There are places in golf so alluring, so compelling, that it is possible to forget about the course itself, at least for a while — even if it’s, say, the 77th-ranked course in the world, like Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Westchester County, N.Y.
One such place is Sleepy’s clubhouse, a former Vanderbilt mansion offering stunning Hudson River views. Another is in the woods behind the clubhouse: the Skeet and Trap Shooting Lodge.
The Lodge’s rustic log cabin exterior looks straight out of central casting, and the same holds true for its wood-paneled interior. Decorated with trophy mounts, plaques, vintage books and the like, it makes you feel at home on the prairie. A roaring fire warms the hands, and the club’s renowned soup and chili warms the belly. It’s a perfect cold-weather hangout spot and the site of festivities that run the gamut from birthdays to special club events.
Golf can make you want to pick up a gun, but safer to keep it off course, off season. The Lodge is the perfect place to fire away. From October of each year through the end of March, members are encouraged to come out and scratch that itchy trigger finger under the watchful eye and tutelage of a handful of Sleepy old hands, with both skeet and trap shooting ranges on offer. (Fun fact: Of the three main clay shooting dis ciplines, Sleepy Hollow lacks only sporting clays, which is often described as “golf with a shotgun,” since you move to different shooting locations laid out over natural terrain.) No matter how well you fare at hitting your targets, a good time will be had by all.
But then that’s true everywhere on property, across the club’s remarkable range of activities — athletic, culinary, even equine. There are two pickleball courts, four platform tennis courts, four squash courts, 10 clay tennis courts, an adult pool and a children’s pool, a gleaming fitness center, an outdoor pizza grill and an indoor and two outdoor riding arenas for equestrians. It’s almost enough to make you forget about that spectacular golf course … and the nine-hole short course, too, great for practice and for younger or less advanced players.
Oh, and inside the clubhouse — which also surely ranks among the world’s finest — members and their guests can stay overnight in one of 18 gorgeously appointed and unique rooms or suites.
Suffice it to say, if you ever get an invite to Sleepy Hollow, pull the trigger.
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