bschneider93

It's been a few years since I've played Bergen and to be honest, the course has not always been in the best shape in past years. But I have to say the place was in great shape yesterday. The greens, the fairways, the tee boxes, all really good. The greens were actually faster than I expected but pretty consistent from hole to hole, so no excuses for my bad putting. We started at around 10:40 Am and were back at the clubhouse before 3 PM so no complaints on the pace. Had we spebt more time on the fairways, we could have been done 30 minutes earlier. All in all a great day.

I had a 9:53 tee time with a friend; we got there early and they had us tee off at 9:40 which was a nice surprise.

Positives:

-The pace was not bad, not great but compared to other Forest Park it moved pretty well. I think we finished in 5 hours and we had no really long waits on any one hole.
-The course was in decent shape, no complaints.
-The people at the check-in, clubhouse, cart pickup and bar were all very nice. However we did get yelled at when we drove our golf cart out to the car to drop off our clubs which is obviously frowned on.
-on one par 3 they had a charity collecting donations for kids golf programs...donate $5 and if you hit the green you get a sleeve of balls. Get within 10 feet and win a free cart next round. It was a nice challenge and for a good cause.
-The burgers in the bar smelled fantastic when we stooped in at the turn!! we called in and ordered 2 from the 16th hole to enjoy at the end of our round (see below).

Negatives:
- they charge for parking and then don't let you drive out to your car to drop off your clubs
- one of the longer holes was shortened to a par 3 because it close to some homes outside the course.They plan on building a fence, but until they do, the hole is cut in half.
-the course layout is boring!!!! I don't think they had a single dog-leg on the whole course...everything was straight, straight, and ....(wait for it).....straight. I kept waiting for some variety and it never came. Very disappointing.
-Our burgers were not nearly as good as they smelled!! :)
They were not ready when we got there (waited almost 10 minutes) and they were over cooked. So disappointed.

Overall it was a good day. The pace was Ok, the course was in good shape and if you don't mind a simple, straight layout, then by all means, I would give this course a try. But if you like variety and more of a challenge, head to nearby Forest Park or out east to Bethpage where there are 5 courses with lots of variety.

This was my first trip to Eisenhower. I usually avoid it because it's always crowded, but I've always wanted to give it a try. I played the RED course starting at 12:30 and was only able to finish 13 holes by 4:40 when it got too dark to finish. That's just way too slow for me. The course itself was very nice. A nice par 5 to start and loosen up, followed by several dog-legs. I liked the bunkers around the greens, which forced you to hit quality shots on your approach. The green on the 12th was a killer as was some of the pin-placements but overall, I enjoyed the round.

I usually play at an assortment of public courses in Long Island including Bethpage Blue/Yellow/Green, Bergen Point, Crab Meadow, Lido Beach, and Spring Lake.

This was the first time I played a full 18 holes at Forest Park in many years. I would normally avoid it due to the fact that it always busy and has a notoriously slow pace of play.

I played on a Friday afternoon at 2PM just before labor day. The course was in pretty good shape for late summer. The tee boxes were a little beat up but not horrible. The fairways were in good shape. The greens were in terrific shape but very slow.

The pace was slow especially for the first 5 holes but then it picked up. It took an hour to play 3 holes (yes 3 holes!!!) and I was seriously regretting my decision, but the guys I was playing with assured me that after holes 4 and 5 things would get better. They were correct. Hole 4 is VERY narrow with trees on both sides and Hole 5 is a wicked dogleg right so things get very backed up on those holes. After that the pace got better and we finished the round in just about 5 hours. Not great but horrible.

The layout of the course is a lot of fun and was a good challenge for me. I usually shoot around 100 for a full 18 and on a good day I can get close to 90. The course had a nice mix of holes. On some you needed to be very accurate off the tee and on other you could swing for the fences because there were 4 fairways side by side by side with very few trees. Some the greens were a lot fun with multiple levels and some crazy breaks.

For someone of my skill level who has some time to kill, this course was a good challenge and a lot of fun.

The course is relatively short so I decided to walk with my pull cart. There were a couple of steep hills but I would definitely walk it again. It cost me $31 without the cart and it would have been $36 with a cart. Both were good deals. BTW: Golfnow offered the same tee time for $32 with cart. Once you add in the fees, it cost about the same as just walking up.