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In my late 20's,I used to walk the Black Course at Bethpage twice a day to prepare for what I think is the toughest unknown public golf course on Long Island: Montauk Downs.
Not that it helped. From 1974 to 1983, I joined the same three guys on the second weekend in May to compete in what we dubbed the East End Open. On Friday, we played two rounds at an easy course, like Pine Hills CC in Manorville, then four rounds at Montauk Downs - two on Saturday, two on Sunday. We drove carts. We never bet, but we were competitive and serious. The winner's name was engraved on a plaque.
I never won.
As I walked off the last hole each year, I needed a recovery room, not a locker room. I had circles under my eyes, sand glued to the suntan lotion on my arms, scourge marks on my pants from thorn bushes, prickly pears on my socks - souvenirs from hunting for balls and hitting out of deep rough. But despite that trauma, I have returned to Montauk for 29 years, like a boxer walking into sucker punches; I've played more rounds there than anywhere, more than 200 altogether, most in the spring and fall. I've played in windy rain and biting cold. I don't play in summer; I have a boat. I don't like crowds, but I don't mind a little breeze.
"This is supposedly the third-windiest spot in the country," 15th- year head pro Kevin Smith said, "because of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean being within...