If you live in the big city, how do you stay sharp?

[jorgesgolf]

No car, no backyard to chip in, apartment the size of a closet, hour or more by subway to get to the golf course, sparse driving range time - how do you guys do it living in big cities (NYC for me)? I do get out to Randalls Island driving range a little, but I find that I now play mostly for the enjoyment of the game and have to deal with not playing as well as I can because I don't practice enough. Has anyone come up with some inventive ways to practice when you can't get to a driving range that often or can't play more than 2X a month? For the New Yorkers - has anyone discovered a convenient practice range or cheap golf course in any of the 5 burroughs that they'd like to share?

Joresgolf

[GolfingWithCigars]

I live in Queens, the Flushing Meadow pitch and putt is 5 minutes from me and only takes about 90 minutes to play through. You could walk to it from the Shea Stadium stop on the 7. It is a bit of a walk though.

I love the Riis Park par 3 course, I use a lot of the irons in my bag as the longest hole is about 150 yards I believe. It is right of off the boardwalk.

My range is in New Hyde Park in Nassau County.

[smlxl]

I definitely share your frustration. I'm in Brooklyn -- with a car -- so I have a few more options, but NYC is a tough place for golfers. Elements of my "practice routine" include: rolling out a putting mat in my living room when no one's around, swinging a weighted club in my bedroom (if the back of my legs are up against the bed there's *just* enough room) and putting/chipping on the carpet in my office. I try to get over to Randalls Island once a week or so. Before I had a car, I'd schlep over to Chelsea Piers -- which is really neither convenient nor cheap.

I assume you subway it up to Vanny (my home course)? I'm not sure, but it seems as if Dyker beach could also be doable by subway. I played Dyker for the first time last year, and it's a pretty nice track. I also know people who take the 7 over to the Flushing Meadows par 3, which stays open late.

Have you considered signing up for Zipcar? I have a couple of friends who use it for getting to and fro. There are actually a fair number of playable courses around (golfinnyc.com) with my favorites being Split Rock in the Bronx, La Tourette on Staten Island and Van Cortlandt. Vanny got pretty run-down by the end of the year, but they won't be managed by American Golf anymore so that may explain it. I think that all of the American courses (nycteetimes.com) run $38 walking, $54 with a cart on weekends. There are also nice courses surrounding us in Long Island, Jersey, Westchester and Connecticut if you've got a buddy who will drive.

[jorgesgolf]

I definitely share your frustration. I'm in Brooklyn -- with a car -- so I have a few more options, but NYC is a tough place for golfers. Elements of my "practice routine" include: rolling out a putting mat in my living room when no one's around, swinging a weighted club in my bedroom (if the back of my legs are up against the bed there's *just* enough room) and putting/chipping on the carpet in my office. I try to get over to Randalls Island once a week or so. Before I had a car, I'd schlep over to Chelsea Piers -- which is really neither convenient nor cheap.

I definitely have the roll out putting green and I have been known to swing a club or two in my apartment. I have been to Dyker Beach by subway (with a little walking) and I thought it was a nice course but...my memory isn't great, but I'm pretty sure the round was 6-6.5 hours on a Saturday. This was my first round of golf in the city and talk about trial by fire! I agree that there are a lot of nice courses around the city that are actually pretty reasonable and that was probably the most surprising thing to people that I told about living/golfing in NYC. I've also been to Split Rock and I like that course as well. I am a grad student right now, so my time is limited and that contributes to my inability to practice as much as I would like, but it is a little rough to practice this game in the city because it does require a good bit of land to do that and land is certainly a limited commodity. However, like I said, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of courses (assuming you can get to them without a car). Zipcar is an idea and I am going to have to drag out some of my "less obsessed" friends this summer. Jorgesgolf

[Fourputt]

I feel for you guys.... like being an alcoholic in Kansas.

The 2 courses that I can play as a resident are each about 10 minutes from my house, and there is a more expensive one just across the park from my back yard... 5 minute drive max. I have at least 3 more nice courses within a 15 minutes drive radius, and 30 or 40 within an hour. Visit the Denver area in the summer and you can play golf till you drop...

[MGP]

Ha! Kansas isn't a "dry" state anymore -- well eastern Kansas isn't, I'm not so sure about western Kansas.

Luckily the metropilitan Kansas City area where I live has lots of nice public courses and driving range/practice facilities. And bars too, for that matter.

