The course that was initially designed for only 10,000 rounds a year has seen as many as 30,000 recently, prompting the need for greens work, walk-bridge repairs and the creation of a new practice green and tee area, among other projects. The $825,000 cost will be funded by a $2.5 million settlement received from a pesticide distributor after misapplications damaged the course’s greens in 2015.
The Rye (N.Y.) City Council authorized the use of $825,000 in unreserved funds on March 15 for six major capital improvements to the Rye Golf Club, some of which include a continuation of the greens expansion project that kicked off last fall, The Rye City Review of White Plains, N.Y. reported.
The scope of work includes a package of improvements relating to curbing updates near the course’s greens and tee area; an installation of a privacy fence behind the first practice green and maintenance area; drainage installments; walk-bridge repairs on the fourth and sixth holes; and a continuation of the creation of a new practice green and tee area, totaling $308,000, the Review reported.
“Those are really good projects,” said Councilman Terry McCartney, a liaison to the Rye Golf Club Commission, who explained that the greens expansion comes as a result of the increasing foot traffic on the course.
While the club was initially designed to sustain only 10,000 rounds of golf per year, the club has recently faced as many as 30,000 annually, McCartney told the Review. That type of increase in foot traffic can cause the greens to become compacted, he noted, which can damage the growth of grass.
“That makes a big difference,” McCartney said. “Now that we have more foot play, we need to expand the greens to avoid that.”
The councilman told the Review that the golf club already has an “aggressive” aeration program and that it will now also spend $100,000 to design a replacement to its current irrigation system, which will be part of a much larger project that’s expected to occur in the future.
“With these improvements, the club wanted to make it a better experience for its members,” said City Manager Marcus Serrano. “Financially, the [club] is very strong and the future looks very bright.”
There is currently no timetable for the new construction approved by the city council to begin, the Review reported. According to McCartney, minor improvements such as the walk-bridge repairs will likely occur during the season, while the major projects, such as the greens expansion, are planned to start around the beginning of November.
There will be an estimated $2.1 million remaining in the club’s unreserved fund after spending $825,000 on the latest round of improvements, Serrano said.
In addition, McCartney told the Review, the club is able to fund the capital improvements entirely with money raised by membership fees, which he said have been virtually unaffected by the misapplication of tainted pesticide that plagued Rye GC in the summer of 2015, leaving most of the course’s greens unplayable.
At that time, the councilman noted, the golf club’s unreserved fund balance was estimated to be only $750,000. That changed after the city won $2.5 million in a lawsuit settlement from Tesenderlo Kerley Inc., the distributor of the fungicide that was misapplied to the greens. Of that settlement money, $2.1 million was designated for capital improvements.
However, as reported by C&RB in February, a group of Rye GC members have filed suit against the city as a result of the closure of the course in 2015 because of the pesticide damage (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2017/02/members-sue-city-rye-n-y-gc-closure/).
The city of Rye was also involved earlier this year with the $1 million settlement of a class-action suit by club employees over disputed wages and tips (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2017/01/city-settles-class-action-lawsuit-rye-n-y-gc-employees/)
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