Garden City Golf Club

Garden City Golf Club was founded in 1899 on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, one of the few naturally flat, treeless grassland areas in the northeastern United States. Devereux Emmet laid out the original course on terrain that closely resembled the linksland of the British Isles. In 1902, Walter J. Travis, one of America's greatest amateur golfers and a three-time U.S. Amateur champion, undertook a major redesign that gave the course its enduring character.

Travis's redesign was revolutionary for its era. He introduced bold, deep bunkers, dramatic green contours, and strategic principles that were ahead of their time. His work at Garden City, particularly the famous 12th hole with its inverted stack bunkers and wild green contours, remains some of the most daring architecture from the early 1900s. The club has hosted the Walter J. Travis Invitational for over 110 years in his honor.

Tom Doak completed a restoration in 2015 that recovered Travis's original design intent, removing decades of incremental changes. The course has hosted numerous USGA amateur championships and is consistently ranked among the top 50 courses in America.

Garden City Golf Club is a minimalist, windswept experience on the flat Hempstead Plains of Long Island. The course plays to 6,840 yards at par 73 with virtually no trees and minimal elevation change, placing the emphasis squarely on strategic architecture, firm turf, and wind. The experience has been compared to playing inland links golf in the British Isles.

Walter Travis's bunkers are the primary defense, featuring deep faces and strategic placement that demand careful thought on every shot. The greens are boldly contoured, particularly the famous 12th, and reward approach shots from the correct angle. Tom Doak's 2015 restoration brought the course closer to its original character than at any point in decades.

Garden City rewards the ground game more than almost any course in America. The firm, fast turf and flat terrain encourage running the ball onto greens rather than flying it directly to the pin. Bump-and-run shots and low trajectory approaches are valuable weapons here.

Wind is the invisible defense at Garden City. The exposed, treeless terrain means every hole is affected by whatever breeze is blowing. Pay close attention to flag behavior and cloud movement to gauge wind strength and direction throughout your round.