Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course

This course is not worth the cost! We booked a 2:30 tee time online for today. Figured we would beat the crowd since the sun is setting earlier these days and we haven’t played the course all summer. We arrive just before 2:30 only to find out we have been pushed back 25 mins. The guy there was very apologetic so we grab some beers while we wait. 20 mins later they call us over the loud speaker. We get to the first tee and there are 3 other groups of 4 waiting! That was how the entire game went. It took us over 3 hours to play 9 holes and the sun was beginning to set since it was after 6. We went back to the clubhouse, which is nowhere near the 9^th hole to ask for a raincheck. The same guy who was very apologetic seemed to have sympathy and said they do not provide rain checks for slow playing. He offered us a free cart for our troubles!!! I paid for 18 holes and only played 9 bc of their incompetence… and worse the course was not great. The tee boxes and greens were not well maintained definitely not worth all the money we spent. Will be playing in westchester only!

Played Vanny for the first time in 10 years this past Sunday. Slow round due to the lack of golf etiquette by the group in front of us. Anyways, the young lady driving the beverage cart made it all worthwhile. She was cheerful, friendly and we saw her 4 times during the round. I have played at country clubs where u do not c the beverage cart that much. Kudos to Janay for helping us thru a 5 ½ hour round!
Plus the course was in very good shape. We will be back.
Matt K.

As far as the city courses go, this is pretty great and convenient. A mediumish walk from the end of the 1 train (sometimes I’ll über up and then train it back).
If you get out early enough, you can get around in just over 4 hours. I will try to never tee off after 8:00 again, because the later you go, the longer the round.

Good god this course is slow. 6 hour round minimum on the weekends.
The history and accessibility, combined with reasonable conditions, make for a decent course. For the time you’ll spend queued up at the tee box, you could be better off going further away and having a proper golf experience.

Went out early this week and Vanny was in as good a shape as I’d ever seen. Greens still are slow, but ran very smoothly. Tee boxes and rough looked really good, though you always have to watch the alignment of the tee boxes that seem to aim your first shot into trees a third of the time. The renovated clubhouse is much improved and the guys working the course have gotten a lot nicer. I still would stay far away from it Fridays and on weekends, but as I’ve gotten around the country and played other courses, the more I’ve learned how fair and interesting a challenge this course really is. It forces you to think, changes constantly with the elements and you’ll use every club in your bag.

A bad round of golf beats a good day at work! The round moved well today playing under 4.5 hrs with an 11 AM tee time. The greens rolled slow today. It’s a good idea to ride a cart, or use a pull cart if walking because the distance between several holes is quite a hike. It’s a nice muni course. Try playing hooky here anytime you can.

Played on Monday, 13 August. Many of the greens had been aerated recently and putting was IMPOSSIBLE! The fairways were in poor condition and so hard that if the fairway had any slope to it, the ball ran off of the fairway and into the rough which was long & difficult. On top of that, after 6 holes, the course was so backed up that we had to wait before hitting every shot! The cost to play the course is also out of proportion with the quality of the course. Finally, I have never had to pay to park at a golf course I was going to play anywhere in the world!!!
Overall, I would not go back and play the course any time soon. Avoid at all cost if you are considering playing the course this year.
LMM

I play here quite often and currently the course is in the best shape I’ve seen it. Great variety of holes with water, bunkers, elevation changes, slopes, blind approaches and lots of trees in play. You don’t have to be a long hitter though it really tests your all round skills. Nice mix of tricky par 3’s (holes 7 & 17) alongside some short par 4’s (good for the confidence!). There are three par 5’s, two of which can play close to 600yds. Like all public courses the round times vary a lot. I’ve had those dreaded 5hr rounds but then yesterday got around in under 3.5hrs. It helps to play from the appropriate tees for your level, play ready golf and keep up with the group in front.

Just played there for the first time and it was so uncomfortable there there was a foursome in front of us and we had no where to shoot and the ranger just sits 2 feet behind u the whole time making u feel like its ur fault ur not moving and u spend $ 60 to play there there tee boxes are like Swiss cheese

