Uncovering golf’s rich history in the Adirondack Mountains

Golf courses provide views, jobs and four-season workouts

By Mark Marchand
Satellite renderings of the Adirondack Park show unusually shaped patches of flat greenery amid the rugged mountains, vast forests and hundreds of lakes and ponds.
These sections, from 150 to about 500 yards long, are surrounded by trees and other flora. These odd parcels, their long swaths of greenery, their brighter circles of green at the end, and tiny areas of beach-like sand, are devoted to a sport that has grown in popularity since the 19th century and represents one of the reasons people visit the Adirondacks each year: Golf.
It provides employment and fosters tourism. And there is something special about golf in the park, avid golfers say.

Picturesque courses

The courses—some 32 parkwide—help attract visitors and serve as small economic engines that employ residents and generate tax revenue. While there’s no specific accounting, the Adirondack courses helped boost tourism dollars in the area by 6.6% in 2023, according to the governor’s office.
The manicured and maintained green spaces have benefits far beyond a sport involving hitting a small, hard ball the least number of times over 18 holes. The courses are often cherished by residents as preserves that provide picturesque views, short walks and outings with pets, even during the winter when golfers hibernate, and skiers take to the links.
Lou Reuter, who recently retired after nearly 30 years reporting on regional sports for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, where he wrote a golf column, says two things separate Adirondack courses: stunning views and elevation changes.
“You play in the middle of some of the most scenic areas in the country and you can walk right on most courses without making a tee time,” he said. “Every golf course I’ve played here offers different views of nature. … And the fairways here take you up and down hills and around corners, which makes you a better golfer and provides good exercise.”
Sydney Aveson, of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in Lake Placid, sees others values, including multiuse recreational opportunities year-round. Residents and visitors can hike or bike the Craig Wood Golf Course property, for instance, during the warm months and engage in a variety of cold-weather sports during the winter.

Through history

Aveson said golf has a rich Adirondack history, dating to the late 19th century when Europe’s golf fascination crossed the ocean. Since then, 59 golf courses were built in the Adirondacks, according to a 2008 Wall Street Journal account. Courses were incorporated into the park’s grand hotels and great camps. “By the turn of the century, many of the golf courses in the United States were located in the Adirondacks,” Aveson said.
And these were no run-of-the-mill layouts. Famous or soon-to-be famous designers brought their expertise to the park. “Donald Ross, Seymour Dunn, Alexander Findley, Alister MacKenzie, Thomas Winton, and Augustus G. Paine made their mark in the region as notable architects of these courses,” Aveson said.
Several courses were only nine holes, but many expanded to a full 18 during the 1920s and owners began building elaborate clubhouses and hosting events like weddings.

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The sport suffered during the Great Depression and World War II, forcing some hotels to close. By the 1950s, many of the historic Adirondack courses were gone, along with resorts. But the sport bounced back, an apparent renaissance.
At the base of one of the Adirondacks’ most famous skiing centers and alongside Lake Placid, players at the over 100-year-old Whiteface Club and Resort course walk or ride within rolling hills and fairways ensconced in dense patches of woods.
The course can be a taxing hike, but Whiteface Club’s Head Golf Professional Perry Babcock said at least half the members of the public/private course—some of whom own property on the resort—skip the motorized cart in favor of walking.
From some parts of the 18-hole layout, golfers enjoy views of Whiteface Mountain’s south side and evidence of a major rockslide from years ago.
Like many businesses in the Adirondacks and elsewhere, the pandemic and associated restrictions initially hit the golf business hard. But, according to Babcock, as residents of major metro areas temporarily or permanently moved to more wide-open spaces, golf became a refuge for those looking for outdoor sports and recreation. As the pandemic raged and before vaccine availability, golf courses joined the mini boom in real estate the region experienced.
“People could play golf and isolate at the same time,” Babcock said. “It was not a hard sell.”

