Crab Meadow Golf Course To Be Renamed For Ex-Supervisor Flynn

NORTHPORT, NY — A ceremony celebrating the posthumous renaming of Crab Meadow Golf Course in honor of Robert J. Flynn, a former supervisor of the Town of Huntington, is scheduled for Aug. 13, according to a news release from Councilwoman Joan Cergol’s office.

The ceremony is slated for noon Aug. 13 at Crab Meadow Golf Course, located at 220 Waterside Road in Northport. Flynn, when supervisor, established the course as part of the first municipal parks system in the history of Suffolk County.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony, according to Cergol and Councilman Mark Cuthbertson. The Flynn family and town board members will be on hand.

Cergol and Cuthbertson introduced the resolution to rename the golf course in Flynn’s honor on Dec. 15, 2020, and it was unanimously adopted by the Huntington Town Board.

Flynn died of cancer at the age of 91 on Oct. 26, 2013, according to Newsday.

When Flynn took office as Huntington town supervisor in 1960, the current Crab Meadow Golf Course property was abandoned, having formerly belonged to the Northport Country Club that had closed in the 1940s, according to Cergol's office. Flynn spearheaded a $2.5 million bond referendum that was overwhelmingly approved by Huntington voters in 1962, and the town hired golf course architect William F. Mitchell to design the course.

Crab Meadow Golf Course opened in 1965.

"Our Town owes a great debt to Supervisor Flynn for his important work as a pioneer in preserving our beautiful parks and open spaces," Cergol said via release. "It is a privilege to be able to dedicate the Crab Meadow Golf Course in his honor and to celebrate Supervisor Flynn’s enduring legacy."

The Crab Meadow Golf Course is home to a wide range of events for local charities, schools, businesses, and other organizations, including the annual Lenney Peters Junior Golf Tournament, named after the course’s first in-house golf professional. The tournament, first hosted in 1968 and revived in 2016 by Cuthbertson, celebrates youth golf, sportsmanship, and the love of the game.

"The Crab Meadow Golf Course is one of the crown jewels of Huntington’s parks program, celebrating golf at all talent levels," Cuthbertson said. "I cannot think of a better way to pay tribute to Supervisor Flynn than by dedicating this beautiful golf course in his name."