[AMGfan]

I definitely share your frustration. I'm in Brooklyn -- with a car -- so I have a few more options, but NYC is a tough place for golfers. Elements of my "practice routine" include: rolling out a putting mat in my living room when no one's around, swinging a weighted club in my bedroom (if the back of my legs are up against the bed there's *just* enough room) and putting/chipping on the carpet in my office. I try to get over to Randalls Island once a week or so. Before I had a car, I'd schlep over to Chelsea Piers -- which is really neither convenient nor cheap.

When I visited my sister in Manhattan about 4 yrs ago, I got a chance to play Van Cortlandt. From what I remember, it was a decent track. The funny part of the round was my brother-in-law and I carrying our golf bags on the subway to the Bronx!

[InTheTwenties]

You can go to your local soccer field and try a morning routine. When I don't feel like going to the range, I go to the local park and pitch and chipp and lob. Its just like hitting from the rough.

Funny thing you never know what you are going to find. I once last year was practicing in a city park, again chipping/ pitching when I was collecting the balls, I saw a hypodermic needle in the grass next to the ball.

I left that ball.

[Dent]

I ride my bike to my golf club! 15 mins away :)

[jorgesgolf]

You can go to your local soccer field and try a morning routine. When I don't feel like going to the range, I go to the local park and pitch and chipp and lob. Its just like hitting from the rough.

Glad to hear you left that last ball alone...

InTheTwenties - Do you know what the New York Parks department thinks about pitching/chipping in Central Park? Is there a certain place that you can do this and has anyone tried without getting yelled at? I know how they like to keep the grass relatively pristine, so I can't imagine that they would like to see little divots and worn out grass around. Also - when I was on Randall's Island's website, they mention having a short game practice area. However, my first time there, I was surprised to find that you can't chip/pitch onto their practice putting "green" (aka slab of concrete covered in astroturf). Do they enforce this? I also heard that Chelsea Piers has a nice short game practice area - does anyone go use this without additionally going to the driving range? I've never gone to Chelsea Piers before. Jorgesgolf

[lamebums]

I definitely share your frustration. I'm in Brooklyn -- with a car -- so I have a few more options, but NYC is a tough place for golfers. Elements of my "practice routine" include: rolling out a putting mat in my living room when no one's around, swinging a weighted club in my bedroom (if the back of my legs are up against the bed there's *just* enough room) and putting/chipping on the carpet in my office. I try to get over to Randalls Island once a week or so. Before I had a car, I'd schlep over to Chelsea Piers -- which is really neither convenient nor cheap.

This sounds a lot like the stuff I'd had to do, in order to practice my golf game. There's an extraordinary lack of mass transit in the greater Cincinnati area, and until I could actually afford a car, I could literally get nowhere. The Metro lines all ran north from the Ohio River, and TANK (the guys in Northern Kentucky) all ran south, with really, nothing in between, or in opposing directions.

I used to swing clubs in my apartment, but I broke the light fixture in my bedroom about a year ago with my sand wedge, and I told myself not to do that again... lesson learned the hard way. Other times, I've tried putting into a cup laid on its side, the carpet is pretty similar to a green, but that gets boring pretty quickly. I've also used the backyards for chip and wedge shots, but after a few balls went into other people's porches, decks, and too close to their cars for comfort, I cut that out as well. Now, thankfully, I have a (usually) working car, and that allows me to hit the driving range, of which there's a few in the area.

[smlxl]

Also - when I was on Randall's Island's website, they mention having a short game practice area. However, my first time there, I was surprised to find that you can't chip/pitch onto their practice putting "green" (aka slab of concrete covered in astroturf). Do they enforce this? I also heard that Chelsea Piers has a nice short game practice area - does anyone go use this without additionally going to the driving range? I've never gone to Chelsea Piers before.

I think that Randall's does stop people from chipping, and I'd bet their mini-golf course is closer to real putting than their "practice green". I don't remember a short-game area at Chelsea piers (I think you could rent time in their indoor bunker) but the range is worth trying. Three floors, heated, automatically tees up your next ball, hitting out onto a netted pier... very entertaining. Dyker has a practice green, which I used to practice chipping. With a car, La Tourette has a pretty big practice green -- chipping allowed -- and a driving range.

As to your earlier post about *slow* rounds... welcome to public golf in NYC. Once the summer gets going, I won't tee off more than an hour after sunrise and even then I assume for a 5 hour round. The one time I played Dyker, I walked on at sunrise and got around in 4:30 but they are notoriously slow on the weekends. Vanny generally runs as quick as any of the courses, but getting out during the week is the way to go if you can.