New York 紐約長島Smithtown Landing golf course!~上集

兄弟們！春天了，4月開始球場陸續解封。5個月的冬眠，手實在癢到抽筋。訂了Smithtown landing golf course做為今年的第一場球，沒有打過，天氣算不錯。10多度C有太陽,但下午會變天，所以希望在打完前不會下雨。週末，人就是靠北多，5小時可以結束就謝天謝地。訂12:30pm開球，從Flushing開車過來大約1小時，Club house很典型country club風格，看的很舒服。Check in完，就去putting green玩一下等開球。

我和其他3個人同組打，一個大約30多歲的年輕人，身材不錯，全程都是自己背球袋。另外2個是大學生，都是第一次打這個球場，看來今天只能盲打了。這個球場就是很少有平的地方，球道、開球台、果嶺都是不同高度和斜坡，非常類似台灣的球場風格。我今天也是自己推push cart，所以心裡真的直冒汗。最近著涼，身體是有點虛，喉嚨發炎，但想打到靠北，取消是不可能的。

最後5:20pm打完真的很累，以為我今天是爬山，晚上早早睡，一覺天亮，可見這場球真的非常紮實。當初真該加$20租球車...這個球場風格和設計簡直就是台灣版的八里或中國廣州麓湖球場。每一洞球道斜坡，就算開上球道也可能是上下坡，第二桿的打位絕對需要體現你的技術。我今天前4洞打的很挫折，可能這是今年第一場球，加上身體有點虛，所以就告訴自己輕鬆打，這樣反而打不到球。第一洞開球就啃地，後面球就沒有直過....

應該說我近10年來沒有這麼糟過，第三洞第二桿直接打到樹叢裡，火了就不撿球，原地打，就上果嶺。好像得到揮桿失憶症，當下我真的很挫折，第5洞我就告訴我自己，別做什麼輕鬆打，就用我原本怎麼打就怎麼打的方式，結果，球直了，距離也出來了，從5洞開始木桿、球道木、鐵桿就正常，直！打到同組的老外都說，怎麼這麼穩，一路good shot到底。

這球場應該算我打過在長島裡最難的一個，多數美國球場，球道都是平的，開球台可以看到果嶺，而Smithtown大多是看不到果嶺，因為都是設計左右狗腿洞，所以很多時候我是連果嶺在哪都完全搞不清楚，加上同組的其他人都是第一次打這個球場，還好那位30多歲的少年呢，有手機的球場球道地圖和GPS，才知道要往哪邊打。但還是很難打，很多時候視線會被樹，或地形起伏給擋住，非常典型台灣北部球場風格。

再說到這個球場的沙坑，今天只有一洞落沙坑，是果嶺前面，距離被風吹短一點，導致落在沙坑前，然後滾下沙坑。太久沒有打沙坑，打了3次才出來。它的沙坑是細沙很軟，往下打很重手，需要非常用力才能打出來。因為今年的第一場球所以在短桿和沙坑都在抓力量的幅度，所以一開始都不太敢用內力打出來，導致球飛出去又滾回沙坑。它的沙坑不多，但都是放的很有技巧，稍微不注意或失誤就進去。

本文未完，下集請點下方。

New York 紐約長島Smithtown Landing golf course!~下集
https://www.peargolf.com/article/new-york-niuyuechangdaosmithtown-landin...

Brothers! Spring is finally here – starting in April, the courses are opening up one by one. After 5 months of winter hibernation, my hands were itching so bad I was getting cramps. So I booked Smithtown Landing as my first round of the year. Never played it before. The weather was decent – around 10°C with sunshine, but it was supposed to get worse in the afternoon. I was just hoping it wouldn’t rain before we finished.

It was the weekend, so of course it was packed. If we could finish in 5 hours, I’d already be thankful. We had a 12:30pm tee time. Drove about an hour from Flushing. The clubhouse has that classic country club vibe – really nice and comfortable. After checking in, I went to the putting green to roll a few balls while waiting to tee off.

I was paired with three other guys. One was a fit guy in his early 30s who carried his bag the whole round. The other two were college kids playing the course for the first time. So yeah… we were all basically playing blind today.

This course has almost no flat spots. The fairways, tees, and greens are all at different elevations with slopes everywhere. It feels a lot like Taiwanese courses. I was pushing my own cart today, so I was already sweating in my mind. On top of that, I was a bit sick – caught a cold, sore throat, body feeling weak. But I really wanted to play so badly, there was no way I was canceling.

We finally finished at 5:20pm and I was dead tired. Felt like I just climbed a mountain. Went to bed super early and slept straight through till morning. That tells you how tough this round was. Honestly, I should’ve just paid the extra $20 and rented a cart…

The style and design of this course is basically the Taiwanese version of Bali or Guangzhou’s Luhu Golf Club. Every fairway has slopes, so even if you hit the fairway, you’re often playing uphill or downhill lies. Your second shot really tests your skill.

The first four holes were brutal for me. Probably because it was my first round of the year and I wasn’t feeling 100%. I told myself to just swing easy, but that made me mishit everything. First tee shot I topped it, and after that, hardly any straight shots…

I honestly don’t think I’ve played this badly in the last 10 years. On the third hole, my second shot went straight into the woods. I got so pissed I didn’t even bother picking it up – just dropped another ball and hit again onto the green. It felt like I suddenly had swing amnesia. I was so frustrated.

By the 5th hole, I told myself “Screw the easy swing,” and just went back to my normal swing. And guess what? The ball started going straight, distance came back. From hole 5 onward, my driver, fairway woods, and irons were all solid. Straight balls! The foreigners in my group kept saying “Nice shot!” and “Good shot!” the rest of the way.

This has to be one of the hardest courses I’ve played on Long Island. Most American courses have flat fairways and you can see the green from the tee. But at Smithtown, you usually can’t even see the green because so many holes are doglegs. Half the time I had no idea where the green was. Luckily the 30-something guy had a yardage app with hole maps and GPS, otherwise we would’ve been totally lost. The trees and terrain changes block your view a lot – very typical northern Taiwan course style.

The bunkers… today I only found one, in front of a green. The wind knocked the distance down a bit and the ball rolled into it. First bunker shot in months – took me three tries to get out. The sand is very fine and soft, so you really have to hit hard. Because it was my first round, I was still trying to figure out how much power to use on short game and bunker shots. At first I was too timid, so the ball would come out and roll right back in.

New York Smithtown Landing golf course!~Part II
https://www.peargolf.com/article/new-york-niuyuechangdaosmithtown-landin...

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