Long Island's most unique golf course hides just down the road from Shinnecock
SOUTHAMPTON, NY – Rees Jones wandered Three Ponds Farm as he built a place, fittingly, because he did.
Jones, 84, lost a little movement as he wandered through a farm on Scuttle Hill Road in Waterville, NY one morning last October. He was behind the wheel of a high-speed cart with a twinkle in his eye, driving from tee to green to tee again as he bounced. just far enough to catch the best position for every swing from the three golfers crossing the fairway behind him. Golfers were mostly hacks. Their shooting was unreliable and unspectacular. And yet Jones looked very happy, like a chef watching a diner enjoying his favorite dish.
“Well…” he said, his anticipation for the answer was shown by a creeping smile on his face. “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?”
Jones did not look forward or backward with any care. He wasn't worried that he might be in the way of other golfers at Three Ponds Farm, in large part because that's like seeing the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus. What happens here is the golfers, the caddy, the builder, the maintenance crew, and Ivan Kaufman, whose house sits in the center. No one else.
Even by the glittering standards of the eastern end of Long Island, Three Ponds Farm – also known Club – an unusually private golf course. Unlike some of the major golf clubs in the east, Three Ponds Farm is not private in the sense that it maintains a membership; it is secret in the sense that it is removed in front of others. The performance took place exclusively at Kaufman's invitation. There is no starter or clubhouse attendant to check your tee time or your shoes. When you're thirsty, you fix yourself a cocktail in a makeshift “halfway house” (a sun room next to a beautiful garden). Most days, the full level of human interaction takes place between the players and their caddies.
Three Ponds Farm wasn't always Kaufman's. He acquired the property for $35 million in 2019 in its current form, turned Long Island real estate agent and golf course owner. In a way, Jones was part of the deal — he summers in Bridgehampton and is the mastermind behind Three Ponds' sister course, the Atlantic, a “casual” private club that sits across the street (and supplies the K-Club with its cards). Jones was hired by the original owner, Edward Gordon, who bought the property (without the golf course or the luxury mansion) for $1 million.
The original design consisted of only a few holes built around five greens, which was the ideal golf course to fit within the 58-acre property. But Kaufman bought the property in hopes of expanding it to a full 18. He added tee boxes and pin areas, and added more flagsticks to each green.
Today, the course goes around the area like a high-crime evidence board, looking back and forth and back until the entire green area is examined from every angle … and every box of the many boxes of the building is used. The course's maintenance team, led by former Bethpage Black foreman Ryan Loudenslager, works tirelessly to keep many nooks and crannies of the course in satisfactory condition.
At least part of Three Ponds' appeal in the golf world is its location. The area is located in a 20-mile circle that is the densest golf course anywhere in the world – an area full of rich tourists and golden sand beaches and top secret golf clubs and old world charters that tell the history of the sport in America. This week's US Open at Shinnecock is a celebration of that history, and a reminder that the golf course inspired a generation of Eastern copycats.
But most of the attraction is this experience. Only at Three Pounds can you know what it's like to literally lose a round of golf. Only at Three Ponds can you understand what it feels like to enjoy golf as a way to express yourself. And only at Three Pounds can you complete 18 holes of golf under the watchful eye of a golf course designer, only to emerge to hear the following question:
“So, how many times would you like to go around?”
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