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Take your game to the next level on NHCC's Robert Trent Jones. Sr. -designed championship golf course

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NORTH HILLS COUNTRY CLUB

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Built by renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr., North Hills is located on Long Island’s Gold Coast just 17 miles from New York City.  Though the club traces its roots back to 1927, when Jones’ new course design opened in Manhasset in 1962, the press immediately called it one of his “masterpieces.”  It remains so today.  Our storied tradition and the membership’s unwavering commitment to Jones’ original vision is detailed below.

our story

1927

North Hills is founded on Long Island’s Gold Coast by former members of Bayside-based Belleclaire Country Club.  Located in Douglaston, the North Hills course featured this elegant Spanish Mission-style clubhouse designed by celebrated golf architect Clifford C. Wendehack.

OUR STORY

1930's

Many former members of Whitestone-based Clearview Golf and Yacht Club join North Hills after that club was purchased by The City of New York during The Great Depression.

Depicted here is a photo of four-term New York Governor and Presidential candidate Al Smith tallying his scorecard after a round at North Hills in 1930.

OUR STORY

1940's

Babe Ruth frequents North Hills and is an honorary member.  His golfing days at North Hills were captured in this “Ode to the Babe” penned in 2003 by a former caddie, Robert M. Guinessey
(excerpted, click here to read full poem):
‍
     The North Hills Country Club near the Long Island Sound.
          Was as beautiful a layout as could ere be found.
     The caddy pen was like an oversized chicken coop.
          It’s where all the guys sat while awaiting a loop.
     Well, the Sultan of Swat’s bag brought the guys to their feet
          For, to carry his bag was most surely a treat.
     He was fun to be with, to listen to his chatter.
          I can imagine what the Umps got when he was the batter.
     I made one twenty-five per bag, and that wasn’t hay!
          No sir, and caddying for Babe Ruth just made my day!

OUR STORY

1958

North Hills commissions Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to design a new course on the Allen-Boggs-Levitt estates in Manhasset.  Club legend has it that an extension of the Vanderbilt Parkway ran through the land on which the course would be constructed. The automobile racecourse and later toll road was designed in the early 1900’s by railroad heir William K. Vanderbilt, II and was also known as Rumrunner’s Road given its use by bootleggers during Prohibition. The extension purportedly ran near the site of the 13th green and is commemorated by a signpost marking its significance to those who play the course today. 

Depicted here is a scene from the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
Photo courtesy of Garden City Village Archives.

OUR STORY

1959-1960

Robert Trent Jones, Sr. surveys the new Manhasset property, and writes in a letter to NHCC’s President that the property’s:

”location and accessibility are unsurpassed in the metropolitan area. The natural flow of the land invites the creation of an exceptionally beautiful golf course.”

Construction of the course begins shortly thereafter.
This is a photo of hole #1 under construction.

OUR STORY

1961

As his layout nears completion, Jones describes it in a March 30, 1961 letter to the membership: 

“The sequence of the holes is such that no two succeeding holes are alike in either length or shot values. The long tees and the generously proportioned undulating greens with their varied pin positions offer endless combinations of dynamic playing conditions. The course provides a fair test of golf for everyone – fair pars for the experts and easy bogeys for the average player.”

OUR STORy

Mid 1960's

The new Manhasset course opens for play to rave reviews from members and the press alike.
‍
‍The Long Island Press, in a July 11, 1962 article, writes:
“We had the privilege of touring new North Hills with the Eastern director of the United States Golf Association last weekend, and the disclosure was breathtaking. Jones had carved out one of his masterpieces.” 
Click here to read entire article.

‍The Long Island Star-Journal writes in a July 6, 1966 article:  
“Relatively few are aware that the ‘Dr. Frankenstein’ and ‘Monster Maker’ of the bunkered world is not a great golfer, or golf president or even a tournament chairman.  He’s an architect, who created new North Hills CC, Manhasset. Robert Trent Jones is his name and the mere mention of the words ‘Trent Jones’ is sufficient to make even the most course-hardened pro golfer scowl.  He describes North Hills as a true test of golf for both pro and weekender, the severity of the course depending on the placement of the tee markers and flags on the greens.”

OUR STORY

1977

In a review of top Long Island courses, The New York Times writes:
‍
“Jones has gained worldwide popularity. North Hills is well aware of the Jones wizardry in carving out a magnificent course in 1962.  North Hillsites are intrigued by Mr. Jones’ par-five first hole, a 90-degree dogleg that the pro, Joe Ennis, terms ‘intimidating.’  Ed (Whitey) Ford, the ex-Yankee pitcher and member of the Gold Coast Club, describes the first hole as ‘a strong candidate for being the toughest opening hole of any metropolitan course.’"
‍
Click here to read entire article.
© 1977 The New York Times Company.  All rights reserved.
Used under license.

OUr story

1978

North Hills hosts the LPGA Western Union Classic.  Pictured here are spectators watching the tee shot on North Hills’ opening hole during the tournament, which was won by LPGA Hall of Famer Judy Rankin.

OUR STORY

1980's and Beyond

NHCC hosts five “Ike” Championships, one of the metro area’s premier stroke-play amateur tournaments, and periodically hosts professional and amateur events sponsored by the Metropolitan Golf Association and others. 

Pictured here are several North Hills members with legendary golf fanatic Bob Hope and former New York Governor Hugh Carey during the “Ike” held at North Hills circa 1980.

OUR STORY

2016

Rees Jones, Robert Trent’s son, updates the course.  Newsday writes that Rees “is known as ‘the Open Doctor’ for having reshaped courses — notably Bethpage Black — to host the U.S. Open” and that North Hills “was reborn, with completely rehabilitated bunkers, subtle contouring and a new short game practice facility, all done with utmost care for his father's original design.”

© 2016 Newsday.  All rights reserved.  Used under license. 

OUR STORY

Today

The Jones legacy continues at North Hills. The club recently became a proud member of the Robert Trent Jones Society and remains faithful to his original vision, while still managing to update the club’s grounds with modern conveniences.  The course remains — as The Long Island Press first recognized — one of Robert Trent Jones’ masterpieces.

We invite you to see for yourself in our flyover video below.
Video // 1:50
NHCC
history timeline

2016

Rees Jones, Robert Trent’s son, updates the course in 2016.  Newsday writes that Rees “is known as ‘the Open Doctor’ for having reshaped courses — notably Bethpage Black — to host the U.S. Open” and that North Hills “was reborn, with completely rehabilitated bunkers, subtle contouring and a new short game practice facility, all done with utmost care for his father's original design.”
 
Click here to read more.
© 2016 Newsday.  All rights reserved.  Used under license. 

Visit Us
200 Long Island Expressway
North Service Road
Manhasset, NY 11030
Call Us
516.627.9100
Email Us
info@northhillscc.com
north hills
country club
200 Long Island Expressway
North Service Road
Manhasset, NY 11030
info@northhillscc.com
516.627.9100
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