Pristine public 9-holer in the first capital of New York passed my 2025

There are many benefits to having an inexpensive, convenient community course close to home. Fast cycles at sunrise, or hitting darkness before sunset. Automatic speed cycles when an unexpected window opens. Acquaintance. Community. There is no dress code.

With all that you have to offer, you don’t need to ask much of the course itself. With smooth greens and some grass on the fairways, you’re ready to go.

But Green Acres Golf Course in Kingston, NY, offers much more than that. For the price of a goat track, any golfer who comes to Green Acres will be treated to near-pristine conditions, friendly staff and accommodations, a short but varied layout and, at least since autumn has settled in this year, the fastest and smoothest greens I’ve ever laid.

And that’s why it gets the admittedly minor honor of my favorite golf course of the year.

Green Acres Golf Course in Kingston, NY

Found a few miles from exit 19 on I-87, just past the green sign that announces your arrival at “Historic Kingston: The First Capital of New York,” and at the end of a quiet suburban neighborhood near the bustling business district, you’ll find a modest sign hanging from an open link fence to let you know you’ve arrived.

After checking the cars out on a dirt and dusty road only wide enough for one car, he went down what I think of as Kingston’s ramshackle version of Magnolia Lane.

But when you reach the end of the road, the situation changes dramatically. From your first look at the cunningly pitched par-4 9th green, which finishes right next to the dirt parking lot and tee shed, you can tell you’re welcome.

If I took the 25 minute drive from my house at any time this year, I was guaranteed to go straight to the course after stopping to pay $22 at the beginner shed. Or if I arrived early enough to sneak in a pre-work round and the starter hadn’t arrived yet, whatever. I just play away and pay when I’m done.

While Green Acres is tall, its architecture makes up for any height it lacks. The short par-4 2nd features a sharp dogleg to the right, a pond guarding the right side, and trees that slightly obstruct your view from the tee, forcing more savvy golfers to use an iron. The sub-300-yard par-4 6th fairway features a tight bottleneck that is much shorter than the green, and prevents all but the most daring from using a big club.

And while the par-5 4th and 5th holes are very similar in length to par-4s, they will be much longer, more difficult par-4s. The fourth green of the devil, steeply sloping from front left to right back is almost impossible to catch. The smart move is to get back to the right as soon as possible and set the slope from there.

And while the 5th is dead straight, small, green as fast as lightning it will give you a balance. And about those green ones. My previous statement in the introduction to this story was not an exaggeration. These are green immediately.

Although they have been fast every time I have played, as the season wraps up they go to another level. Ahead of the famous Ryder Cup-style event the course is hosting this fall, a small team at Green Acres has gotten the greens into incredible shape. And surprisingly immediately.

Fastest, I think, I’ve ever played. Again, no hyperbole. The only time I saw the greens anywhere close up was a round a few years ago at Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, CT, a private, 1929 design by Charles H. Banks with beautifully sculpted holes and greens that play like ice rinks.

Even if you’re a true icko and want a tough challenge every time you putt, Green Acres’ par-3 7th hole will be more than enough fun for you. It does the opposite for most of us. That’s because the 7th is one of the hardest par-3s I’ve ever faced.

Heading out 200 yards, the first tee of the 7th is a pond that runs the length of the hole to the end of the green. And that green, placed completely to the right behind the lake, is mud. The back of the green is raised about five feet higher than the front, sending any balls down toward the water.

So you want to bail out and avoid the water altogether? I wish you luck. The left side of the green is protected by deep, sloping bunkers, which you have no hope of getting close to. Go too long and your recovery shot will probably end before the green. Leave it well and you are lost in the native wetlands. Most balls end up in the water.

The best strategy may be to deliberately drop your ball into the pool, then go to the tee, where you’ll have a straight, dry, 100-yard path to the putt to save a 4 or 5.

Beyond the pure, pristine greenery, the streets of Green Acres showed no signs of struggle from a summer of drought, and the floods that followed last fall. What a small team can pull off on a very small budget is nothing short of magical.

The owners have made a ton of improvements in recent years, and more changes are expected in 2026. In other words, the future is even brighter for Green Acres. It’s a joy to play, and I have no doubt that this time next year, it will once again be my most played course of the year.