The 84-year-old club in Kingston, N.Y., which has occupied its current 150-acre property since 1954, has listed its 18-hole, Robert Trent Jones, Sr.-designed golf course and clubhouse on a real estate firm’s website for $3.5 million.
Wiltwyck Golf Club in Kingston, N.Y. is up for sale, according to a real estate firm website and a club official, the Daily Freeman of Kingston reported.
Wiltwyck’s 18-hole, 72-par course and its clubhouse, opened in 1954, are listed at $3.5 million with the Murphy Realty Group in Kingston, the Daily Freeman reported.
Stephen Digilio, President of the club’s Board of Directors, said on August 4th that Wiltwyck GC’s mortgage was recently purchased from Catskill Hudson Bank by Dr. Anthony Bacchi, the Daily Freeman reported. Bacchi is a co-owner of the Golden Hill Health Care Center and also owner of the Lazy Swan Golf and Country Club Village in Saugerties, N.Y.
“As of this date, Wiltwyck is current with all mortgage obligations with [Bacchi],” Digilio told the Daily Freeman.
It is hoped that whoever purchases the Wiltwyck Golf Club and its 150 acres will continue the familiar use, Digilio added.
“We have listed the property for sale and we would like a purchaser that will keep it as an 18-hole, Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed golf club,” Digilio said.
The real estate listing, the Daily Freeman reported, says that the clubhouse measures 24,000 square feet.
“Designed by renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Sr., this par-72 layout measures 6,877 yards from the championship tees and has proven to be a challenge even to the most proficient of golfers,” the listing says.
“Rich in history, Wiltwyck dates back to 1933 and moved to its present location [in 1954],” it adds.
The clubhouse also has a 12,000-sq.-ft. second level that “offers expansive dining and entertaining areas with stunning vistas of the course and Catskill Mountains, as well as a large commercial kitchen, public rest rooms and elevator,” the listing adds.
“Enjoy a day of family fun playing tennis and relaxing by the 42-by-84 in-ground pool, children’s pool, snack bar and pool house with bathrooms and showers,” the listing concludes.
The sale of Wiltwyck has, in part, been prompted by declining membership which has been experienced by private golf venues throughout the nation, Digilio told the Daily Freeman.
In its heyday, membership at the club numbered “300 with a waiting list,” he said. But today, memberships which cost $3,995 for singles for a year and $4,995 for families, range from 125 to 150.
Private golf clubs are not getting members who are too busy raising families to “make a commitment” to a private golf club, Digilio said. “We don’t see them back until they are in their 50s,” he said. “There is a void.”
In May, Wiltwyck GC started tackling its declining golf participation and membership numbers by outsourcing its food operation and offering a wider range of membership options (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2017/05/wiltwyck-gc-outsources-fb-adds-membership-options/).
The food-and-beverage operation, once a profit center, had become more of a break-even operation in recent years, Digilio said at the time.
“It was becoming hard to run a profitable operation,” he said. “Since that time, we’ve decided it’s time to sell out that side of the business and focus on the golf club.”
“The traditional golfing population is getting older,” Digilio also said then. “The upcoming generation, the millenials, are very focused on family activities.”
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