Manhattan Woods

The sanctuary every New Yorker deserves

Naimah Jabali-Nash
photography by Ryan Kobane

Golfers will go to the ends of the earth to find a course that is challenging, amusing and breathtakingly beautiful. Since moving to New York City, I’ve found it hard to find a course that encapsulates, not one, but all three. Granted, New York is arguably one of the best cities in the world, but let’s face it—it’s not conducive to the golf nut. Hauling your clubs on and off the train is not the ideal warm up for a five hour round. But, when the opportunity arose to play the Gary Player signature course known as Manhattan Woods Golf Club, I couldn’t pass it up. 

Tucked away, a mere 18 miles from the George Washington Bridge, Manhattan Woods offers a bit of reprieve from the city’s chaotic routine. “Golfers get more of a sense of isolation when they play here,” says golf course Superintendent, Jesse Shannon. That transformation is seen while riding down Palisades Parkway. Skyscrapers gradually diminish in the distance and are instead replaced with dense foliage. Approaching the rod-iron gated entrance, the course’s lush green backdrop invigorates the senses. And despite the weather forecaster’s rhetoric of looming precipitation, the day’s 70 degree climate made for perfect golfing conditions. 

True to his design aesthetic, Player worked with the natural West Nyack landscape to cultivate a golf course that does not overpower, but simply enhances Mother Nature’s geological terrain. “His focus was to prepare a golf course that was very in tune with the environment,” explains Shannon. Being an Audubon International certified golf course, Manhattan Woods dedicates countless hours to sustaining its environmentally friendly status. Wild turkeys bobble in knee-high fescue, while white-tail deer graze in the woods. Native pine trees, wild rose bushes and vibrant zinnias are dispersed generously throughout. But the serene pictorial created by Player and executed by the maintenance team at Manhattan Woods comes secondary to the no-nonsense hole lay-outs that require optimal course management. 

Undulating fairways, bottleneck landing areas, false carries and cross grain breaks await, as tree-lined fairways engulf errant tee shots leaving imaginative approach shots. The course opens with a fair, 400-yard par 4 that sets the pace for the round. “Player favors a left-to-right ball flight,” says Assistant Pro, Matt Bevan, which is evident standing on the par 5, 3rd. It’s side sloping fairway kicks the ball left towards the magnetic, lateral water hazard. There’s no need to go long. A 230-yard carry places the ball in prime position for an easy lay-up. The first par 3 comes at the 4th. Placed slightly uphill, this unassuming hole plays deceivingly long to a mid-sized green surrounded by bunkers. 

The back nine continues the course’s no-fluff sensibility. Forecaddie, Chad Dubik, makes need to mention at the par 4 13th, “This hole demands placement of the golf ball,” as he sends forewarning for the “pricker bushes” that line the right side of the fairway. Escaping the 13th unscathed, I pressed on to the par 4 14th. “Let the big dog eat,” says Dubik. This straightforward 460-yard hole is a testament of pure strength with marginal room for error, being that a ravine is strategically placed approximately 50 yards short of the green. 

Though the course record remained in tact, I realized Manhattan Woods Golf Club is not the kind of course you play when shedding layers of off-season rust. It’s a test. You may not shoot your projected score, but it sure beats another dreary day in the office. 

Manhattan Woods Golf Club Sustainability Factoids: 

• 100 bat boxes and bird houses are dispersed throughout the golf course 

• Water usage is reduced by only hand watering course’s necessary areas

• MWGC has won several Audubon International awards, including informing the surrounding community about the importance of water quality 

• MWGC continues to find ways to identify and maintain, plant and wildlife species and habitats