North Shore The Way Tilly Made It

One of the finest examples of a well-preserved Tillinghast course is North Shore Country Club's 6,365-yard layout in Glen Head, NY. In fact, the entire club is much like a place where time stopped in 1915, with a creaky, sprawling clubhouse with grand views of Long Island Sound, a lawn dotted with Adirondack chairs under hundred-year-old trees, and a staff that's as relaxed and welcoming as any you'll find anywhere.

But the course is the gem. The rolling hills, steep fairways, and tricky greens demand strategic shot selection. There is a great variety of holes, too, nearly all of which are just about as Tilly designed them.


Of particular interest is the par five third hole, which is only 470 yards but demands a perfect approach to its long, narrow green. Miss just slightly, though, and you'll find your ball in one of the long, narrow bunkers surrounding it.

North Shore has a fine history, too, having hosted the U.S. Amateur, the Long Island Amateur, MGA Open, and MGA Senior as well as several Women's Amateur tournaments. When North Shore co-hosted the 1920 U.S. Amateur Championship, Bobby Jones, Chick Evens, and Fred Wright stode the fairways along with Britain's Lor charles Hope and Cyril Tolley. It wouldn't take much imagination to see them there out of the corner of your eye today.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds a romantic thriller about blood diamonds in the Congo