Plandome Country Club almost wasn’t a golf course at all. In 1928, the founders bought the heart of the old Leeds estate intending to build an upscale neighborhood running along Stonytown Road from Plandome Road to Port Washington Boulevard. The 1929 market crash forced a pivot, and the land became a club—luckily so. Today Plandome is among Nassau County’s most scenic and demanding layouts, with an opening hole often cited as one of the Met Area’s sternest tests. The club hired Orrin Smith of New Britain, Connecticut—then little known—to draw the plans. He completed the design by July 1930, and the course debuted on Decoration Day, May 31, 1931. Smith used the site’s natural contours and mature plantings to weave eighteen holes efficiently across the 107-acre property, preserving its character while creating a cohesive, challenging route.