Durand Eastman Golf Course

Overview: On Rochester’s Lake Ontario shore, Durand Eastman Golf Course provides a public parkland round over 18 holes. Robert Trent Jones Sr. reshaped the original property into the modern course, which now plays to par 70 and 6,033 yards from the blue tees. The routing uses steep-sided valleys, mature trees, creek crossings and the broader natural landscape of Durand Eastman Park. Its combination of municipal access and genuine architectural history makes it one of Rochester’s most distinctive public rounds.

History: Durand Eastman Park began with land given to the city in 1907, and golf was first documented there in 1917 with a nine-hole layout. A second nine followed in 1931, then Robert Trent Jones redesigned the course in 1933 and 1934. Later changes altered holes and par, including the move to the present par-70 configuration. The course history also records uncertain early links to Donald Ross, but Jones’s role in the modern 18-hole layout is firmly documented.

Did You Know? The course sits inside a park created around Lake Ontario, where steep narrow valleys were formed by stream erosion. That geology explains why Durand Eastman feels more rugged and varied than a typical flat municipal layout.