Playing for better than par

The Inwood Country Club, Rockaway Hunting Club, Seawane and the Lawrence Yacht & Country Club operate in the Five Towns. The first four are private clubs, while the Lawrence club is owned and operated by the Village of Lawrence.

It could be only four clubs as Woodmere Club members were expected to vote on Feb. 1 to sell to Robert Weiss and Efram Gerzberg. If approved, the property could be transformed into residential housing. The club is expected to be kept open to at least Oct. 21, 2021, according to a summary of the terms.

Factors for having to battle harder for members and aggressively market to areas outside of the South Shore, include the nationwide economic downturn that impacted Long Island for several years beginning in 2009. That impact has decreased, but the costs associated with joining a country club remain an obstacle for many. In the Five Towns specifically, a greater influx of Orthodox Jews and a declining secular population has decreased the potential pool of members.

Lou Rusinowitz, membership chair for the Inwood Club, said that club officials saw the difficulty in building a locally-based membership several years ago, and have successfully, he said, marketed the club to people in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.

“For our golfers, we have a men’s Wednesday nigh league, a women’s league and mixed Twilight tournaments,” Rusinowitz said. “Today, membership is a healthy mix of local, Brooklyn, New York City-based families, couples and individuals.” Both Inwood and Lawrence clubs also have tennis courts and Lawrence has a 134-slip marina.

Lawrence village officials put together an aggressive marketing campaign several years ago after losing members to other clubs. They improved the greens and tried hard to mitigate the flooding. Then Hurricane Sandy hit and they had to start all over. The clubhouse was rebuilt and the greens needed tender loving care. Nearly $2 million was spent to restore the municipal club.
In the past two years, the village has invested just over $200,000 to refurbish the club with fresh paint and wallpaper, Mayor Alex Edelman said. The club is also investing in its employees.

“We are reinvesting in staff training and training our staff to be charming,” he said. “How to treat the people, welcome them and ask ‘Can I get you something,’ that’s what we are doing to be extremely successful.”

To attract new members at Inwood, club officials have worked hard to maintain what Rusinowitz called its “challenging golf course” and “stately clubhouse” and upgraded the suites members can rent and invested in the Inwood Beach Club that is in Atlantic Beach. He said the cabanas and food service has been enhanced and the lounge chairs have been replaced. “We need to be sure members have a great summer experience,” he said.

Edelman said that membership costs have not been raised for the coming season, and future plans call for the construction of a gym and possibly a swimming pool. “Our prices are reasonable and guys in their 20s, 30s and 40s are playing golf,” he said. “It’s not an old time sport.”

Doubling down on investing in the club, Rusinowitz said that Inwood completed what he termed “a significant golf course project” to retain the links-style origins of the golf course, and a practice area upgrade is planned for the spring. “We are currently analyzing plans to add more summer housing and to a build a dedicated short game area,” he said.

Rockaway Hunting Club and Seawane officials didn’t return calls or emails for comment.

Have an opinion about the survival of country clubs? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.