Atlantic Golf Club

No giggles please from Cockney readers... the East End of Long Island has a fashionable area called the Hamptons. Wealthy New Yorkers head here to escape the city heat and to enjoy the cooling seaside breeze. There are a limited number of top-notch golf courses in the Hamptons, but the Atlantic Golf Club is the proud owner of one of them.

The Atlantic is a private members club and Rees Jones laid out the course in 1992 on land that was originally earmarked for housing. The Atlantic course was built with both eyes on the environment and it is still the natural habitat of the amphibious Tiger Salamander and the Northern Harrier, the only North American member of the hawk family known as harriers.

It’s hard to classify the Atlantic course but links-like is probably as close as we can get. This is not links land but the fairways have a lovely undulating seaside style with swales and bumps, hollows and long wispy fescue rough shimmering in the wind. With a freshening breeze whipping in off the Atlantic, the Atlantic Golf Club is a challenging layout which calls for skilful shot making.

The shingle clubhouse is designed in the traditional Long Island style and it provides simple comfort for the Atlantic Golf Club members and their guests.