The Golf Club at Middle Bay

Staff was amazing, course sits in a beautiful location and is extremely well-kempt. Only disappointment was the fact that the range was closed, but that was due to rain.

First time playing this course and enjoyed it a lot. Staff was very friendly, loaded up bags on to cart and drove us to our car in the parking lot afterwards. Course overall was fairly straight and narrow which made it a bit challenging. Par 5's were long but enjoyable. Only issue would be pace of play was a bit slow, we had a 2 groups behind us that were loud, and a several of the tee boxes were a bit chewed up. However, overall a pleasant time at the course and can see it really challenging on windy days due to being by the bay/cove. Would definitely play here again.

Middle Bay could really find a sweet spot as a non- private "country club". It requires that next step: Build a clubhouse and take the staff to the next level to have a more definitive separation from the Bethpages & Eisenhowers.

-Frankie k

The’ve gone back to 8 minute tee time intervals (from 10). Yesterday’s round was over 5 hours (supposed to he 4) waiting on almost every shot. So prepare for a longer day or find somewhere else to play.

Tight manicured greens

Great water views everywhere

First time here def not the last!

Staff is Friendlier than a private club as well!

Get it

Got it

Good!!

The course in itself was absolutely beautiful the greens are one of the best. But I actually wish I was able to play. Teeing off at 12 o’clock in the afternoon and finishing up on the 18th hall at 6:10 is absolutely disgusting. How is one to enjoy a game of golf when you’re waiting at least 10 to per hole if not more at times . There’s zero pace and you have zero rhythm. For the amount of money that you pay they should enforce the time rule without a doubt.

Tee times spaced out by 8 minutes. We teed off 20 minutes after our scheduled time and had to wait before every tee and approach shot. Walked off after the front nine took 2 hours and 45 minutes

Greens are always good and the course is always in generally good condition. Staff and crew are good people.

We really enjoyed our round. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Looking forward to playing it again!

I have been a Sunday tee time member for about 5 years and the staff couldn't be more accommodating. The course is in excellent shape and they deserve all the credit for keeping it that way. I can't wait for the clubhouse to be built, I'm sure it will be first class.

The course is always worth the trip, been playing early Sunday mornings for 12 years ! The course conditions are always good beautiful layout from water holes to links and the flow of place is a a good pace ! The club is run by a great team starting at the top with Ron and his staff are all amazing! I would highly recommend this gem and you will really enjoy the play, Halfway house has a great chef and his staff is always friendly and the food is always good! I’m there every week it’s my home course that I treasure! I have made outings there and always had great reviews from my group of golfers

Would recommend this for sure!!! Great view of the water.

My father and I, regular golfers that play once or twice a week, decided to play The Golf Club at Middle Bay this Saturday.

Pre-Round – The ranger tells our playing partner that there are several groups ahead of us and in the beginning of the round it will be slow but these few groups are only playing the front 9 and then going home. I notice that a group of 8 guys in front of us tee off one right after another and seem to know each other. One of the members of the group is clearly new to the game and didn’t even have his own golf clubs. The group waiting to tee off behind us also had oddly enough had only 2 sets of golf clubs for 4 golfers. Immediately upon arriving to the first tees they called over the beverage cart girl and bought a bag of beers and gave her a tip so that she would find them throughout the day to restock their beer cooler.

Hole 1 – Stopped by Ranger (Bill) at the green after approach shots. Bill says that the starter let the groups in front go out too fast and as a result, the course is backed up, so slow down and take your time.

After finishing hole one, we approach the second tee box (a short par 4) to find that the group ahead of us hasn’t even had the chance to tee off yet. No complaints because we were warned

Hole 2 – After waiting 10 minutes on the tee, the ranger returns again, drives right up to the tee box distracting me as I hit my tee shot (which I topped into the water on the left). The ranger proceeds to wait there until each one of our foursome has teed off. Our 2 partners top their tee shots into the water. The Ranger and angrily shakes sand/grass seed mixture over the entire tee area saying with a snarky tone “none of you filled your divots, don’t forget to fill in your divots” and takes off, even though 3 of the members of the group hit driver or 3 wood leaving no divot and the tee box had been pretty well chewed up already by previous golfers who had not done anything with their divots

Hole 3 – Par 3, once again we wait on the tee (as to be expected on a par 3 on a crowded public golf course), but this time even the group behind us, who struggled completing holes timely due to their inexperience with golf even caught up to us and began waiting as well. They clearly had gotten into their beers and were playing loud music and joking with one another as we teed off.

Hole 4 – Longer Par 4 – we wait again on the tee as the group ahead has only just left the tee box as we approached it.

