Coldwell Banker Matherson

Babylon's Tuna Club Tournament

Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009

Babylon Village Dock
Fire Island Avenue
Babylon
Phone: 631-774-2361

More than $75,000 in prizes, based on entry. Categories include overnight and day boat for sportfish invitational tournament tuna/shark/marlin/bluefish. Proceeds go toward Disabled American Veterans. Fish weigh-ins open to public, food, crafts, jewelry, music, fresh fish for sale.

Pitch and putts offer comparatively short holes sculpted from beautiful seaside scenery. The pressure is also lower - though not completely off - at other par-3 courses. Most rent clubs, balls and carts.

WHERE TO GO

Cedar Beach Pitch and Putt: Ocean Parkway between Cedar and Overlook beaches, Babylon, 631-321-4562, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Fees: $7-$8; Holes: 18

At the edge of the Cedar Beach parking lot, this well-maintained course is a few hundred yards from the surf. With holes no longer than 100 yards, it's a learner's paradise.

Cedars Golf Club: Cases Lane Ext., Cutchogue, 631-734-6363, 7 a.m.-6:45 p.m. Fees: $10-$12; Holes: 9

Cedar trees, natural ponds and immaculate greens cover this course, carved out of the terrain on the edge of West Creek. Your second round is half price.

E. Donald Conroy Golf Course at Sumpwams Creek: 75 Cedar St., Babylon, 631-669-2340, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Fees: $9-$12 ($8-$10 7 a.m.-noon Monday-Thursday); Holes: 9

Its rolling hills have five elevated greens; 90 minutes of par 3s are better practice than a driving range, says Don Podesta, 57, of Bay Shore. The course "gives you a variety of shots."

Heartland Golf Park: 1200 Long Island Ave., Edgewood, 631-667-7400, heartlandgolfpark.com, 6:30 a.m.-11 p.m. through September. Fees: $15; Holes: 9

Lit up for late-night golf, Heartland's 9 holes mimic famous courses around the world.

Jones Beach State Park Pitch and Putt: Ocean Parkway, Wantagh, 516-785-1600, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Fees: $7; Holes: 18

Sea breezes cool you as you play this rolling course by the Boardwalk and its many attractions.

Robert Moses State Park Pitch and Putt: Robert Moses Causeway, Fire Island, parking field 2, 631-669-0470, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Fees: $11; Holes: 18

Wedged into the western end of the park near Field 2, the course is somewhat secluded and runs along the Atlantic Beach.

Sandy Pond: Roanoke Avenue, Riverhead, 631-727-0909 (last tee time 90 minutes before sunset). Fees: $11-$12; Holes: 9

Waiting times are short because Sandy Pond is rarely crowded, says manager Garth McGill. The longest hole is 160 yards.

. JONES BEACH

Why it's great for kids: If parents park at Field 6, they can escort the kids right onto the boardwalk instead of schlepping them under the roadway to cross to the beach. Field 6 is the shortest walk from a parking field to the ocean. The catch: "That's our most popular parking field at Jones Beach," says George Gorman, deputy regional director of Long Island State Parks. "It usually fills up on busy weekends by 8:30 a.m." Field 6 allows kite-flying, and as the family walks the boardwalk they'll pass basketball courts, a pitch-and-putt golf course, a lighted playground for evenings and a band shell that offers evening entertainment.

Admission Fee: $8 per car per day when lifeguards are on duty; Empire Passport is $65 for unlimited visits. Pitch and putt is $7 per person plus $2 club rental fee.

2. ROBERT MOSES STATE PARK

Why it's great for kids: Robert Moses is a big place, but if you go to Field 5, everything you need is nearby: a concession stand, lifeguards, playground and bathrooms. On top of that, the Fire Island Lighthouse is an easy hike away. The boardwalk trail starts from the Field 5 parking area. The walk is about 20 minutes, and it's easy to push a stroller along the boards. At the lighthouse, check out the museum or climb to the top. Cold drinks are for sale at the museum, and bathrooms are available there. Just don't walk back along the shoreline -- while the beach directly in front of the lighthouse is a clothed beach, on either side of the lighthouse the beach is clothing optional, meaning you're highly likely to bump into some nude sunbathers if you take that route back.

Admission Fee: $8 per car parking when lifeguards are on duty; $65 for an Empire Pass that allows unlimited visits; children must be 42 inches tall to climb the Fire Island Lighthouse's 192 steps; adults are $6, and seniors are $4.

