In my mind, there's no course in America that quite embodies the joy of golf on a summer's day quite like the Fishers Island Club. The Big Club, as it's known to locals, is just off the coast of Connecticut but technically situated in the state of New York.
Whichever state serves as your origin point, you'll likely arrive to Fishers by boat (although the island does have a small airstrip). That short ocean voyage is an incredible preamble for what is to come. The golf course is handsomely routed through what was a planned development in the 1920s by Frederic Law Olmsted Jr. (the son of the Central Park designer) and is considered by many to be Seth Raynor's finest work. The routing and the traditional wood-shingled homes meander through the east end of the island in a way that provides ocean views from a variety of vantage points. Fishers is an incredible golf course, but it's also the perfect expression of American summer.
Arriving by boat as a visitor sets the tone for any summer day, but walking down a dock with a golf bag is a unique pleasure at Fishers, as you see the clubhouse coming into view. Anytime boats and golf mix you know you are in for something good.
It's not just the fast, burnt-out fairways (only the greens are irrigated) and island summer vibes that make Fishers special —it's also the rewarding golf. With a variety of superb template holes, each with its own personality and tone, the course offers the perfect combination of memorable, fun, and challenging. In the same way that it is rare for a restaurant with ocean views to have good food, golf at Fishers wasn't designed just for seaside vistas— this is the rare combination of style and substance.
As someone who appreciates the full experience, there's nothing quite like the laid-back feeling you get at Fishers. If you manage to punctuate that day with a peanut butter, jelly, and bacon sandwich at the snack shack on #8 or a Fishers Island Lemonade in the chairs on the grass at the clubhouse, it's the quintessential East Coast summer day. It's difficult to be there and not appreciate how good things can be. That, in a nutshell, is why we play golf. To escape from the world just for a moment. To find the good summer days away from the craziness of everyday life.
So on Independence Day, it feels right to appreciate the special days of July. We hope you find yourself with a view of the ocean, having a cocktail, playing a round of golf and making memories that will sustain you all winter long.
