\n
\nThe 100-year-old PGA Championship site is located just miles from Bethpage<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
by:<\/span><\/p>\n Alain Bastable <\/p>\n
<\/span>
But soon this history will take a new turn. as Newsday <\/em>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.<\/p>\nRXR 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.)<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\n
\n \nNatural Runway No. 18 in Mohandessin.<\/p>\n
Alain Bastable<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
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 The club’s neighbors – in addition to shrinking membership and outdated facilities – brought it to the brink of bankruptcy.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.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 twice as many at the time of sale \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div>\n
\n
James Colgan<\/h4>\n Golf.com Editor<\/span><\/p>\nJames Colgan is Associate Editor at GOLF, and contributes stories to the site and magazine on a wide range of topics. Hot Mic writes GOLF’s weekly media column, and uses his expertise in broadcasting across social media and the brand’s video platforms. A 2019 Syracuse University graduate, James \u2014 and his golf obviously \u2014 has been melting in the snow for four years, during which time he cut his teeth at NFL Films, CBS News and Fox Sports. Prior to joining GOLF, James was a scholarship holder (and a smart looper) in Long Island, where he belongs.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by: James Colgan Jan 16 2022 This Long Island gem will soon take a noticeably different color. Alain Bastable It’s…<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-garden","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wijhha.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}