Golfing Man 2025: Cultivating Community at Dyker Beach

Brooklyn Country Club's first tourney was a smashing success, and then some

Author

Gabriel Reiter
August 19, 2025

I finished cleaning my last club, my sand wedge, and put it back into my bag standing about three feet off the cart path and maybe twenty-five feet from the side porch of the clubhouse at Dyker Beach Golf Course. As I put it neatly next to my lob, I looked over my sticks and through my blue tinted Oakleys at the forty or so people mingling around the first tee, a DJ switching between chill house and reggaeton mixes standing between the crowd and the box. To their right, burgers and dogs were getting seasoned and flipped over an open top grill and handed out to hungry hands. People hugged, handed out business cards with a smile, some people chased their kids around with a bag of plastic clubs while others clinked aluminum Stella cans together in a great reunion. It was a different vibe than most other days at the golf course. While golfers more or less have a sense of togetherness, at least until you hit into the group in front of you, I had never felt a sense of community like this, even at my own tournament. I guess with a name like “Battle for the Crest Cup”, it isn’t the most communal sounding. I digress. 

Brooklyn Country Club is all about community. There’s a unique type of connectivity only possible in NYC, and they champion it. It’s the first thing that struck me when I saw the account, saw how they style their events, how they cultivated a physical and online presence built on relatability and the many things that unite golfers across courses, boroughs, and states. That’s the reason why all these people came out, including me. Yes, it was a nice weekend of many firsts; the first ever Golfing Man Tour event, my first ever tournament, and my first ever round in Brooklyn (I was a Vanny and Queens rat when I played in the city.) But, what really brought me all the way from Miami to Dyker Beach was to contribute to and connect with the people in this beautiful community that is being built in my home away from home of NYC. 

From setup to execution, the tourney carried the same vibe that Brooklyn Country Club curates and shares, radiates even. Everyone, from the first timers dripped out in Malbon and Fore-All to the sticks in their coordinated outfits to the absolute legend dressed identical to 2000’s Tiger, came to show love not just to Brooklyn CC, of course, but to the NYC golfing institution as a whole. I am almost positive all five boroughs were in attendance, Jersey as well. Long Island Golf Junkies were in the group behind me and could easily have won best dressed. People from Connecticut, and yes, Florida, all came to show love. And while we all came to win (why do you think I wore my Sun Day Reds?), the real win is the strength of the NYC golf community, and the realization of Brooklyn CC’s vision not just for a tourney, but for what that community can be.

But what an event it was, at such a beautiful course. Thrilling elevation from the first tee shot, tight corners around tall trees, greens that get you to go for the hole before spitting your ball out on the fringe behind. A lot of space for a city course, multiple par 5’s, urban views that give it one-of-a-kind driver lines followed by sections secluded between the leaves. The open space near the tee box made for a perfect way to mix the thrill of competition with the beauty of the clubhouse and the effervescent vibes that flowed through the air, carried by the bass of the speakers and the breeze in the trees. Everyone plopped their bags down by the same big oak like at a car meet, gathering around and checking out each other’s clubs and covers, showing off the awesome merch they got at the registration table. The enticing blend of art, fashion, and competition was amplified within the shady little grove we gathered under, and as players started to tee off, drinks in hand and smiles on their faces, it only deepened the feel. The pace allowed for a lot of conversation between teams, between groups, and between friends, turning the round into an all day-hang while we simultaneously played our favorite game. 

It was a tournament as unique as the borough and city it was held in. It was a day as delightful as the communal gathering that we all were attending, the Golfing Man Tour inaugural event. Like the Burning Man event it is named after, it brought the artistic, creative, collective aspects to the forefront, minus the burning effigies. Brooklyn Country Club, like the borough it is named for, cultivates an idea of being fearless in how you move, mingle, and create, doing so in a way that is unique but also inviting. Inspiring and rewarding at the same time, just like Golfing Man, just like NYC, just like golf.