Local courses

In 2024, Whiteface completed one of the best seasons ever, Babcock said, aided by temperate weather. During the summer and cooler months, a resort inn, restaurant, event center and conference space helped provide a steady stream of revenue.
Babcock grew up across the street from the course and held several jobs at the club, including washing dishes. After college, he came back and has worked there ever since, serving for several years as assistant to former head pro J. Peter Martin. He became head pro three years ago when Martin retired. The course employs 15 people.

Across town at Lake Placid Club’s 27 holes of golf, Head Golf Professional Jim Beauregard reports similar recent growth.
“The last two years have been great even though 2023 was rainy. Warmer weather did help add some rounds but our move to an online tee time reservation system this year really helped,” Beauregard said. “We saw a dramatic increase in reservations.” Rounds played on the courses were up about 15% in 2024, according to Art Lussi of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which owns the Lake Placid Club.

A member of the Northeastern New York PGA and head pro for 11 years, Beauregard said that until recently the golf business in general was suffering. But, like Babcock, he said the pandemic fueled interest in an outdoor sport that requires players to spend over four hours outside. “We surfed that wave and have seen new players begin, as others who’d been away from the game for a while returned. We hope it continues.” The club employs 20.
A more recent trend that has drawn more business to the Adirondacks and elsewhere are group outings, according to Beauregard, with as many as 20 participants. “They come here because there’s so much else to do,” he said. “After golfing they’re off hiking or paddle boarding.”
Beauregard also says his organization has established programs that expose more younger golfers to the game to spur lifelong players.

Environmental impacts

For any outdoor sport, though, changing weather patterns and severe weather fueled by human-caused climate change are an ongoing concern. August 2024 set a new monthly temperature record, capping Earth’s hottest summer since global records began in 1880, according to NASA.
From the PGA at a national level to local courses, proactive sustainability and environmental protection efforts are underway.
“We have a program called minimal sustainable inputs,” Beauregard said. “We use less herbicides, less pesticides and less water. We’re just trying to use a bare minimum of resources.”
But it’s fervent golfers like Reuter who provide the best perspective on golf in the largest publicly protected area in the 48 states.

While his current post-newspaper job at the SL Hothouse Garden center in Saranac Lake keeps him away from the 30 rounds of golf he usually plays annually, he still frequents the park’s courses and talks about the wildlife encountered.
A course he loved—Loon Lake Golf Course—is one of a few that have closed in modern times.
“It was only five bucks for all the golf you could play, and I could bring my dog with me.” But his dog Marcy, a husky mix, could be distracted by the animals coming from the woods. “He would often see a fox and bolt off to chase him.
“Also, during the summer the black flies there were intense in the late afternoon. I’d hit my ball and run off after it to hit my next shot, to escape the flies. I did that over and over. It was quite a workout.”
Other favorite courses Reuter plays include the Bluff Point Golf Course near Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain with “spectacular” views and a par 3 hole along the lake. He is high on the Tupper Lake Golf Course and the Saranac Inn Golf and Country Club and cites the Lake Placid Club and Whiteface Resort as among the more challenging layouts.

Needing more green

Golf in the Adirondacks is not immune to financial pressures. According to interviews and news reports, at least three courses are now scratched from the scene: Sacandaga Golf Course in Northville, Cedar River Golf Course in Indian Lake and Inlet Golf Course in Inlet.
Beauregard emphasized that greens fees aren’t enough and clubs rely on dollars from merchandise, refreshments, banquets and other sources.
Adele Burnett, Inlet’s tourism director, said the closure there happened as usual around Columbus Day in 2023. But the course, run by aging owners, never reopened.
The future of its acreage is a major local concern because no one knows if something might be built there. Proposals that would have the town take over and operate the course have been discussed but have not moved forward. “That’s an expensive proposition for a community where only about 300 people live year-round,” said Burnett.
Sandwiched between two lakes in the western region of the park, Inlet Golf Course was owned by the Lind family. It was often regarded by golfers and online golf sites as one of the more scenic spots in the region.
“It was a great asset for our area and was yet another reason to come here and experience our beautiful region,” Burnett said. “The closing will be somewhat detrimental to our ability to attract people here.”

Top photograph: Lake Placid Resort. Photo by Lou Reuter.