I hit my second shot, a long iron, from the rough and proceed towards the green. Here comes the ranger to say, hey, you didn’t take much of a divot there, but you still have to fill it. I thought this was strange as I’ve never seen anyone pour sand and grass seed into a divot in the rough (and I’ve been playing golf for 20 years).

Hole 5 – Long Par 5 – we wait on the tee again, even though on most rounds at Middle Bay, the log jam in the beginning is usually cleared by the time we get to this tee box. However, we noticed another one of the golfers in front of us is being taught the game and didn’t have his own set of golf clubs. This is not a course for beginners.

Hole 6 – Par 3, surprisingly there was no wait on this tee as it seems as though not all of the foursome ahead of us finished the hole. For the remainder of the round we were able to play at a normal pace and stayed well clear of the group behind us that had gone on to play rather slow as they searched the course for errant shots.

Hole 7 – We waited a few minutes on the tee box before being able to hit. I hit my second shot from well into the rough on the right in the tree line, another long iron, and again I did not take much of a divot and walked toward my cart on the cart path on the opposite side of the fairway. The ranger again comes racing over to me and sarcastically says “you didn’t fill your divot”to which I said “no” with a confused look on my face. He angrily raced back to check to what the divot looked like

Hole 13 - as we approach the 13th green, we notice the ranger again has us in his crosshairs. As one of our playing partners parked his cart between the 13th green and 14th tee, the ranger sarcastically barks at him that he should know why he’s here and would talk to him in a minute. He then proceeds to stand outside his ranger cart, smoke a cigarette, and stare us down as we were putting on the 13th green.

Hole 14 – as we approach the tee box, the ranger sarcastically asks how our round was going? We said fine, other than his stopping us along the way and harassing us. He then became even more angry and unprofessional by saying “I bet you’re having a great time, but where is the group ahead of you?” To which we answered they must have left. He proceeded to demand that we play faster and that we were “on the clock now” as if we would be disqualified from the PGA Championship and removed from the golf course. We were shocked. The group behind us was nowhere to be seen. So, clearly, we were not slowing anyone down.

At this point we had had enough of his harassment and unprofessional attitude and questioned, admittedly with plenty of strong language, why he was picking on us rather than what he was doing with the other groups around us that didn’t even bring their own golf clubs, were getting drunk and rowdy, playing loud music that distracted us and other golfers on the course. He kept barking at us to tee off and pick up the pace and refused to leave the tee box until we teed off, at which point 3 of us teed off in rapid succession without any practice swings and chirped back “are you happy now!” He then raced off not to be seen again for the remainder of the afternoon.

After arguing with the ranger, we continued to play at a normal pace of play and finished in 4 hours and 45 minutes, not bad after waiting to tee off on 6 of the first 7 holes, playing cartpath only and being constantly harassed by the ranger harassing us with made up rules, arbitrary and selectively applied.

Post Round – after the round we went to the pro shop to complain about the ranger’s conduct throughout our round. The head pro (Ron) at the course, who had already been given an account of the events from the ranger, was expecting us. He mentioned that he knew the groups of golfers around us that they weren’t real golfers. He said that, even though we had to wait on most holes on the front nine, we should have still played up to a quicker pace because he’s seen players who shoot over 120 play in 4 hours and player shoot in the 60s taking longer than 5 hours. He then mentioned, in his defense of the ranger, that his job is thankless and that “everyone loves our cute little blonde cart girl, but when they see the ranger ehhh (and crossed his arms in front of his face in a defensive manner). Hey Ron, it’s 2021, sexist comments like yours are inappropriate! Ron then said “I’m not defending what he did or what you did” but I want to make this right. His idea of making it right was giving us a 9 hole greens fee rate each for 2 golfers, nothing off for a golf cart and no mention of reprimanding the ranger for his unprofessional behavior or even saying that he would speak to him about what he was doing. What a joke! By the way, Ron acknowledged that there is no rule for replacing divots in the rough but he had no explanation for his ranger’s erratic behavior. The ultimate irony in all of this is that we did not complain about the mess in front us or the mess behind us! So, if you want a peaceful round of golf, go somewhere else. And Ron, next time you expect a customer complaint, you might want to put the bottles of booze away. Not a good look. Just sayin’!

I attempted to play a round with my sons on a Saturday afternoon with a 1:50 tee time. The carts are equipped with GPS so you, the pro shop and the ranger can monitor pace of play..Ideally a foursome should take no more than 4 hours to play 18 holes. Given that it was Saturday I expected some level of slow play . I did not expect to finish 9 holes in 3 hours! Since this was so beyond enjoyable we walked off the course after 9!! What is the point of GPS if you never see the ranger and zero attempt is made to keep people on pace! Struck me a nothing more than a money grab! I like the course and it is close to where my sons live so I’ll probably be back. But not anytime soon. This club should prioritize pace of play and actively move to speed people up. Very disappointed customer!