3. CRAB MEADOW BEACH

Why it's great for kids: This is a manageably-sized, Long Island Sound beach in Northport. It's got lifeguards, a playground on the sand and La Casa restaurant. The Town of Huntington will offer drive-in movies at the beach at dark on July 23 and Aug. 20. In July it's "Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa," on Aug. 20 it's the people's choice; e-mail mcuthbertson@town.huntington.ny.us by Aug. 1 to cast your vote for "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The Bad News Bears," "The Karate Kid" or "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial."

Admission Fee: Residents $15 for a day, $25 for the season; nonresidents $25 for a day

4. SAILORS HAVEN

Why it's great for kids: The ferry ride across the bay from Sayville to Sailors Haven is a half-hour of fun before even arriving on the sand. Once at Sailors Haven, the Sunken Forest awaits; it's a maritime holly forest. "The reason it's called sunken is it sits below the dunes, between the dunes and the bay," says Chris Soller, superintendent of the Fire Island National Seashore. "You come up over the dunes and go down into the forest." Sailors Haven has a snack bar, a marina and a visitor's center with exhibits for kids and weekend programs.

Admission Fee: The beach is free, but there's a charge for parking at the ferry in Sayville and for a ferry ticket. Call 631-589-0810 for ferry schedule and 2009 fees.

5. CUPSOGUE BEACH

Why it's great for kids: Because mom and dad will be interested, too. When it just has to be the Hamptons, this is a great choice. The miles-long drive from the bridge to the tip of Westhampton offers magnificent views of jaw-droppingly opulent this-must-be-the-Hamptons housing (come on a weekday, or you and the kids will all be cranky because of bumper-to-bumper traffic). The beach is wide and pristine. Don't miss the sand castle contest on Aug. 15.

Admission Fee: With a Suffolk County Green Key card $5 per car, $12 per car without one

6. NICKERSON BEACH PARK

Why it's great for kids: Nickerson has "The Fun Zone," designed to be a family-friendly area for toddlers through teens in Lido Beach. At the south end is a playground area, in the middle, a basketball court. The north end has a skate park with seven ramps and two rails that is often filled with tweens and teens. "If you've got a fairly wide age span of kids, you can watch your toddler in the playground area and have your older child play ball or go to the skate park," says David Ring, a spokesman for Nassau County Parks. "It's a fun day and a little less hectic than Jones Beach." Head to the beach area, where bathrooms and a concession area are available.

Admission Fee: $8 per car with a Nassau County Leisure Pass, nonresidents pay $20 a car

7. ORIENT BEACH STATE PARK

Why it's great for kids: The beach is on Gardiners Bay, so the water is calmer for the kiddies. Kayak rentals and bike rentals are available. The playground is on the beachfront. Orient Beach is a shell-collecting paradise. "It has the most shells available of any state park beach," says George Gorman, deputy regional director of Long Island State Parks.

Admission Fee: $8 per car when lifeguards are on duty; $65 for an Empire Passport that allows unlimited visits

8. SUNKEN MEADOW STATE PARK

Why it's great for kids: You get the feel of a South Shore ocean beach without the potential roughness of the ocean waves. Sunken Meadow has a boardwalk, concessions, picnic areas and ballfields. And it has wide open, calm water for the little ones and seagulls that make it seem like you're at the Atlantic.

Admission Fee: $8 per car

9. OCEAN BEACH

Why it's great for kids: When the children get restless on the sand, there's Ocean Beach's commercial square to entertain them. The Ice Castle candy store is a hit, as is Rachel's Bake Shop, with fresh-baked muffins and cookies always in the store's plate-glass window. Public restrooms are available, and there's a big playground on the bay, a bay beach with lifeguard for when the ocean gets too rough and basketball courts with balls always on hand. Ocean Beach is the unofficial capital of Fire Island life, and visitors travel to Ocean Beach via the Bay Shore ferry. Ocean Beach also has hotels for overnight stays.

Admission Fee: Ferry tickets costs $9 one-way and $17 round-trip for adults, $4.50 one-way and $7.50 round-trip for children 2 to 12. Children younger than 2 are free. Parking at the ferry dock is $7 daily Monday through Thursday and $14 on Fridays and weekends.

