The pair are developing a plan that will emphasise Golden Age design features and make the most of the layout’s setting<
By Alex Smith |
Zinkand Golf Design and Weiman Golf Design have been appointed to restore the AW Tillinghast course at Hempstead Golf & Country Club in New York.
David Zinkand and Joel Weiman, who studied together at Cornell University more than 30 years ago, are developing a multiyear masterplan that will emphasise the club’s location on Long Island’s Hempstead Plains while maintaining Golden Age design principles.
Although the plan started with the need to replace ageing bunkers, it has expanded into a broader restoration focused on revealing the course’s strategic principles, visual character and distinctive setting. Bunker work is scheduled for 2028-29, while further course improvements will take place until 2033.
“Hempstead presents a rare opportunity to restore both an exceptional Tillinghast golf course and the remarkable landscape that shaped it,” said Zinkand. “Our goal is to connect those two stories in a way that feels authentic to the club’s history and serves generations of members to come.”
Weiman adds: “The masterplan strengthens the course’s natural flow by capitalising on Hempstead’s compact footprint and reinforcing the distinction between its spacious outward nine and more intimate inward journey. Expanded sightlines from the clubhouse will immediately draw golfers deeper into the property, while the routing creates ideal opportunities to restore classic Tillinghast features.”
Key elements of the project include repositioning the Great Hazard on the thirteenth hole to challenge modern players. Holes sixteen, seventeen and eighteen will also be updated to create a stronger sequence of risk-and-reward decisions.
The project will also seek to re-establish the course’s sense of place. Before mid-20th century development, the 60,000-acre Hempstead Plains formed one of North America’s rare tallgrass prairie ecosystems, which features sandy soil and rolling terrain.
The finished design aims to balance formal Tillinghast features – crisp green complexes and geometric hazards – with the more natural edges of a restored prairie landscape.
“The masterplan creates an exciting balance between preserving our architectural heritage and preparing Hempstead for its next 100 years,” said Steven Perkowski, superintendent at Hempstead Golf & Country Club. “David and Joel have embraced the property’s history and recognised the unique opportunity presented by the Hempstead Plains. Their vision respects what members cherish about the course while introducing improvements that will strengthen both playability and long-term stewardship.”