Clearview Park Golf Course |
Clearview Expressway/Clearview Park GC |
Clearview Park and Golf Course was founded in 1925, and is bounded by the Clearview Expressway, 23rd Avenue, 202nd Street, and Bell Boulevard. Originally named the Clearview Golf and Yacht Club, the establishment served as an exclusive retreat for New Yorkers. One notable member was the renowned New York State Governor Alfred E. Smith (1873-1944). Landscape architect Willie Tucker designed the golf course, which lies on gently rolling terrain. The course is located by Little Neck Bay and is aptly named for its views of the East River and the Long Island Sound.
On June 25, 1931 the City of New York purchased this property from the Clearview Golf and Yacht Club for $940,000. The Board of Estimate placed the course under Parks jurisdiction on the day of purchase. Between 1935 and 1940, Parks redesigned the entire course and built new club facilities. In 1957, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority acquired lands on the eastern side of the property to be used in the construction of Clearview Expressway. That year, the installation of a new course drainage system began. In 1983, Parks selected American Golf Corporation to manage the course as a public amenity under a concession agreement. Today, Clearview Park and Golf Course is a public 18-hole course located about 15 miles from midtown Manhattan. The somewhat hilly course contains both straight, open fairways as well others lined with trees and forest. It is designed for beginner to intermediate level players, and par ranges from 3 to 5 strokes. The course’s signature hole is #17, which is a 395-yard, par 4 hole offering spectacular views of the Long Island Sound and Throgs Neck Bridge. The course’s longest hole is #2 at 473 yards. The facility includes such amenities as a pro shop, lessons, clinics, a clubhouse, lockers, a snack bar, a lounge/bar, and a snack cart roaming the course. Beginning in 1999, Clearview Golf Course received a sophisticated irrigation system funded by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Designed to combat erosion and improve course conditions, the $9.8 million dollar project also provided irrigation for the Douglaston, Forest Park, and Kissena Park golf courses. The newly installed irrigation systems use in-ground sprinkler heads fed by underground pipes. Ponds, which rely almost exclusively on rainwater, were built in addition to wells and brick pump houses. This massive project will reward New York City golfers for decades to come. |
The land around the Clearview Expressway in Bay Terrace, Queens was owned by three influential families before being bought in 1823 by Charles Willet. In the mid–nineteenth century, many more wealthy New York families built mansions in Bayside. In the 1920s and 1930s, many of these estates were dissolved to make way for new residents. Bayside saw significant post–war construction of bridges and highways, as with the Clearview Expressway. Built between 1957 and 1963, the expressway connects the Throgs Neck Bridge with major east–west traffic arteries of Queens and Long Island. When the plans were made public, locals protested that the project would negatively affect their neighborhoods, and a compromise was reached in which a much smaller number of homes were relocated to a new neighborhood built on the site of the Bayside and Oakland Golf Courses. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority overseeing the expressway’s construction also acquired a portion on the east side of the Clearview Golf course as a right of way.
Click on photos to enlarge image. |