I solved Long Island golf's biggest problem

Taking the train to Long Island to play golf isn’t anything new. Many of golf’s oldest clubs chose sites near a railway stop so they’d be easy to reach from the city. Nassau Country Club’s eighth green is adjacent to a Long Island Rail Road station. Bethpage State Park is a short ride from the train, too, and if you’re a New York City resident, you become very used to training it or subwaying it with your sticks.

As a New Jersey resident? There’s no easy way to get to and from Long Island, especially in the summer. I’ve turned down invitations to play on Long Island because I dreaded the trip home. In the morning, beating traffic is no problem. Come the afternoon, however, no matter where on Long Island you are, it’s nearly impossible to get back to northern Jersey in less than two and a half hours. I played historic Inwood Country Club this summer, and it took three and a half hours to get home, and Inwood isn’t even "out east." With two young kids, it’s tough not to be home to see them before bedtime.

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After I had declined his invitations for three years, my co-worker Greg Chatzinoff, a member at prestigious Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, N.Y., offered me a spot in a group recently with our colleague Luke Kerr-Dineen and suggested an idea: Take the train to the nearby LIRR station in Hicksville, and he’d pick me up and drop me back off after golf. I was still hesitant. I had to be home in New Jersey by 3:45 p.m., for dad duties. Even a 9:30 a.m. tee time might be pushing it. But the schedule showed trains every 20 minutes from Hicksville into Penn Station, where I could catch the NJ Transit, so getting home on time seemed like it might actually be possible.

This was made tougher by ongoing NJ Transit construction and a lack of direct trains on my train line going into Penn Station. Instead of a shorter commute to the train, I’d drive the 30 minutes from my home to Secaucus to catch the short train to Penn. This was also on a Friday, when traffic in the New York City area is usually at its worst.

So how it’d work out? Somehow, perfectly. We teed off at 9:30 a.m., and I got back home by 3:55 p.m., a few minutes later than I hoped, but I even beat our host back to his home in Manhattan.

Here’s how the timing broke down—with some tips if you try my strategy next golf season:

5:45 a.m.: Wake-up
6:30 a.m.: Leave the house
6:57 a.m.: Arrive at Secaucus Junction
7:15 a.m.: NJ Transit train from Secaucus to Penn Station
7:30 a.m.: Arrive at Penn Station
8:05 a.m.: LIRR train from Penn Station to Hicksville
8:56 a.m.: Arrive in Hicksville
9:07 a.m.: Arrive at Meadow Brook Club
9:30 a.m.: Tee off
1:08 p.m.: Walk off 18; head straight to the grillroom for lunch
1:40 p.m.: Leave Meadow Brook
2:20 p.m.: LIRR train from Hicksville to Penn Station
3:06 p.m.: Arrive at Penn Station
3:12 p.m.: NJ Transit train from Penn Station to Secaucus
3:28 p.m.: Leave Secaucus
3:55 p.m.: Arrive home

Relying on LIRR and NJ Transit trains on the same day might sound like a recipe for disaster, but I’m happy to report each train was on time, and it couldn’t have worked better. We were shocked to figure out we even had time for a quick lunch before catching my train.

The only tight call was navigating Penn Station from the LIRR to catch my NJ Transit train with about five minutes in between. Thankfully they are very close to each other.

I got home in enough time to watch our little one while our oldest daughter was at dance class, and then I coached our final softball game for our K-1 team that evening.

A full day for sure, but I slept well, knowing I had fulfilled my dad duties—while also playing a borderline top-200 golf course, all in the same day.

For anybody looking for a solution to play Long Island golf while avoiding the traffic, a few tips from myself and our well-traveled staffers in the office here.

1) Even for day trips, find a cheap place to stay on Long Island.

This wouldn’t really fly for me, but if your kids are older and getting back home isn’t as essential, this is the ultimate way to avoid traffic. Driving to/from Long Island in the morning isn’t nearly as bad. Plus, maybe that opens up the opportunity to play more than just one round of golf.

2) Be mindful of which train car you need to be on for tight connections.

I ended up having a few minutes to spare at Penn Station, but for a very tight connection, make sure you’re aware of which part of the train is most convenient. There are apps like CityMapper that will advise you, but you can also just Google it or ask Claude, and it will tell you exactly where to be.

3) A lightweight golf bag and shoe bag/duffle bag will make life easier.

Take those 100 extra golf tees and other non-essentials out of the bag. You’ll save 5-10 pounds, and that makes a difference when you’re hoofing it up stairs. I also decided to wear hybrid shoes and change at the train station, so I had one less thing to carry, which worked out nicely, but isn’t for everybody.

4) Be ready to chat it up.

Three different golfers asked me where I was playing, and I loved it. Of course, you stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of the rat race with your golf clubs. Some people might be annoyed by a curious fellow commuter, but I didn’t mind at all. It probably made that person’s commute just a tiny bit better, and I enjoyed putting golf in the minds of people who probably wouldn’t have been thinking about it otherwise.

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