Welcome to Van Cortlandt Park!
This is Van Cortlandt Park's first puzzle cache.
The Van Cortlandt Park golf course is the first public golf course in the United States, and it's in the Bronx! The listed coordinates are for the course's parking lot. The cache is not at the listed coordinates. You must solve the puzzle to find the coordinates of the cache location.
Me playing on the Van Cortlandt Park golf course:
What a mixed day of golf!
On the first hole I got a par. Not bad! But the next hole sucked. I'm actually too ashamed to say what the score was... The third hole was a double-bogey. Could have done better. Then, a birdie! Yay! The fifth was a double bogey. Oh well. Sixth was 4 over par! Not the best of days. The next hole was a bogey. I guess that's okay. On eight, I got a triple bogey. That sort of sucked. Ninth hole, birdie! Good way to finish the front nine!
For the tenth hole, I got a par. On the eleventh hole, I got a par. On the twelfth hole I got an eagle! Wow! But after good comes bad. REALLY bad. In fact, I'm too ashamed to say. After that hole, I told myself to focus. I wacked that ball super hard! And guess what? An ace! Hole in one! On a par four! I was so happy that I ended my game there and went home.
Van Cortlandt Park golf course scorecard.
Some historical background on the park (hint: this is unrelated to the puzzle):
Van Cortlandt Park occupies 1,146 acres in the northwest Bronx and is New York City's third largest park. Van Cortlandt boasts the country's first public golf course, the borough's largest freshwater lake, and the oldest standing house in the Bronx. The wooded area was once the favored hunting ground of the Mohican Indians. The Van Cortlandt Mansion was once the scene of political intrigue as both American and British military commanders—including then-general George Washington—used the house during the American Revolution as a headquarters.
Memorial Grove honors the American desire for freedom and commemorates Bronx citizens killed during World War II. A plaque bearing the name of a slain soldier was placed at the base of each tree. Indian Field was the site of a battle between British troops and a scouting team of Stockbridge Indians who were allied with the Continental army. A circle of stones with an accompanying plaque commemorates the slain Stockbridge Indians and their leader.
Tortoise and Hare, designed by Michael Browne in collaboration with fabricator Stuart Smith, celebrates the Aesop fable of the same name by bringing to life the race between the mild-mannered reptilian and overconfident and fleet-footed rabbit. Here the two are virtually neck-to-neck and seem to be striving towards the finish line. The work, which sits on a stone pedestal, lies just outside the finish line of the Van Cortlandt Park cross-country track, one of the best known in the country. The Tortoise and Hare was created as part of a recent capital project upgrading the track.
Sullivan Fountain in Van Cortlandt Park to the left of the Boat House is a granite and steel structure. Over the drinking fountain designed for horses is the inscription: "In honor of Algernon Sydney Sullivan: Jurist, Statesman, Orator: Born in 1825, Died 1887. An immaculate life devoted with never failing fidelity to public and private trusts." On the reverse side of the memorial, above the drinking fountain designed for people, the inscription reads: " He reached out both hands in constant helpfulness to his fellow men." On each side of the memorial are bronze medallions of Algernon Sydney Sullivan signed by the artist, Jonathan Scott Hartley.
The sculpture of Civil War hero Major General Josiah Porter by William Clark Noble stands near the Van Cortlandt Mansion. The statue was dedicated in 1902 and was sponsored by the New York State National Guard Association.
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