WHY COURSES FAIL Poor management policies and entrenched attitudes by golf course officials, combined with public need and private profiteering, usually force the end of a golf course

by DOUGLAS LUTZ

Envious eyes view golf's open green spreads as territory fertile for acquisition. As seen by the public sector, those prime lands that green the urban landscape unjustifiably support the sporting activities of only a handful of people. Better use could be made of these acreages. They could produce the much-needed income to help fill local govern- ment coffers; help ease the housing shortage; expand crowded college facilities or provide more macadam rib- bons to relieve traffic clogged highways. Private needs give way to public concerns; the few must move over for the many. Again and again the same story is told. The vulnerability of the golfing community lies in the inherent conflict between the private and public sectors. Ex- pansion is an American obsession, belied by hypocritical sentiment. Educational institutions extol the ideal of an edu- cation for everyone while unceremoniously acquiring pre- cious greenswards. The corporation, with a little help from industrial park promoters, dangles the lure of more jobs and less taxes, and ends the life of yet another golf course. Housing contractors, mindful of the housing shortage, bull- doze a once-venerable course, and build houses too expen- sive for most Americans. Highway departments insist more roads are needed to ease traffic-choked highways; slash across a fairway, thus creating more traffic. To all these special interest groups, the golf course repre- lasted two years, and Orchard Hills was gone forever. Land acquired to build Overpeck All the courses GC at the other end of the county in pictured here Teaneck, N.J., is traversed by Over- have failed, due peck Creek. Heavy spring rains, to public apathy, always a hazard in this part of the industrial state, cause serious flooding and ulti- expansion, mate damage to the new course. Why academic the county did not acquire Orchard encroachment or Hills as a public course and have the high-rise school built at the Overpeck site re- building. Lake mains a mystery. Hopatcong Orchard Hills was an excellent hilly (bottom, opposite course, one of the best in northern page; photo 4), New Jersey. Overpeck, by compari- closed two years son, is flat, dull, almost devoid of ago. Valley View trees. Following heavy rains, it is vir- (photo 1) has tually unplayable, causing many days become of uncollectable green fees. headquarters site A principal villain contributing to of the National the demise of golf courses has always Biscuit been the educational sector. In New Company. York City's borough of , the Ferncliffe 78-year-old fairways of the former (photos 2, 6) fell Oakland CC are hidden under the victim to Queensborough Community College industrial park campus. Any reminder of its past glory acquisition. as a truly unique example of old- Glen Oaks PHOTOGRAPH S B Y DOUGLA LUT Z fashioned design and topography can (photo 3) fell only be found in the clubhouse, which to luxury housing. Queensborough Community College (photo 5) now occupies still remains. That, too, is an alteration the former site of Oakland CC. Unique architectural features built into all these courses of its former self; it was rebuilt after a can never be duplicated. fire in 1912. Currently used for special functions, faculty dining and student club activities, this once-proud Dutch sents an easy solution to pressing, strong a protest might be expected if Colonial style mansion now looks public needs. the local government begins condem- down on masses of students who tramp Who supports a golf course when it nation proceedings against a commer- unknowingly across the plateau of is threatened by an expressway of cial golf course that may be barely Oakland's highest hill, a hill that once doubtful routing? Why doesn't the holding its own? Its position in the supported the incomparable ninth and community appreciate the value of a community as a fine example of an 18th greens. These were majestic golf course enough to fight for its sur- outmoded style of architecture does uphill finishing holes that terminated vival? Perhaps officials are short- not sway those determined to secure in terraced layers below the beckoning sighted. That the golf course has stood the land for education. Interests of the umbrella-decorated outdoor refresh- on its superb landscape for 50 years or very youth for whom a scholastic at- ment area. more has no bearing on their thinking. mosphere will be created, as surely as The acquisition of the property re- But the public doesn't attempt to alter the plans are announced, are soon to ceived an assist from another, larger official thinking. Why? What is the be denied on another level: the elimi- villain. The city in its zealous cam- golf course to most people? nation of a