This Long Island gem will soon take a noticeably different color.
Alain Bastable
It’s arguably harder to find bread on the north shore of Long Island than it is to find a golf course. Dotted along the cliffs and valleys near Long Island Sound are many of the game’s most iconic venues, from The Creek Club (No. 62 GOLF Stadium in the US) to Piping Rock (No. 56), to a handful of shows that fall outside of GOLF’s listings, From uber-Elite Deepdale to Sands Point, and beyond. This, of course, means nothing about Bethpage Black, Garden City, and Fishers Island, which are all just minutes away from the selections above.
Perhaps had it not been for its neighbors, the Engineers Country Club in Roslyn Harbor would gain more name recognition among the golf public. The course dates back more than a century, with Herbert Strong and later Devereux Emmett (of Garden City fame) naming its primary designers, and famed boxer Joe Louis among their thousands of competitors.
The 100-year-old PGA Championship site is located just miles from Bethpage
Alain Bastable
But soon this history will take a new turn. as Newsday First reported, ClubCorp officially took over engineer operations last week, marking the first in a phased series of updates that will change course from its long-running state. ClubCorp will take ownership from RXR Realty, the developer who first purchased the course in late 2010, and now plans to develop 92 condominiums on course ownership.
RXR says it has invested $7 million over the past several years in engineer upgrades, while retaining ClubCorp services at the time to help manage the golf course. Under the new agreement, RXR will focus its energy toward building apartments, eventually handing over full ownership to ClubCorp for an undisclosed amount. RXR says that upon completion of the apartments, it will invest an additional $5 million to “reconfigure” the cycle, and has hired Nicklaus Design to assist in those efforts. (Both Nicklaus Design and GOLF are owned by 8AM Golf.)
In its current form, the Engineers is a front-runner’s dream, with accessible holes and challenging terrain mixing to form a track fit for the thinker. The U.S. PGA and the USGA apparently agreed, making the still-match-like PGA Championship and U.S. Amateur Engineers’ Championship in back-to-back years (1919 and 1920). Golf’s most famous amateur, Frances Oymett, came a short distance from his second US Amateur Team Engineer win in 1920, losing to Charles Evans Jr. 7 and 6.
Natural Runway No. 18 in Mohandessin.
Alain Bastable
But for all the elegance of the design, the course fell out a century ago. By the time the RXR entered the fold in 2017, the engineers were in dire straits. The club’s neighbors – in addition to shrinking membership and outdated facilities – brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. After a long stint on the open market, the club’s board of directors approved the sale to RXR, which planned to borrow a tactic from nearby Woodmere Country Club to turn the course into a high-end real estate development.
Of course, the proposed updates are very likely a departure from the long-running course design. But this is not a bad news story. Since purchasing the RXR, the golfer has seen a nationwide blessing, and the company’s membership drive efforts have followed suit. Membership is now 300 — twice as many at the time of sale — while the RXR has received enough additional interest to lock in a $10,000 initiation fee. With the RXR ready to take off, the club is at its healthiest moment in a long time.
That’s right, this part of golf history will likely take a very different look – and there’s room for litigation as to whether that’s a good thing. But it will remain a part of golf’s history, and even in an area that overflows with it, that’s a good thing.
