Forty-two years after the Victor, N.Y., property opened under the name Janley Hills Golf Club, every member of the Dianetti family has played a role in the operation of the golf course, from supervising finances to running the pro shop, to managing the restaurant and maintaining the grounds.
The Victor Hills Golf Club in Victor, N.Y., began as Jack Dianetti’s retirement plan, and has stayed in the family ever since, the Rochester, N.Y.-based Democrat and Chronicle reported.
After working as a science teacher for 33 years, the East Rochester native set his sights on greener pastures. Seeing the potential of a former thoroughbred racehorse farm in Victor, Dianetti and his wife, Audrey, purchased the land in 1973 along with business partners, Leonard and Shirley Fulmer, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Converting the former farmland into a fairway became a family affair. Though a professional course designer, Peter Craig, planned out the nine holes, members of the Dianetti and Fulmer families all pitched in during the course’s construction and many stayed on with the business when it opened as the Janley Hills Golf Club in 1974, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
The club has since witnessed a number of changes. The Dianettis bought the Fulmers’ share of the business after seven years and renamed the outfit the Victor Hills Golf Club in 1981, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
One of the reasons for the name change, Jack Dianetti Jr. explained, was that “we wanted to identify where it was located. A lot of people heard ‘Janley Hills’ and they really didn’t know where it was…naming it after Victor took the guessing out.”
In addition to being christened with more appropriate moniker, the club also expanded to a more suitable size, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Victor Hills added two more nine-hole courses in the 1980s, an executive course in 1996 and a third 18-hole course in 2003. The club currently offers 63 holes spread out over three major locations, Victor Hills North, Victor Hills South and Victor Hills East. With the exception of the original nine, Jack Dianetti Sr. designed every hole himself, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
At one point, his goal was to have one course for each of his five children. That plan didn’t pan out, but Dianetti’s progeny all have a hand in the management and maintenance of the Victor Hills Golf Club, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Ownership of Victor Hills has been split between Dianetti’s wife, Audrey, and their children since he passed away in 2007. Each of the siblings and their spouses play a significant role in the club’s operation, from supervising finances to running the pro shop to managing the bar and restaurant to maintaining the grounds. The children of the Dianetti siblings are also actively involved in the business, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
As Jack Dianetti Jr. noted, “I really can’t think of anybody in the family who hasn’t worked at the golf course. It’s been a real family venture for a long time. If there’s a job that needs to be done on the golf course, a family member has done it or is doing it.”
The family’s involvement, Dianetti Jr. concluded, has been a key to the club’s success and longevity, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
“We want it to be the best it can be. I think with family-owned businesses, there’s not a detachment from that feeling. It doesn’t belong to somebody else, it belongs to us and it’s our livelihood. We’re responsible for it, so we want to do our best.”
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