Abdul Aziz wanted to be the first. It had, after all, been 52 years since the last public golf course was opened in New York City.
So Aziz, from Queens, was on the phone the minute tee times were first available for booking last month, and he scored the 7:40 a.m. spot for Wednesday's long-anticipated opening of Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point.
"I wanted to be the first,'' Aziz said as he stood on the tee box of the fourth hole.
About three hours after the first group teed off, Josh Rich from Manhattan one-upped Aziz, carding a hole-in-one on the 12th hole — the first hole-in-one of the course's official opening, a 150-yard 8-iron.
"I saw it drop and didn't see it after that, because it was kind of a blind shot,'' said Rich, a 9-handicap who said it was his first hole-in-one after having played for 15 years. "I'm in shock. I'm still shaking. I'm still trembling.''
Told that course owner and proprietor Donald Trump had a hole-in-one on the 12th last year before the course opened, Rich said jokingly, "Well, I'm in the same company as Donald.''
Rich was part of another first on Wednesday. He was playing with Andrea Westerlind, the first woman to play the course's opening.
It was that kind of day at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point. The place was bustling with a full morning tee sheet filled with many players from New York City who have been anticipating the long-awaited opening.
Mike Bonamassa, who lives in Queens and owns a plumbing company, grew up minutes away from the property the course now occupies.
"It hasn't been anything since the '60s, so to get out on the first day was kind of a must for me,'' Bonamassa said. "I've been hearing about it since I was a kid. It has gone from a dump to something I've dreamed about. I've been waiting for this for years.''
Theo Mavromihalis grew up across the Whitestone Bridge in Queens and said he has watched the property in various stages of disrepair since he was a kid.
Kevin Hennessy, 34, from Queens, tees off with the first group.Photo: Andrew Theodorakis
"We used to come out here as kids with BB guns and shoot rats,'' Mavromihalis said. "The people here in The Bronx and Queens don't yet realize what they have here. There has been a lot of resistance in community board meetings that this was a big waste of the city's money and that it's not worth it.
"They don't realize the greater good this will bring to the community and how a golf course can open up golden doors. Ten years from now, those who opposed this are going to realize how this will help revitalize The Bronx.''
Jim Carriero, a fellow attorney and playing partner of Mavromihalis, is also from Queens and said he has been "eagerly anticipating this to be finished after seeing as a dump for so many years.''
"Every time I drove over the Whitestone Bridge, I'd look down and see, 'Oh, they have another hole finished,' or, 'Oh, they have another fairway done,' '' Carriero said.
Eamon Donnelly, a New York bar owner playing with three fellow Irishmen, said the links style of the course reminds him of playing at home in Ireland "with the rolling hills and mounds and hills in the fairways.''
He called the price to play, which is significantly more than the other city courses, "worth it, because quality is worth it.''
Aiden Welsh, another of the Irish foursome, said the location is one of the biggest draws.
"I think it took 20 minutes to get here this morning — in traffic," Welsh said.
Two players who were lukewarm on the course because of the cost to play were Jason Stricker and Theron Irish, two members of Westchester Hills, a private club. They paid the $230 rate (with cart) as non-city residents.
"I think the price is a little high,'' Irish said. "I don't know how the public is going to pay that. Who, playing public golf, is going to pay $230 for a round? Maybe Wall Street guys. Some people don't make that kind of money in two or three days of work. This is not Yankee Stadium, where you can buy bleacher seats.''
Tony Macari, a developer of concession and architecture who works with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, said he has been working on this project since 2001 and "got emotional'' seeing the first group tee off.
"It's almost surreal to see this come to fruition after all these years,'' Macari said. "This project has had a couple of lives, but it's never gone away. It's an historic day … a long time coming. ''
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