Hudson National Golf Club

Tom Fazio's 1996 course on a rocky ridge about 500 feet above the Hudson River in Croton-on-Hudson, with river views from most holes and new greens after a 2023–24 renovation.

Hudson National sits on high ground above the Hudson River in northern Westchester, about 40 miles north of Manhattan. Part of the site held a nine-hole course belonging to the Hessian Hills club in the 1920s and '30s. Its stone clubhouse burned during the Depression. Tom Fazio began building in 1994 and opened the course in 1996. Construction meant blasting well over 100,000 cubic yards of rock and benching the hillside so holes could cross very steep ground.

Fazio kept the clubhouse ruins as a reminder of the old club and worked mature forest and rock outcrops into the holes. The river is visible from all but a few holes. The downhill 5th, played with the river behind the tee and the ruins alongside, is the hole most associated with the club. Late in the round the par-3 16th looks down the river toward Manhattan.

After a year-long closure, Fazio Design reopened the course in June 2024. The team rebuilt every green, with some moved and given more contour, and rebuilt more than 75 bunkers. They also pushed fairway bunkers out to between 315 and 340 yards to challenge long hitters. The work aimed to keep a 1990s course relevant for modern distances while preserving the dramatic site that put it in the national rankings.

Holes to know

5

Par 4

Downhill tee shot with the river behind and the Hessian Hills clubhouse ruins beside the tee; the left side can kick drives forward toward the green.

16

Par 3

A late par 3 whose tee looks down the Hudson toward Manhattan.

18

Par 5

A par-5 finish named by reviewers as one of the course's strongest holes.

Design history

• 2023–24: Fazio Design (Tom Marzolf, Rick Phelps, Jeff Lawrence) rebuilt all 18 greens, rebuilt more than 75 bunkers, moved fairway bunkers out to 315–340 yards, and changed grasses; reopened June 2024