Ferry Point is a new Club, developed over several years and nominally a Trump Club. The place had been intended as a municipal course, but ran into project management and other difficulties, before then Mayor Mike Bloomberg asked The D to take over..
“TRUMP” the name certainly adorns the area near the clubhouse. I had heard it was nicknamed “Trump’s Dump”, perhaps in part as it is built on an old refuse site, and who knows what and who are rumored to be buried here.
The course looks magnificent and I have heard nothing but good things about it. I was fortunate enough to play the course with my buddies Peter and Joe, ages 85 and 95 respectively, plus John B, on July 27th, 2019 and for all his faults, Trump does appear to be able to build exceedingly good golf courses. I think Niclaus designed it but Trumpster’s dumpsters created the course after years of no progress.
This is the link to the home page: https://www.trumpferrypoint.com
The course does look pretty amazing:
In the heart of the Bronx sits the 18-hole, Jack Nicklaus Signature Design course at Trump Golf Links.
"Ferry Point was created to be a unique public golf experience and it is our collective hope that the golf course will add to New York City's global reputation, enhance New York's reputation for quality golf, and give its proud residents a place to play and call home. Donald Trump has a deep-rooted love for New York City and he deserves a great deal of credit for getting Ferry Point to the finish line and for delivering it to the golfers and golf fans of New York." - Jack Nicklaus
NYC’s only tournament-quality course takes advantage of dramatic and spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline, East River, and Whitestone & Throggs Neck Bridges. It was handcrafted at every angle and exceeds the vision that was outlined by not only Donald Trump, but by Jack Nicklaus, the City of New York and every golf rater that has visited the property since it has grown in.
As usual with most things connected to Trump, there is some concern about his role and behavior in the development of the course. This article appeared in the Washington Post in 2016: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/08/25/taxpayers-built-this-new-york-golf-course-trump-reaps-the-rewards/?utm_term=.8b549acaba23.
It’s a pretty revealing insight into how Trump managed to get the City to pay out $200m to build a course, have his name on it and offer generous tax breaks while local residents are very unlikely to be able to afford to play the course.
My match with Joe, John and Peter was fun. John and i played Gold tees, 6867 yards and 74.2/135 ratings. Some pretty interesting holes but reasonably forgiving fairways and the greens are not very challenging compared with say Winged Foot. I shot an 81 after having faded badly on the last 4 holes. I feel like I should have shot mid 70’s.
The Clubhouse is nice, smallish pro shop and check in area. Big bar and dining area leading out to a terrace and then to practice putting and chipping, and beyond is the range.
The course start out along side the Hutch, but you’d never really know as they did a nice job building dunes all around pretty much every hole. Its rare to see another golfer ahead or parallel to you on the course.
Criticisms? The course is heavily watered and not links although it looks it from a distance. The greens are sometimes heavily pitch marked - the guys who are playing here either are unaware of how to fix them or maybe too lazy. The staff are very friendly, but the food is not that great. Finally, it is not cheap, and no way fits “public” course metrics.