Friar's Head ☆ Follow

Friar's Head is an 18-hole par 71 course designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and opened for play in 2003. Located on 350 acres on the north shore of Long Island in Baiting Hollow, a hamlet of Riverhead, the property includes bluffs of three quarters of a mile that rise steeply 150 to 200 feet above Long Island Sound, with 165 acres of tree-covered dunes sandwiched between the bluffs and farmland to the south.

The architects faced the challenge of designing holes through breathtaking sand dunes perched 200 feet above Long Island Sound alongside holes on a former potato field, with the solution being to move the routing back and forth and artfully reshape the farm fields into gentle links-like land. The course is forgiving off the tee, but well-placed drives make approaches easier, and it is a challenging course which rewards well-struck shots. The signature par four 15th hole is 460 yards long, with players facing an elevated tee position and a cavernous bunker gathering in shots as the fairway slopes from right to left, with the approach played to a green framed to the rear by trees shielding it from winds off the Sound.

Since opening, Friar's Head has ascended in the rankings of America's best golf courses, moving from 34th in 2011 to 15th in the 2023-2024 edition of Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Golf Courses, a testament to its design integrity and careful maintenance. Walking is encouraged at the course, and caddies are required by all players.