Dan's Papers - August 15, 2008 - Hampton Tradition L

There is a certain sound to the well-struck golf ball. That signature clicking sound has been heard at Montauk Downs, another chapter in the saga and story of Montauk visionary Carl Fisher, who built the Montauk Manor and The Montauk Yacht Club, opened up Lake Montauk to Block Island Sound (and then dredged it), and finally, commissioned construction of a world-class golf course.

Fisher took action by contracting Captain H.C.C. Tippet, a noted English architect, to design a memorable course, which opened in 1928. A round of golf then cost $2.50 on weekdays and $3.50 on weekends. In another attempt to make Montauk the "Miami of the North," Fisher hired Miami Beach Bay Shore Golf Club head pro Glen Adams to be the course's first manager. The rest is pure tradition and history.

Over the years many fathers, sons, mothers and daughters have teed off together during their summer vacations. In preparation for this article I found my way to the first tee to experience the tradition of golfing Montauk Downs in August. Heather Lyons at the sign-in counter told me it was a busy day and that over 350 golfers were still on the course at 5 p.m. She told me that in recent years Jack Nicholson, Darryl Strawberry, Morgan Freeman and Keith Hernandez have walked up to her at this public course to buy a starting ticket. Montauk Downs was a public course until 1978 when it became part of a state park that now has a pool, tennis courts and driving range. Kevin Smith is the present pro and runs a top-notch golf shop that also offers lessons. There is a free putting green right behind the award-winning clubhouse, which replaced the "Colonial Revival Style" clubhouse that originally graced the entrance to the course in the 1920s.

Back in 1968, Rees Jones assisted his father, legendary golf course designer Robert Trent Jones, in a redesign of the entire course. Now, 40 years later, Rees Jones is playing a pivotal role again by making changes and lengthening Montauk Downs to adjust to the high-tech equipment that makes hitting the ball straighter and farther possible.

But the magic of Montauk Downs is its location - close to the ocean, and perched up on the highest grounds. Voted one of the top public courses in the world, Montauk Downs is also a walk through time. As I played the front nine, deer casually walked along with me, as did an occasional turkey. The sounds of the birds echoing through the trees that line the fairways are distinctive and timeless. The variations of the green colors the different lengths of grass have on fairways, roughs and putting surfaces is a mesmerizing sight, just like when you first enter Yankee Stadium and see that manicured ball field. The divots, the puddles, the holes and the sand traps are part of every golf course worldwide, no matter how well maintained. This year the course is very green due to the ample rain.

As difficult and challenging as this course is, the mother of Dan's Papers founder Dan Rattiner played this course regularly right up into her 90s. The daughter of Montauk Marine Basin owner Carl Darenberg, Courtney, (who now works in the pro shop along with helping her pro husband, Eric, teach) played it daily as a child. To watch Courtney and Eric play the course on which they met as pre-teens and that they have mastered as married adults is what traditions are all about. In fact, over the years there have been weddings right on the course. So having a beer after the round in the clubhouse, or smoking a nervous cigarette before tying the knot are daily occurrences at Montauk Downs.

Golf balls flying through the air and landing everywhere is what golf is all about. The great Tiger Woods launches shots that sometimes land behind trees, and I bring that up because that is where most of my shots end up. Standing on a putting surface and lining up a birdie or par, only to see the ball sail by the hole and land 10 feet away is all part of the tradition of golf, and the tradition of Montauk Downs.

Waiting to tee off I heard a young golfer sitting in the cart with his dad waiting to tee off ask, "Dad, is Grandpa playing with us tomorrow?" Yet another summer family vacation in Montauk, with family rounds of golf at Montauk Downs.