short courses come in a variety of forms.
There are par 3 courses where holes play to regulation lengths. And there are nine-hole courses that provide a shorter playing day. The Executive Nine at the Harbor Links Golf Course in Port Washington is an excellent example of a course that fills the bill for beginners, juniors and seniors as well as those business people wanting a quick nine. The course, which is 1,668 yards from its back tees, is made up of four par 4s and five par 3s. The par 4s range from 230 to 280 yards and the par 3s range from 90 to 165 yards.