recreation facility that for paign to ring itself with new and better In their minds, they see Private, No many years attracted the community's roadways, condemned part of Oakland Trespassing, Keep Out, Members young as players and as caddies. Ironi- in 1958 to make room for housing Only signs. The meaning of these are cally, in the same county and concur- displaced from the path of the then- clear; the public is not wanted. The rently with initial bulldozing opera- building Long Island Expressway golf course is interested only in main- tions at the existing course, ground is (now called the world's largest parking taining its privacy, its elitism. Despite broken for a new 18 hole course. Hy- lot). Doubtless, other open territory in the popularity of golf, the golfing com- pothetical? Not by a long drive. the immediate vicinity should have munity has alienated itself from the In 1968, Bergen County, N.J., con- been the choice for relocation, but the community at large. Its welfare, no demned Orchard Hills in Paramus, and city government at that time was not longer of concern to the public, is easi- Bergen County Community College particularly disposed to any consider- ly sacrificed. began building on nine of the holes. ations of ecology, preservation of a When a county needs a college for The other nine were to be operated golf course or the wishes of the golfing its education-hungry children, how under a five-year lease. The lease fraternity. There was, in fact, a blatant

continued COURSES FAIL continued practice green for student golfers. In a five to six mile square of disregard of opinion conflicting with However, any interest on the part of Queens, during a short 20-year stretch, officialdom's road-building fanati- the institution seems remote. six wonderful, old courses were wiped cism. , The section of Queens where St. out—Oakland, Pomonok, Hillcrest, In 1959, Queensborough Communi- Johns and Queensborough are located Bayside and Idlewild, as well as St. ty College took over the remainder of was also home for Pomonok and Bay- Albans, a private club in the communi- Oakland CC, which was in extremely side Golf Clubs. Neither course could ty it was named after, that became a shaky financial condition as a semi- stem the tide of the housing explosion United States Naval hospital during private course. The inevitability of that took place in Queens. Earlier ver- World War II. progress, one supposes, stifled any sions of garden apartments, forerun- The marshy shores of resistance to the takeover by Oak- ners of today's condominiums, and were once home for the Idlewild GC. land's management, even though golf one and two family brick homes satu- A few blocks in from the old Sunrise in City had begun its popu- rated the landscape in the Fresh Mead- Highway, now part and parcel of the larity swing. ows area squeezing out both Pomonok Belt Parkway, behind scattered rows Clearview, a city-owned course, and Bayside. Additionally, Bayside of frame houses reachable along reed- only three miles north of Oakland, had was in the path of the projected Clear- framed rutted roadways, Idlewild's been establishing records as the most view Expressway, which was ulti- flags fluttered above tall stalks of popular public course in the world. mately to lead traffic arteries to and swamp cattails. In this isolated setting, Oakland should have been the logical from the planned Throggs Neck had a fine example of a candidate for the overflow from Clear- Bridge. seaside links. A goodly share of hy- view. Instead, that distinction went to continued on page 51 infamous Dyker Beach in . Granted, the full impact of public golf had not as yet descended on the CHECK YOUR VULNERABILITY city: the managements at many New Here are some danger signs and est distance betwen two points is a York area clubs were then unaware of some positive actions to consider. straight line. Cutting off the corner the potential income soon to be real- • Know what is happening to land of your course as an expedient path ized, so no effort was made to hold development in your immediate for a roadway is too simple a solu- onto golfing facilities. Clearview, as area. Farms subdivided for small tion, which you should be prepared an example of short-sighted manage- housing complexes usually mean to rebut with creative alternatives— ment, had been sadly neglected; a fac- more of the same. Population assuredly not with anger. tor that drove golfers away. This, plus spreads into your general area • Watch the political arena care- Oakland's crippling tax burdens, fin- should trigger percentage in- fully. Challenge candidates on their ished her off. creases in your "future" financial positions regarding open space Typically, New York City's parks planning. Taxes will be rising along legislation. Better yet, put up your department took no action to acquire with assessed evaluations. own candidate. Green belt legisla- the