Beaver Island State Park Golf Course, Grand Island, NY

Beaver Island is just one of the attractions on-site at this State Park site of over 950 acres. The park is located along the Upper Niagara River and includes a scenic beach and another golf course offering disc golf (built in 1998.) There’s also a highly rated restaurant in the park called V’Randa (covered outdoor dining.)

The Beaver Island golf course was designed by William Harries. He designed a number of golf courses across New York State and across the country. The course offers plenty of challenges, especially for a municipal course.

The main challenges on the course are two large ponds, a handful of smaller ponds and a number of sand traps. You’ll find six Par 5 holes, which is above average for a public course. Watch out for two extra long holes on the front and back nine. Hole #2 is 538 yards and hole #12 is 547 yards.

The layout of the course consists of flat, medium width fairways. The course location is cut into existing forest. One of the biggest drawbacks of this course is that the greens and fairways are not well watered or mowed.

It’s the true definition of a cow pasture course. The cart paths and fairways are also extremely bumpy! Yet the course is a bit too long to walk so it makes it challenging to get around. The course is also poorly marked and difficult to navigate.

Here’s a few insider tips on some of the more difficult holes. The greens of holes #2 (538 yards) and #7 (383 yards) back onto a big pond (be careful not to overshoot.) On hole #3 (178 yards) you’ll be hitting directly over water at around the 50 yards mark. Aim right on hole #5 (426 yards,) since the lake runs all along the left side of the fairway.

On-site amenities include a new clubhouse and snack bar. Although this course has a pretty interesting design, especially for a municipal course, the glaring maintenance issues can’t be overlooked. My recommendation? Try the disc golf course instead and have dinner at V’Randa if you’re looking for an enjoyable golf outing.

Not impress about this course. It was very confusing where each hole is. Probably won't go back. Oh ya beer cart saw us but wouldn't stop and it was a very hot day.