
Green Lakes Course
Green Lakes Golf Course


About this course
Green Lakes Golf Course sits within Green Lakes State Park near Fayetteville in central New York, about ten miles east of Syracuse. Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed the course in 1936 as one of his earliest independent commissions, completed shortly after his work on Peachtree Golf Club. The layout occupies rolling, wooded terrain characteristic of the glacially-formed landscape that gives the park its name, with the course itself winding through dense stands of hardwoods and conifers separate from the park's distinctive meromictic lakes. Jones routed the course across varied elevation changes, incorporating natural ridges and valleys into a design that reflects his emerging philosophy of strategic, muscular golf. The layout features the architect's characteristic bunkering style and green complexes that reward precise approach play, though the scale remains more modest than his later championship designs. Several holes play along or across pronounced slopes, and the tree-lined corridors demand accuracy from the tee. As a public facility operated by New York State Parks, Green Lakes serves both daily-fee players and a dedicated membership base. The course has remained a popular regional venue for nearly ninety years, offering accessible Jones design work in a distinctive natural setting. The routing and fundamental character have endured largely intact since the original construction, providing a window into the architect's formative period before he became one of the most prolific course designers of the mid-twentieth century.
Rankings
Ranked by CV ratings from golfers who've played this course. Positions are shown worldwide, by country, and by state; the Public column compares courses anyone can play.
Best in World
Best in USA
Best in NY
Quick facts
- Location
- Fayetteville, NY, USA
- Access
- Public
- Year built
- 1935
- Holes
- 18
- Designer
- Robert Trent Jones Sr.
- Par
- 71
- Length
- 6,212 yards
- Difficulty
- 69.8/119
- Course Vaults score
- 7.7
Getting there
The journey to Green Lakes Golf Course begins at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, a straightforward twenty-minute drive east into the wooded suburbs of Fayetteville. The route follows I-90 briefly before peeling off onto local roads that wind through central New York's gentle, glacially carved terrain - a landscape of hardwood forests and kettle lakes that hints at the unique topography awaiting. As you approach the entrance to Green Lakes State Park, the transition is immediate: the hum of civilization yields to shaded parkland, and the road descends toward a pair of rare meromictic lakes whose turquoise waters have drawn visitors since the early twentieth century, with Robert Trent Jones's storied layout waiting just beyond the shoreline.

FAQ
Common questions about Green Lakes
Ratings, design, and course details pulled from Course Vaults.
Green Lakes has a Course Vaults score of 7.7 out of 10 based on 19 logged golfers.
Green Lakes was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr..
Yes. Green Lakes is listed as welcoming public or guest play on Course Vaults.
Par at Green Lakes is 71.
Green Lakes plays 6,212 yards from the back tees on Course Vaults.
The slope rating at Green Lakes is 119.



