Town of Oyster Bay Golf Course — Local services in Town of Oyster Bay

I've played this course countless times and I will give it the fairest review possible. First, the price is mediocre at best. I am a resident so it's not terrible, but I have a hard time recommending it to non residents. Twilight is a bargain but prepare to wait in line and anticipate not finishing a full 18.

Course layout: This track is TIGHT. If you are wild off of the tee you will not have a good time. They have taken down a lot of trees in common miss areas, but it is still very challenging for the average weekend warrior to score well.

Hole 2 is a tough-ish par 5 due to the close proximity of OB on the right. You really need a good tee shot to score here. If you do find the short stuff with your first you MAY have a look into the green if you are on the left side of the fairway. If you're on the right you will have to challenge a large tree blocking you out- laying up is your only smart option even if you're only 200yds out.

The 4th hole here is one of the most difficult holes that I've ever played, and it's kind of a joke. Playing from the back tees denies you from hitting a big fade or draw, so keeping a tight ball flight is pivotal. Your landing zone is about 250 yards out, but if you fly it long you're blocked out from the green and will have to hit a big sweeping draw. If you miss your tee shot right... Bogey at best. The green is elevated an insane amount and it has some of the most severe undulation on the course. OB left and long, so you better hit it pure to have any chance of scoring. Good luck.

Things stay pretty mundane until you get to 16. Tough dogleg right with an elevated green that most people have a longer iron into. Very tough to hit it in regulation.

17 is also very challenging and again a dogleg right but this time to a downhill green. Only have good players with 300yds+ and a controllable fade with have a chance at driving it to the second fairway for a short iron or wedge in. Most players will face a 220+ yard second shot on a par 4. Two tier green which can be difficult to hold.

18 is another hole that a better player can take advantage of with a solid drive in the right spot, but miss your target by 15 yards either way and you'll be taking your medicine and praying for par. Again, for most who play here they are left with 200+ yards into another 3 tier green.

CONDITIONS: Average at best. The course sees so much play that it is understandable that there will be some ball marks and divots. That can be forgiven as it's more so on the players than on the staff.

The amount of bald spots around the course is another story. You can catch SO many horrible lies in one round of golf here that your not so bad misses turn from pars into doubles real quick. The turf is inconsistent as some holes are Rock solid and others are softer than room temp Butter. Bunkers have needed new sand for years now.

And my biggest complaint here are the tee boxes. Oh man. Finding a flat spot to tee off from can be challenging. I'll leave it at that.

All in all TOB Golf course is in my rotation of tracks to play because it is unique and challenging. It is a course that trains you to play smarter and grooms you to play at places that are much more open.

I'll never tell anyone NOT to play here, because I think everyone should at least once.

I just wish that the fixable problems with the course...

UPDATE (08/16/24): Finally broke 90 with an 86 (+16).

Played the only Tom Fazio-designed Par 70 (only 2 Par 5s) track on Long Island yesterday (08/11/24) and still enjoyed it very much even after being whipped by the course with a 98.

I've played this track several times in the past 3 years and have never broken 90.

The course stands out from its nearby and more well-known tracks like Bethpage and Eisenhower with its mix of eclectic but difficult holes on the front nine and scoreable holes on the back nine, including two drivable holes (9 and 11) from the white tees.

The greens ran true, but the speed was a bit slow.

Compared to Tom's other more famous track that charges the most expensive green fee in the USA at $1,250.00 a round - Shadow Creek in Vegas, Oyster Bay is a good deal at $38 ($33 + $5 reservation fee) for a weekend twilight round and was definitely worth it.

Obviously, the track is not as pristine and well-maintained as Shadow Creek, but the unique design is a really good mix of difficult but fair holes as well as scoreable holes sprinkled with risk and reward options to keep it really interesting.

There's a decent range and practice putting green (400 ft. away from the first tee) on site with recent improvements, including rebuilt tee boxes and additional mobile restrooms close to the first tee box.

The previous restroom was about 1 mile away at the halfway house.

Bottom line, this is really an under-the-radar gem of a course, and I'll definitely be back to continue my quest to break 90, hopefully by the end...

Absolutely phenomenal golf course!!! Best conditions I’ve ever seen for a public course, country club quality. Not very long but several tight fairways and extremely difficult greens. No two holes are alike. Truly an absolute gem!!! My only gripe is not having any logo balls so I can add to my collection. Regardless I am not considering a membership next year after only playing twice.

Update: a year later and I will say with conviction that the two best kept public courses on the Island are Bethpage Black and Town of Oyster Bay. TOB is my personal favorite course to play and has become my home!

Another update: 2 years later as of now, and it’s only gotten better!!! TOB is my happy place and I feel like family when I check in. Such a challenging course but unbelievably beautiful and...