property as a city park, even • Committee votes against levies tion, theoretical in nature, is the pol- though there was enough indicators to for anticipated increases in labor, itician's panacea against all clear- show that city facilities were about to tax and operating costs, while pos- minded protest over open land loss. be over-utilized. sibly not an immediate threat, will Be wary in this arena. Another institution of higher learn- accrue to the detriment of the • Continual examination of stu- ing had set the pace for golf course course. Gradual rises in assess- dent registration versus available property acquisition some years earlier ments and/or dues should keep classroom space is a good barome- in the same general area as the Oak- pace with cost of living indicators. ter of possible expansionist thinking land site. Larger demands for sorely needed within the scholastic community. Hillcrest GC, hemmed in by semi- revenue can hit a portion of the Support local schools in their affluent houses in a section of Queens membership at a bad time, causing search for expansion sites. Enlist called Utopia, became the site of St. panic and possible defection. the positive aid of your young peo- Johns University. Just to the south of • Stay as close as possible to ple, who are potential students, Hillcrest, across Grand - local public works planning pro- influencers of academic thinking. way, was a particularly affluent neigh- jects. Road and sewer improve- Again, suggest viable alternatives. borhood called Jamaica Estates. It ments outside your property lines • The innocent-looking shopping would appear that among the residents have a direct corollary to assessed center nearing completion down of the surrounding communities, there value. Always have a strong repre- the road may be the vanguard of might be enough support to forestall sentation, your most influential more commercial businesses or Hillcrest's demise. This was not to be, members, at public hearings on small industry moving into your however, and once again golf was the road construction. Condemnation area. Who are the principals behind loser. of property comes rapidly on the the operation? Have they looked In a weed-grown comer of the St. heels of public hearings. Routing of you over without your knowing it? Johns campus, old course buffs can seemingly important arteries is not Get to know your new neighbors still glimpse through the rusted fence only the province of road engi- and determine if they are intent on and underbrush one of Hillcrest's neers. They tend to think along the acquiring large tracts of land for fu- greens—perhaps salvageable as a lines of the old bromide—the short- ture development. COURSES FAIL from page 28 York's Planning Commission voted 32 in Nassau, a loss of 50 courses in draulic fill pumped in from Jamaica unanimously in August, 1971, to grant only two suburban counties. Bay buried this honorable layout as the owner a special permit to proceed Although much of the foregoing once again abandonment was neces- with construction plans. The only con- deals with the problems inherent in big sary in the face of "progress." Land dition of approval was a covenant city golf, lessons learned from the acquisition for the city's jetport, first guaranteeing that part of the 106-acres demise of the city's private and semi- called Idlewild, then International Air- in New York City remain as open private clubs can be applied to any port and today John F. Kennedy, space. The developer plans to install community. All too often public forces quickly swallowed yet another Queens an 18-hole course for the exclusive use combined with special interest groups golf institution. of the project residents. Vigorous ef- have worked, secretly at times, to cir- The next course slated for demoli- forts by residents of Glen Oaks to urge cumvent the interests of the golfing tion was North Hills, a private club in the city to acquire the property for use fraternity or the self-absorbed mem- Douglaston near the Nassau County as a city course have failed. The plan- ber, concerned only with his own start- line. It boasted a history dating back ning commission totally disregarded ing time and his dollar Nassau. beyond 1930. When North Hills ran their recommendations. Community Rural areas have not been immune afoul of the tax collector in 1962, real Planning Board 13 had complained to the forces conspiring, however in- estate interests beamed at the opportu- that the three apartment towers would nocently, to the eventual destruction of nity of turning its incredible beauty destroy the suburban character of the golf courses. The National Biscuit into a setting for luxury housing. How- neighborhood so richly endowed by Company is currently installing its ever, for once cooler heads prevailed. the presence of the Glen Oaks CC. world headquarters on the site of the The city, incredibly, took it over, and