Greens are in much better condition than they were a couple months ago. I’ve started playing here every Saturday.
To walk twilight on the weekend is $ 27 (starting at 2pm if you have the $ 10 ‘Twilight Club Card, and $ 21 weekdays), which is fine, but it’s annoying that they still charge an extra $ 20 for a cart, even at twilight.
The clubhouse really is quite pretty. It recently got $ 1.5 million in renovations, and the atmosphere in there is excellent. The upstairs has space for a gorgeous locker room, though I’m not sure if they’ll be putting in the work to make it gorgeous.
Some of the tee boxes still need to be improved, like #10.
Absurd how few rakes there are on the course. Talk about the definition of cheapness. I never saw a bunker with more than one rake, always a low-​quality rake, and some bunkers didn’t have any. Talk about pitching pennies.
The concession stand closes at 5pm. Pretty annoying for long summer days when players are on the course ’til 8pm. Also, last time when we teed off at 5pm, the cart girl said «I’ll be out here til 8pm». We never saw her again.
But I digress. This place has a great, welcoming vibe, greens in solid condition, some really good holes, good prices. All a rarity when playing golf in the biggest city in America. For all those reasons, as long as I live closeby, I’ll definitely be back at Van Cortland Park.

Played golf here with members from EWGA and we had a blast. The greens are well maintained, a surprise for a Bronx Golf Course. However, the signage could be better displayed. We got lost going to the 15^th hole due to poor signage. The clubhouse has been remodeled and what a difference from last year, it looks much better but I can’t comment on the food at the grill. They even has a nice deck in the back overlooking the lake to sit and relax with a few beers etc; the hot dogs on the 10^th hole are grilled and the one I had was great, not the dogs sitting in water or on a tray in the heat.
We are defiantly coming back to play this course and will be mindful of the signage on hole 14 – 15 and I hope management will fix this soon.

2.5 stars…
Van Cortlandt is America’s oldest public golf course (1895) and I’m guessing one of the only ones accessible via subway (which is only 580 yards away through the park, the length of a par 5 hole). The likes of Babe Ruth and the 3 Stooges would golf here back in the day and actually have holes named after them.
Directions from the subway to the course were non exist ant and I needed GPS on my phone to help me out. The clubhouse is currently being renovated so they only had a temporary trailer in front to deal with all the business. Service wasn’t the greatest but prices were quite good. It was $ 33 after tax to walk 18 on a weekday (about $ 20 more if you wanted a cart). Directions from the clubhouse to the first hole was non exist ant as well, it’s kind of a long walk down a paved path around a pond to get there. It turned out that the layout of the course occasionally had extremely long walks between holes so I would recommend getting a cart even if you typically walk. Holes are poorly marked with stone plaques in the ground rather than visible upright signs.
When I got there at 2pm on a Wednesday no one was in front of me for a few holes, it took me awhile to reach a slow group. I passed them and joined a threesome in front of them to become a foursome. The course ended up being busy but not packed, I never had to wait long to play.
There’s no refreshment cart that comes around but there were occasional water stations and a small grill in the middle of the course selling beer/​drinks/​snacks. Prices here were higher than expected ($ 6 – 8 for cans of beer, $ 5 for a hot dog, and so on).
As for the course, it’s a little shorter than normal in terms of yardage but is well within reason, they have a couple long par 5’s and most are par 4’s. With the exception of two holes plagued by hundreds of geese and one hole that was kind of brown, most of the fairways and greens were well taken care of and the design of the course had a good combination of interesting and challenging holes as well as some more straight forward ones.

I’ve played here a few times now. It’s great I can get here from the 1 train.
The course has always been in good shape, the tee boxes have grass, the greens are well cut and the course is clean. The holes are tree lined so you get a good sense of being out of the city, despite still being in the Bronx.
The price is reasonable ($ 52 for a weekday round with cart). I suggest taking a cart since the holes are pretty far apart.
The play time is slow and the course can get bogged down, even on weekdays, making for a 5.5+ hour round.

Van Cortlandt Golf is where any time of day is Amateur Hour!
This is about the 10^th time this has happened: book first tee time for a Sunday morning (5:32am) online and in advance only to be fourth group out after management came AND FORGET THE KEYS TO THEIR MAKESHIFT TRAILER! Usually it’s the keys to the same clubhouse Babe Ruth went into almost 100 years ago that they forget the keys too.
Anyway, our foursome went out with the following three groups in front: a single walking, another single walking and then a walking threesome. We had carts. We also had a foursome with carts behind us. It would’ve made sense to put the first two singles together and lets the carts go before everyone.
Casper and Paul are both rude and surly. Paul likes to hit balls on the 15^th (practice tee is on the side of the hole) and holds up people from teeing off.
Several times, (I’ve played there around 40 times and felt compelled enough to write my 5^th review of any place in three years) we’ve gone out only to find the flags are missing or not put out after being taken in the day before. After phoning the «clubhouse’, the pins usually get put into the holes after you’ve played the 4^th hole.
Kevin is the only one working there who is a worker. It’s a shame because there are a few holes worth playing there (#2, #6 & #16). 6 & 16 have driveable greens and #2 plays 619 from the tips.
Perhaps Rudy Guiliani can tee off with his son there and see the ineptness of the staff that would better be served stepping out of a clown car. This course would best be served under new management because the service is worse than 3^rd world.

