It is never too early to start thinking about a United States Open. The first US Open held at Shinnecock took place in 1896 and 90 years passed before it returned in 1986. There seems to be a new tradition taking hold at Shinnecock as the Open now returns on a regular basis. To   stir your interest and imagination Long Island Golf News has put together a US Open Preview.

Gil McNally ( L ) and Lowell Schulman ( R) Present Charlie Robson ( C ) with the Distinguished Service Award

Charlie Robeson has been the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Section of the PGA since 1972 and on December 3rd, 2003 was honored with the MGA's highest award, the Distinguished Service Award. A life long resident of Long Island and a member of the Garden City Golf Club, Charlie has been a remarkable and tireless proponent of the game of golf. He joins the prestigious ranks of past winners, Joseph C. Dey, Fred Corcoran, and P.J. Boatwright, in receiving this award. For the full story of Charlie Robeson's  remarkable achievement and his impact on the game of golf please visit the MGA web site.

The Long Island Classic will be played once again at the Eisenhower Red course in 2004 with a new sponsor and a new date. Commerce Bank signed a three year contract to sponsor this Champions  Tour ( Seniors ) Professional Event. This will be the 18th year for the Long Island Classic, which until last year was held at the Meadow Brook Club under the sponsorship of Lightpath. Unlike previous years when the Classic was held in August, the 2004 tournament will take place on the 4th of July weekend.

Commerce Bank is a New Jersey based firm that has opened 14 branches on Long Island since 2002 and plans to have a total of 60 by 2005. When Lightpath backed out after 2002 and as a result the Meadow Brook Club was no longer available, a scramble ensued to keep the tournament alive. A mix of sponsors kept things going and the Eisenhower venue proved to be a winner. The stability offered by this contract will enable the Commerce Bank Long Island Classic to remain a favorite tour stop among senior professionals.

If you have spent any time around Long Island Golf News you have probably noticed that we do not review the courses we have listed. In fact, our approach is distinctly egalitarian; we treat the most exclusive and venerable courses about the same as the most humble and modest municipal. We also realize that among golf web sites we are a fairly distinct minority in our approach.

The reasons for this are pretty simple. Part of it stems from modesty. Who are we to tell the world what we think of a particular course. Every course is loved by someone. That somewhat run down and modest municipal is someone's favorite. Criticizing it would be a little like telling someone they have an ugly child. We don't have the heart to do so. In fact, we find the unpretentiousness of the modest public course to be charming and refreshing in this age of public course, "member for a day" treatment when bags are dropped off at the curb and  everyone gets the star treatment.

After all, a 290 drive cracked down the middle or a snaking downhill 25 footer that goes in the hole , feel just as good at that run down muni as they do at Shinnecock. 

This is not to say that we don't have opinions or have  favorites. We have just decided to keep them to ourselves. There are numerous publications, both in the print media and on-line for reading reviews and expressing opinions about courses. If you have taken part in these discussions you have probably noticed how folks can get so impassioned about golf courses and golf course architecture.

At Long Island Golf News, we love them all!! 

Long Island Golf News