New York City, as a home for former Valley View GC in Hanover, Douglaston Park, as it is called now, private clubs, seems an improbable re- Morris County, N.J. Concurrent with was saved. Again, the academic world ality. Forty-five years ago, there were the purchase of Valley View by Nabis- interfered with total preservation. A 26 private and semi-private courses co, Morris County began construction Catholic institution managed to secure within its boundaries. Today, there is of a new 18-hole course seven miles some acreage at one end of the layout, one. north of Hanover. ostensibly to build a school, prior to The distinction of being the lone A Morris County park commission the city takeover. The fairways, lost to survivor in a long history of New York spokesman said recently, "Of course the city, were fallow for some time, City golf belongs to the Richmond CC we knew Valley View was for sale. So when in fact they could have been in on . How long this bas- were several others, but an approxi- play on a lease basis until such time as tion of privacy can resist the burgeon- mate $3 million asking price was out the church group had formulated its ing population of the city's newest real of reach. A 1971 referendum gave us building plan. A splendid old course estate developers' playground, re- the right to build another county had to be shortened by 1,000 yards, mains to be seen. Faced with horren- course to supplement Flanders Valley, shrinking the back nine down to a dous tax burdens amounting to over and we are now completing Sunset mere 2,433 yards and a par of 32. $200,000 a year, Richmond County Valley on 144 acres in the Pequannock The changing landscape of Queens, will be hard pressed not to surrender area." where vast areas of open acreage once its prime territory to some developer's According to Glen Craig, a Nabisco proudly housed numerous courses, is enticing dollars. There is no immedi- public relations communications now accented by only six city-owned ate threat of bisection by a parkway. spokesman, the company's action in golfing facilities. Clearview, Douglas- Membership support stubbornly resists acquiring Valley View were strictly ton, and , all encroachment. Tough management business. He said recently, "We 18-hole courses, a par three in Flush- maintains a firm barrier against in- ended a two-year search covering at ing Meadow Park and a pitch and putt trusion by the outside world. Be that as least 20 sites in Westchester and New course in . Clearview it may, Richmond County is vulnera- Jersey when we settled on Valley and Douglaston are completely boxed ble. Envious eyes view Todt Hill, the View. We have been criticized by in, but there is xoom for another nine highest point above sea level on the golfers for taking over the course, but holes at Kissena, and an extensive Eastern Seaboard, along whose slopes we bought it because it was for sale. wooded area of Forest Park would Richmond County clings, as one of the It's an ideal setting for our needs." make an excellent setting for a sepa- prime regions for housing in the entire Valley View had given North Jer- rate 18. With an apathetic parks de- metropolitan area. If Richmond sey's unaffiliated golfers a fine home partment, it is doubtful that any expan- County fails, let us all hope the city for many years. The course was ex- sion will be undertaken, even though also has been looking enviously at this pertly maintained and efficiently golf revenues could easily support any superb display of superior golf course operated. Judging by the amount of such "bold" endeavor. design with an eye toward preservation play, especially on weekends and dur- The last remaining private club in for all the city's golfing fraternity. ing the summer, at the green fees Queens, Glen Oaks, which straddled Heavily-populated New York sub- charged, it must have been financially the New York City-Nassau County urbs, such as Westchester and Nassau successful, too. Perhaps Valley line, is currently underdevelopment as Counties, also bear the scars of golf View's vulnerability was in finding the site of a high-rise apartment com- course property loss. In 1932, for ex- Nabisco's offer too enticing to resist. plex. Three 32-story luxury apartment ample, Westchester housed 64 private Retention of Lake Hopatcong GC, a towers are nearing completion on two courses and Nassau had 53. Today, New Jersey landmark of some histori- acres on the 126-acre course. New there are only 35 in Westchester and cal significance, might have become a COURSES FAIL continued operating lease covering a specified seems we always have a golfer on the reality had local officials been willing length of time during which a site city council. Usually, he's in there to consider tax relief under a plan of- committee may shop around for alter- pitching for the golf group. If other fered by the course stockholders. native acreage. communities