Although a short course, the tree line and fairway slopes create a fair but challenging round. If your tee shot or approach is off, the penalty is not massive and an up and down for par can be had.
The greens in comparison to most New York public courses are smaller in size,
the few dog leg holes on the par 4’s create some interesting decisions to be
made. I found holes fourteen through to be an interesting challenge.
Although they do lack a practice facility, that is not a penalty against Van Courtland as it is somewhat of the norm of NYC public golf courses unfortunately.
Oldest public course in NYC 6,096 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 70. The course rating is 68.6 and it has a slope rating of 110. Designed by Tom Bendelow & William Maxwell, the Van Cortlandt Park golf course opened in 1895.

My buddies and I really only get a chance to play this course after work, but it’s a wonderful oasis in the Bronx to visit when we do. Granted, we’re in the very beginning stages of our gold «careers,» but the course is a sanctuary in a crowded city. Indeed, you barely feel like you are in an urban area at al, save passing by the parkway – but that only adds charm. The bar is nice, the people are nice, the only thing to watch out for – the Bronx geese… they’re vicious :)

Service here is horrible. The people are rude (the guy who handled our clubs) or incompetent (the lady grilling & selling beers at the 8^th hole.) The place is crowded so the wait is long. But the courses are pretty decent and varied. The prices are decent. I wouldn’t go back here since there are so many other choices in the area.

I’ll be honest when I say that I’d be hard pressed to rate any golf course less than 3 stars at all — unless something went horribly, horribly wrong, or it was missing a hole or something totally outrageous. I just love golfing that much, that as long as its physically possible for me to play and no one is being a jerk, I’m pretty happy.
Given my adjusted rating scale for golf courses, Van Cortlandt definitely comes in at a solid 4 stars.
The head professional was extremely cool — and well connected. He knows a lot of guys on tour and other professional sports players, and apparently, is good friends with the Guilianis’. Well then. He talked our ears off for a bit before we hit the course, it was cool.
The course itself is quite long. It’s a good mix between hilly and flat holes. You can tell it’s old though (the first public golf course in USA!) — the course layout is next to nonexistent. The play from hole to hole is sporadic and exhausting — there’s no flow at all — no stop at the clubhouse at the «turn» and you even have to walk along the highway at one point to get to the back of the course (and then back to the front when you’re finishing) — but I’m sure that highway wasn’t a highway (or even a road) when the course was laid out 110+ years ago.
Pricing was higher than average for a public course, but almost reasonable — after all, we’re in NYC. It does kind of suck how that has to justify a price hike on just about anything you buy or do, but c’est la vie.
The course was well maintained for a public course and I had a lot of fun playing. I do have to say that I’m still in love with the second oldest public golf course — Franklin Park — back in JP/​Boston. Alas, I’ll have to resort to VC while I’m making NYC my home.
We will be back once the season is up again, and recommend that anyone from golf aficionados or curious beginners check it out too!

Well I played here in Oct/​2010 so im not sure if my experience is typical because of the late season.
Overcrowding would be my biggest concern, (along with grounds condition) with any NYC public course. However, because of the late season my twosome played basically by ourselves.
I found the grounds to be in pretty good condition, especially considering this was after a full season. There were a lot of leaves on some fairways, but thats what you get with autumn golf. The greens were also pretty good, with minimal patchiness.
This is not a very challenging course, and not very long. So its probably a good place for an ego stroke (I shot a 90 with 6 pars), or beginners.
The best part of Van Cortland is that its dirt cheap, and is a short walk from the 1 train, making it a true locals course.

For my first time playing 18 hole golf it was fun. My boyfriend and I ended up finding a deal online, and so price was cheap.
We had to get 2 golf carts for three people. Strange how we still had to pay for each person, not for golf cart. It’s not a female friendly place, since I had to pee a few times and I had to wait till the 12^th hole and guys could literally pee anywhere, though not legally.
It was overcrowded, and we found ourselves waiting a long time for the next hole, so it took ALLLLL day to play.
Though this course has much history to it, it’s also convenient for me and close to home.
But don’t leave your clubs behind, it’s unbelievably hard to find, just ask my boyfriend lol.
And his friend was chased by security for trying to find his club that he rented there, and I remember being in the rental shop and hearing about him through their walkie talkies about some crazy guy who isn’t stopping in his cart. haha.