Lake Isle Country Club

Spiffy course—not one blade of grass in my cleats after 18 holes. With one NYC exception, the Westchester muni courses are way better than the NYC courses. Lake Isle is a step above the Westchester munis.

The people are friendly. The premises includes a nice range and practice green. I found yellow range balls all over the course, which begged the question as to what monster was hitting them over a thousand yards.

The fairways vary in difficulty. Some are wide open, and some are cramped. There are at least three dog-legs. One fairway features a hill from which your ball disappears over the ridge. That's four holes where you can't see the pin. All the three-pars are slam dunks.

The fairway grass is short and fast. I hit a few screamers with my five iron, and the ball bounced on and on and then kept rolling. Most of the rough is open and accessible, but there are areas of thick ground cover where balls will hide. After due diligence in searching for my ball, I found one that wasn't mine. The course giveth and the course taketh away.

There are few hazards. I landed in a bunker twice. There were two water hazards that were easily avoided.

The cart paths often end and then pick up on the opposite side of the fairway. This is confusing at first. There are very few curbs. I like that.

The greens are where I struggle, and there are no charity pins on this course. I found some of the pitch excessive. The 18th hole has a roll-back green that guarantees that if your ball doesn't stop within ten feet of the pin, it will roll back onto the fringe—regardless of forward momentum. Call it a taste of Augusta. I think roll-back greens should not be legal.

Plenty of parking. You can drive your cart to your car to drop off your bags.

Yet...

The course could use better signage. There are several points of tee box merger. An arrow sign to the next tee would be welcome.

Tee boxes are tight squares. The blue, white and pink markers are on top of each other. There is plenty of lateral room on the tee boxes that that is outside the marker boundaries. Why not use it?

Few amenities—No cart lady; no burger shack, one on-course bathroom. Buy your water and power bars from a machine. BYOB for crying out loud! For the 19th hole, you can go to a fine dining catering hall, which is located several paces from the pro shop, and is under separate management. Otherwise, a commercial area is a few blocks away, but do take your car unless you are training for a 10K.

Play Lake Isle every once in a while. Very much improved greens in great shape, bunkers improved and overall the course was very good. Starter was helpful and accommodating. Good experience

Great course. Course was in great condition. Greens are fast. Overall great