would try to put a golfer Faced with an annual $9,000 township It is not the intention of golf clubs to on their councils, I don't think it tax and losses running to $7,000 a operate in anticipation of making prof- would hurt golf one bit." year, the club was offered to the town, it. But recognizing that the threats Single instances of commuting the if it would operate the course as a come mainly from those concerned death sentence of a failing course give public recreation facility for 10 years. with profits should help to formulate a encouragement to the hope that total The township refused, and the stock- united front against incursion. Busi- demise is not necessarily the only fate holders were forced to sell to real es- nesslike approaches are the reality left to a club that has fallen on difficult tate interests two years ago. clubs must embrace, if they are to sur- times. Recently, Montgomery County, Lake Hopatcong was incorporated vive the onslaught against their vulner- Pa., responded to an appeal from the in 1901, and was practically hand built ability. Jeffersonville GC near Norristown for by the original membership. Construc- Financial stability is the surest safe- financial aid. A special bond issue was tion methods that created unique fea- guard against the tax collectors axe. It approved to defray the purchase price, tures seldom seen today, such as rock is the best weapon against sudden and the course was taken over by the piling in huge "mole" tracks that riches dangled by real estate and in- county as a public facility. completely traversed several fairways, dustial promoters. Scholastic and In addition the city's acquisition of made Lake Hopatcong historically im- church groups can be handled in com- Douglaston Park, the city also picked portant. Scooping and piling opera- mittee and through an extension of co- up South Shore on Staten Island, tions created bunkers in the course's operation toward solving their space which was failing as a commercial terraced hillsides, which nestled close needs. The envious eyes glowing over course. With all the criticism leveled to postage-stamp greens, usually the prospects of acquiring your proper- at the city's parks department, one can square or oblong in shape. Water for ty must be turned in other directions. only applaud when positive actions are sprinkling was fed through sunken Politics, often the nemesis of the taken. pipes by gravity from a concrete hold- golfing community, should be used to Waiting for help from official quar- ing tank set between two narrow fair- advantage. City councils are elected. ters, however, is not meeting the ways along the course's highest ridge. Why not a golfer or two as candidates? problem head on. Total awareness of To play Lake Hopatcong was to step Cincinnati, whose highly successful the threats leading to possible acquisi- back in time, a nostalgic trip now for- public golf program has been held up tion of your course should trigger an ever denied metropolitan area golfers. as a model for some time, has the sym- examination of your potential vulnera- The bleak prospects faced by private pathetic ear of several council bility. clubs and commercial layouts because members who are golfers. Tommy Lo A gaping hole in your chain link of official apathy and unimaginative Presti, grossing nearly $400,000 a fence would be immediately repaired local governments, scholastic expan- year as professional and manager at upon discovery. It would be necessary sion, development greed and industrial Sacramento, California's Haggin Oaks to forestall unwanted potential van- takeover, might seem insurmountable. Municipal and an outspoken proponent dals. The same principle should apply They are, if course operators and of public golf, once said, "We've in thwarting your course's potential memberships allow them to be. Not all been very fortunate in Sacramento. It extinction through acquisition. • city governments are unconcerned about the welfare of golfers, as has been seen in the forward-thinking philosophies expressed in action by Cincinnati and other communities (see GOLFDOM, June, p. 20). Scholas- tic expansion is a manageable mon- ster. Acceptable alternatives for campus acquisitions usually can be found in most localities. Tax rolls are accented in red ink. In many instances, desirable locations other than golf courses are heavily tax troubled and open to financial offerings. Taking ad- vantage of golf's vulnerability comes easiest to real estate developers and corporate entities. Resistance to gener- ous offers, which are possible through long-range projections of potential in- come, is not a simple matter. Reprieve from total collapse is possible by offer- ing a threatened facility to the local or During construction of Lake Hopatcong course, rocks were piled to form haz- coünty government in exchange for an ards, thus creating a distinctive feature not found elsewhere.