En-Joie Golf Club

En-Joie Golf Club is a municipal golf course owned and operated by the town of Endicott, New York. In many ways its like other munis, very reasonable green fees and as a result lots of play. But En-Joie is unlike almost all other munis in that it hosts a PGA tour event!

Every July the tour stops at En-Joie for the BC Open. What's the BC Open you ask? It's named for the BC comic strip and dates back to the early 70's. You can be excused if you don't recall much about the tourney or past winners, because it falls during the same week as the British Open. So Tiger, Vijay, Phil and the other top pros skip the event. The 2003 winner was a well-known tour fixture, The Walrus, Craig Stadler took home the more than half million dollar first prize after shooting 21 under par. Not bad when you consider he had turned 50 and won the previous week on the Champions Tour.

So here's your shot at playing where the pros play and doing so at a blue-collar price. It's popular with the locals, so if you're passing through don't expect to cop a weekend morning tee time. You can ride on the weekend for just over 50 bucks! You can walk during the week for just over $30!

En-Joie's distinguishing feature is small ponds that are ringed with stone walls. Many of the ponds also feature fountains. It's a nice aesthetic and they come into play often for those of us not playing on the PGA tour.

Most of the fairways are tree lined. You shouldn't loss many balls in the trees, but you could very well end up punching out if you're not straight off the tee.

The pros tend to score well at En-Joie for a couple of reasons. By their standards the course, at around 7000 yards, is not overly long. Also the greens do not have a lot of wild undulation. So if they've got the flat stick working, they can go low.

En-Joie has four sets of tees. The Pro tees stretch it just beyond 7000 yards. The front tees set the course at 5200 yards. Most golfers will play the tees at about 6200 yards with a slope of 125 and course rating of 70.4.

Orientation

Endicott is just west of Binghamton, N.Y. Take Route 17 west and exit onto Route 17C west. The course sits right along 17C on the left.

Where to Stay

En-Joie Golf Club has stay and play packages with three nearby hotels, The Treadway Inn, Holiday Inn Express and The Kings Inn. Call (607) 785-1661 to find out more or make reservations.

Where to Dine

Right in the town of Endicott try the American cuisine at Jonathan's Restaurant on Hooper Rd (607) 754-6244 or Italian cuisine at A Touch of Sicily on Main St. (607) 786-0215.

Off Course

A good first stop would be the Endicott Visitors Center housed in Colonial Hall on Lincoln Ave. (607) 785-0978. If you are there in the late summer or fall, visit the Cider Mill on south Naticoke Ave. The authentic mill turns out sweet cider and homemade doughnuts from late August through Thanksgiving.

The Verdict

You're probably not going to get too many shots at playing a PGA tour venue. Take this one! Granted this isn't Pebble or Torrey Pines (courses you can actually play if you've got the necessary financial resources). Like many popular munis, getting a tee time isn't always easy and some rounds might be a slow go. Also conditions won't be at their best during times of heavy play. But that taken that into account, for muni prices you can tee it up at a course that delivers much more than the run-of-the-mill municipal track. I'm probably not the first to say it, but here it goes anyway. "You 're sure to enjoy En-Joie!"

If You Go

En-Joie Golf Club
W. Main Street
Endicott, N.Y. 13760
(607) 785-1661
www.enjoiegolf.com

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management.