The poor man's guide to New York City golf

You'd think that living so close to golf Meccas like New Jersey and Long Island, New York City residents would have plenty of courses to choose from. However, if you don't have a car, you are limited to hitting range balls at Chelsea Piers. Well, not entirely. If you are like me and need your weekly golf fix, there is one option that you and 500 of your closest friends can check out.

I live on 118^th Street in Harlem, just a stone's throw from Morningside Park. Luckily for me, I can trek through the park, and over through Columbia's beautiful, sprawling campus to the 1 train on Broadway. You'd think that toting a set of golf clubs in plaid golf pants through the campus of an Ivy League school would be the norm, but this is New York and you'll still get people looking at you like you have two heads.

Anyway, I digress. The 1 train is essentially the car-less golfer's "stairway to heaven." For me, it's only a short train ride and few subway stops until I am deposited at the end of the line, the 242^nd Street stop across from Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

You get off the train and you think that there's no way there can even be a pitch and putt around here, let alone a quality and challenging 18-hole golf course. I mean, you are in the middle of the Bronx and there are some rugged characters hanging out just across the street.

But those in the know can tell you that just after just a quick walk through the park and under the old trestle you'll find one of New York City's best-kept golfing secrets. Although by secret, I mean expect to play a seven-hour round on a nice weekend day. But for us golfing addicts, it does the trick.

Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course is America's oldest public golf course and can challenge even the lowest handicaps. On my latest excursion there, we had the 5:38 a.m. tee time. That's right, we were off EARLY. But it pays off. The three of us flew through the round; losing only a handful or a dozen balls each. By 9 o'clock we were saddled up to the bar for our celebratory after-round beers. Those poor saps teeing off when we were getting in had a long day ahead of them. I heard later that they had overbooked for the day and there were six group backups on the par 3's, and that some groups who teed off during the middle of the day didn't get to finish their round until after dark!

But fall is around the corner. I don't have car so I know that I will need to make that trek on the 1 train up into the Bronx a few more times before it is too late and they close the course for the winter. As a New York City golfer, I have to.