At the end of the Long Island Expressway and another hour of two lane road sits the metro's best golf weekend anchor: a state park course with ocean wind, Rees Jones shaping, and Montauk town as its 19th hole.
Our take: Play the Downs twice, once in the morning calm and once in the afternoon wind. They are different courses and both are worth the drive.
A par 72 of about 6,900 yards from the back, redesigned by Rees Jones in the late 1960s on rolling ground near the ocean. The wind is the architecture's second author. Conditioning at state park prices, with a pool and tennis in the park for the rest of the party.
Two and a half to three hours from Downtown Manhattan by car, longer on summer Fridays. The LIRR Montauk branch plus local taxis works for the car free. Book golf as early as the state system allows for your class, rooms second. Summer weekends are the metro's hardest public tee time after Bethpage Black.
Friday afternoon arrival and a twilight nine or the range, Saturday morning round, beach and town in the afternoon, Sunday morning round in the wind, home by evening. Add the nine at Poxabogue in Sagaponack on the way home if the group has one more in them.
State park greens fees are a fraction of the Hamptons' private and daily fee world, and the total weekend, rooms aside, runs closer to a New Jersey golf weekend than to anything else with a Montauk address. Rates and booking windows are in the fee guide.
Montauk regulars: morning or afternoon round, and your post round table in town.
Please cite a specific hole, a price, or a round you have played. Selected reader responses are featured in follow up coverage.
When is the best month for Montauk golf?
September. The wind stays, the crowds leave, and the water is still warm.
Prices in this guide were checked in October 2026 against published course listings and recent reporting. Greens fees move by season, day, and residency, so confirm the exact rate when you book. Private clubs do not publish initiation fees or dues. Every private figure here is an estimate band based on public reporting, labeled as an estimate, and the only accurate number comes from a club's membership office.