If you like golf you'll want to watch this week's tournament on the PGA tour.
If you play or watch golf occasionally, you'll want to find some time to take in a few holes this weekend. If you have little or no interest in golf, you'll want to at least check out a few of the views from around the tournament site.
I would have never thought a golf course could be built less than 1,000 yards from the Statue of Liberty; only slightly farther from downtown Manhattan in the heart of New York City and with views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the state's Island Ferry and Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The Manhattan skyline dominates the view.
This week's tournament is the Barclays and it will be played at the magnificent Liberty National Golf Course on the banks of the Hudson Bay in Jersey City, N.J.
At a cost of more than $250 million, it's the most expensive golf course ever built, anywhere. It's already being called the Pebble Beach of the eastern United States, the Augusta National of northern United States and the St. Andrews of our country. Quite an array of superlatives.
Fifteen of the 18 holes have views of the sites around the Big Apple, with more than 4,000 feet of waterfront on the Hudson.
The course was designed by well-known golf architect Bob Cupp, with help from pro golfer Tom Kite. It has both links and parkland holes making up its 7,400-plus yards. Several touring pros have played Liberty National and think it will be one of our great courses.
The site was once the area's main shipping docks and when they closed down, the property was left with old petroleum storage tanks, abandoned warehouses and junk vehicles of all kind. The deterioration only got worse over the years until Paul Fireman, Reebok Shoe founder, bought the 160-acre site and started work on the course in 1998. It took eight years to plan and design the course, get the proper permits and do the actual construction. It opened on Independence Day, 2006.
Fireman has had a longtime love affair with golf, starting as a caddie and spared no expense on the course or the 57,000-square foot clubhouse. The modern glass structure cost $60 million to build and is designed to look like a ship from the water. Ferry boats and helicopters will service the course from several points only 15 minutes away in downtown New York City.
Nearby Jersey City underwent tremendous makeover while Liberty National was being built and will benefit from the soon-to-follow housing on the golf course.
The country has been over-built with golf courses, but not this type. Initiation fee for Liberty National is $500,000 and yearly dues are $30,000. It will be shown to the work this week on CBS television.
Roy Waters is a sports columnist for The News Herald. Waters was baseball and basketball coach at Salem High School from 1955-66, where his teams won 18 championships. In 2007, he was inducted into the Burke County Sports Hall of Fame.
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