Randall’s Island Golf Center
Randallsislandgolfcenter.com
1 Randall’s Island
New York, NY 10035
40 minutes on Public Transportation
Q Train at 7th Ave., transfer to 4 train at Atlantic to 125th Street Stop and M35 bus to range
Living in New York City there are not many places to practice your golf game, and the ones that there are all spread randomly through the five boroughs of New York City. To hit some golf balls in upper Manhattan on the Bronx border, a committed commuting golfer can easily take the 4/5/6 trains Bronx bound to 125th street, and pick up the M35 bus just around the corner on 124th and 3rd to the Randall’s Island Golf Center(RIGC). From mid-Brooklyn, the train ride was a little over a half an hour and the bus was only about 7 minutes to the range.
Getting off the bus you are under a large overpass. Towards the left is the I.C.A.H.N. Stadium and up the hill to the right is the golf center. The RIGC is more than just a driving range. They have miniature golf with beautiful water features, a beer garden and patio café, batting cages, a 6,500 square foot short game area green, and two levels of driving stalls.
I wasn’t alone on this trip, because I was cashing in on a six month old belated birthday present of a “day at a driving range” from my girlfriend. RIGC was a great place to pick because as expensive as it is in the city you can get either 85 balls for $9 or 160 balls for $13. This is a great deal as compared to some of the other driving ranges in the area.
We picked a large bucket, and my girlfriend dropped me and the bucket off in one of the stalls and then she retreated to a shady chair to read “Three Cups of Tea”. I was really hoping that we would have hit some together, but I’m also a golf junkie and not going to complain about having an entire bucket to myself!
Looking out from the stalls, you have a great view in the distance of the RFK Bridge and Manhattan. The fence line is located at about 320 yards so the likelihood of the average golfer seeing their ball sail over the fence is pretty slim! There are a dozen strategically placed targets located approximately 75 to 225 yards out, though the yardage is unmarked. It is really a nice place to hit some balls when the weather is nice, but it looks as though you can still hit in the winter as I noticed heat lamps above each of the lower stalls. Almost every stall on the lower level was being used and about half of the top tier had golfers practicing.
After getting through most of bucket my girlfriend finally came over to hit some balls and we quickly finished off the bucket. My girlfriend surprised me by actually following the advice that I was giving her and after hitting a few good shots wanted to purchase another bucket. As she was going to get a fresh bucket of balls an older gentleman who was finishing up a lesson with the pro gave her about 50 range balls that he had left over. This was the perfect amount for both of us, and we alternatively took shots for another thirty minutes.
I had taken well over 100 swings, and still wanted to go to the chipping area and putting green to work on my short game, so we headed over to the practice area. The large green is not the best for putting since the top is Astroturf, but it is great for working on other aspects of your short game. All this place is really missing is some type of sand practice spot. I spent thirty minutes shooting at different pins from the fringe with my 52 degree wedge, and then decided to call it a day.
With that we left the RIGC and headed back to the bus stop to make the commute back to Brooklyn. For those golfers who don’t necessary want to wait by the sewage plant for the M35 back to the city RIGC does offer a shuttle van to and from Manhattan which runs hourly and will set you back $8 for a one way trip and $10 both ways.
There is no question that this commuting golfer will return to play some Range Games.
RIGC offers golf instruction and also a wide range of sports camps for kids. Some of the sports camps that they offer are Horseback Riding, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, and Field Hockey. For golf lessons contact Rick Nielsen at www.ricknielsengolf.com and camp information can be found at www.randallsislandsportscamp.com.
www.thecommutinggolfer.blogspot.com