10. HITHER HILLS STATE PARK

Why it's great for kids: Hither Hills becomes its own little community because of the collection of campsites on the north side of the dunes. A general store, a softball field and playgrounds offer diversions from the ocean. Children looking for playmates abound. Hither Hills frequently runs children's activities such as sand-castle building contests. Campers must reserve nine months in advance (800-456-2267), but daytrippers can pay the daily fee and join in the fun.

Admission Fee: $8 per car

Trying to compare the U.S. Open golf tournament with a regular sporting event would be like comparing a space shuttle launch with a flight to Cleveland. The Open has its own unique heft, stature and noise. It shakes the ground wherever it is held, which, this year, is Long Island.

The Black Course at Bethpage State Park will host the most sprawling of golf's major championships the week of June 15-21. Crowds of about 50,000 a day will be on the grounds of the five-course complex to watch 144 golfers shoot for what many consider the most prestigious title in their sport.

It will be the third time in the past seven years the Open has come to the Island, having been at Bethpage in 2002 and Shinnecock Hills in Southampton in 2004.

The United States Golf Association usually does not return to one site so soon, but it was so pleased with the boisterous 2002 "People's Open," the first at a municipal course, that it almost immediately announced plans to come back in 2009.

Here is a quick preview . . .

What's there

Practice rounds will be Monday through Wednesday, June 15-17, with the championship going from Thursday through Sunday.

Getting there

The USGA and local officials plan to use the 2002 template, which means the public will park at Jones Beach and be shuttled to and from Bethpage. Also, extra trains will be added to the Farmingdale Long Island Rail Road station, which also will have shuttles.

Getting in

Most of the tickets were sold last year. A few more were put up for sale in February. Ticket brokers might have some available at the last minute.

What not to bring

Cell phones, pagers or any other electronic devices. Cameras are allowed during the practice rounds, but a BlackBerry or similar device that takes pictures does not qualify as a camera.

On TV

ESPN and NBC will split coverage, with the latter showing the key hours on Saturday and Sunday. (Check TV listings for precise times.)

Player to watch

Who else? Tiger Woods rates as defending champion two ways. He is the reigning Open champ, having beaten Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole playoff at San Diego's Torrey Pines last June despite having a fractured bone in his leg. He also is the defending champion of Bethpage, having raised the trophy at dusk in 2002, after a thunderstorm interrupted the final round. He was the only player to have broken par that week on the Black Course.

Others to watch

Long Islanders adopted Phil Mickelson at Bethpage during the '02 Open, establishing what one golf publication called "the Cult of Phil." Spectators sang "Happy Birthday" to the man who will turn 39 on Tuesday of Open week this time. ... Sergio Garcia had problems with hecklers at Bethpage last time, yet still was in second place entering the final round. He will be happy to learn that hospitality tents are farther away from the fairways this year. ... Anthony Kim didn't play the '02 Open at Bethpage. He was in high school, ready to celebrate his 17th birthday. But with two victories on the PGA Tour and a strong performance for the U.S. at the Ryder Cup late last season, he has emerged as a potential star.

The 15th is a long, narrow, uphill par 4 that begins the home stretch, after golfers go through the tunnel and return to the clubhouse side of Round Swamp Road. At 459 yards, it caused much angst in 2002 (one player called it "bizarre"). It is ranked as the No.-1 handicap hole -- meaning the hardest on the course -- for the thousands of daily-fee golfers who play the Black every year.

ABOUT BETHPAGE BLACK

With the economy devastated and the nation desperate, a massive public works campaign was begun to create jobs and generally lift the gloom. One such work relief project gave birth to the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, which has remained a golf jewel from the Great Depression through the 2009 recession.

In the beginning ...

Bethpage Black was part of an effort that employed 1,800 people. That was the plan endorsed by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, who saw to it in August 1933 that the Bethpage Park Authority was created and took title to the former Lenox Hills Country Club. Lenox Hills became the Green Course, one of five layouts at the massive park. It would be joined by the Yellow, Blue, Red and Black, with the latter being designed by famed course architect A.W. Tillinghast to be especially difficult.

Why it's special

"The Black Course was something special, almost as if the architect had been given the freedom to let his creative juices run wild one last time," wrote William Quirin, a math and computer science professor at Adelphi University, also a local golf historian, in his book, "America's Linksland."

It often has been compared to Pine Valley, the ultra-exclusive New Jersey club that often is cited as the greatest American golf course, steeped in mystery because it never hosts tournaments and always discourages visitors. But the Black has been the ultimate public facility since it opened on Memorial Day, 1936.

