Clearview Park

Few public golf courses in America carry the historical weight of Clearview Park. Designed by John Shippen — the first American-born professional golfer and a pioneering figure in the sport's history — the Bayside, Queens layout opened in 1923 and holds a unique place in the broader story of golf's complicated relationship with race in this country. Shippen, who was Black and Native American, was denied entry to U.S. Opens he had every right to enter, yet went on to design and superintendent this municipal course for decades. That legacy is inseparable from the experience of playing here.

The course sits in northeastern Queens, not far from Little Neck Bay, where the boroughs give way to something resembling suburb. It plays as a genuine workhorse municipal — well-used, unpretentious, and accessible to the enormous population of golfers that New York City generates with few places to send them.

For a New York City Parks Department course, Clearview punches well above its weight in significance. It rewards golfers who know what they're walking on.