Spent 2 summers living in Lake Placid but didn’t do much else apart from play golf. Still have a few mates here so they’ve given me a few tips and help with writing this travel guide. It’s been a long time since I was here but not too much has changed and it’s still the beautiful, relaxing place that’s it’s always been, despite having a few more tourists.
Lake Placid is probably best known for hosting the 1980 Olympics and the film of the same name. I stayed there for a few months in the winter and it’s bloody freezing – like snot running down your nose and freezing type of cold. The plan was to stay through the winter but I couldn’t stand it and got out of town pretty quickly. The summers on the other hand, are beautiful, I don’t remember having much rain, and the temperature is perfect for golf, which is basically all I did everyday for two summers.
I worked at the Lake Placid Club, which is a 45 hole resort (two 18’s and short par 3 nine) with two very different courses. The Mountain Course is short and dinky with one of the best views off the first tee, overlooking the Adirondacks. The Mountain Course was remodelled in 1920 by Alister MacKenzie who did Augusta National (home of the Masters). The Links Course was designed by Seymour Dunn, a Scottish golf course architect. Both courses are great to play and if you’re going to Lake Placid and even just a little bit interested in golf, play both of them.
Working at the course I saw a few famous people, Jim Tolkan (who played Stinger in Top Gun), lots of Rangers hockey players, and All Black Ian Jones wondered in one day for a round. The Clinton’s also stayed here and played golf. My claim to fame from that is hitting a lob shot into the secret service operations room door and getting them to come out. This was pre- 9/11, I don’t think it would have gone down too well now.
Send us any questions or comments you have about Lake Placid via email or ask us on twitter.