Not that it always has been the gem it is now. It looked unkempt for years in the 1960s, drawing golfers mostly because the other courses were too crowded. But a revival began in the early 1980s, when Long Island State Parks Commissioner John Sheridan launched a restoration.

The reputation grew so widely that the United States Golf Association decided to hold the 2002 U.S. Open there -- the first on a municipal course -- and pumped millions into sprucing it up.

The controversy

Iin 2002, Joseph Burbeck said that his father, the late course superintendent Joseph H. Burbeck, really did most of the design work that was attributed to Tillinghast. The latter was not around to oversee the Black's completion and gave Burbeck "considerable credit," Quirin wrote. Golf Digest was convinced enough to refer to Burbeck as the architect.

But Bethpage officials still hold to what current park director Dave Catalano said in 2002. "We have a bronze plaque on a rock," acknowledging Tillinghast, Catalano said, adding, "We have no plans to change it."

Long Island amusement parks are gearing up for a new season and throngs of warm-weather crowds will soon be clamoring to get in and ride, slide, splish splash, run, gun and have fun. Park-goers will be treated to a host of new attractions. Here's what some have to offer:

SPLISH SPLASH WATER PARK: 2549 Splish Splash Dr., Riverhead, 631-727-3600, splishsplashlongisland.com

Cost: $35.99 ($26.99 under 4 feet tall or over age 62); Reduced admission ($22.99-$27.99) for final three hours of the day

What's new: Dr. Von Dark's Tunnel of Terror

If you're into getting really wet and a little scared, the park has added a thrilling, hold-on-for-dear-life water ride featureing a 40-foot drop, a giant funnel, back-to-back vertical banks, high-speed, 360-degree spins and eerie images that pop up out of nowhere - all in total darkness.

"It is our first dark ride, themed around a scientist whose love of the darkness has driven him to pursuits that can only be described as diabolical," says Brett Petit, senior vice president and director of marketing for Palace Entertainment, which runs the park.

BAYVILLE ADVENTURE PARK: 8 Bayville Ave., Bayville, 516-624-7433, bayvilleadventurepark.com

Cost: $8.75 ($39.50 unlimited park pass)

What's new: The Kraken

An inflatable slide that's 35 feet tall and 57 feet long, it looks like "a giant squid attacking a tall ship, just like in Pirates of the Caribbean," says Anne Finley, director of advertising and merchandising. (It replaces the King Kong slide previously near the back of the park.) If you want to have a burger or sundae, the park's old-style Beaches & Cream Soda Shoppe - with an animatronic character in the corner that plays a pipe organ and sings songs about Bayville and surrounding towns - is back for its second season.

COUNTRY FAIR ENTERTAINMENT: 3351 Route 112, Medford LIE Exit 64), 631-732-0579, countryfairpark.com

Cost: From $6 for 15 minutes

What's new: Outdoor daytime laser tag

Slip on a headband and goggles, grab a laser gun and head for the woods for an outdoor game of laser tag with your friends at a place that already offers two miniature golf courses, go-karts, batting and driving ranges. For marketing and sales director Anthony Iovino, it beats paintball, hands-down. "It's a new technology," he says.

ADVENTURELAND AMUSEMENT PARK: 2245 Route 110, Farmingdale, 631-694-6868, adventureland.us

Cost: $20.99-$24.99 unlimited rides

What's new: The Flying Puppies ($3), Euro-Bungy/Trampoline ($5)

For the under-54-inch set, the park has a new Flying Puppies kiddie ride. The Euro Bungee/Trampoline lets rides bounce while tethered in. A camera system has been added to the Lady Bug roller coaster so riders can see themselves as they go around the track. The arcade also has been remodeled, with new games and a party room. Pablo's Fry-licious Coaster Cafe has an expanded menu and more outside seating.

Another new Long Island attraction:

LONG ISLAND GAME FARM: Chapman Boulevard (Exit 70 off the LIE), Manorville, 631-878-6644, longislandgamefarm.com

Cost: $17.45 ($15.45 ages 3-11)

A new Bengal tiger show (held twice daily and three times on weekends and holidays) is running inside the park's 500-person amphitheater. Between shows, visitors can get within four feet of the majestic creatures in the outdoor Big Cat Habitat. They also can learn how to save endangered lion and tiger species during daily informational talks by the park staff.