Joe Betro, who took over the Campbell Hall, N.Y., property’s foodservice operation last year, closed on the purchase of the club in April. Betro has installed a new kitchen and patio, is updating the banquet hall, and has plans to add a new swimming pool, hot tub, and bridal cottage.
Joe Betro closed on the purchase of Otterkill Golf & Country Club in in April, and has embarked on an ambitious $1.6 million makeover of the Campbell Hall, N.Y., property, the Middletown, N.Y., Times-Herald Record reported.
Betro is a restaurateur by trade and tradition. His family moved to Orange County from the Bronx in the early 1970s when his father, Frank, opened the Chester Village Deli. He’s gone on to own eateries in Goshen, and plans to open a second Jon Angelo’s in Sugar Loaf in June, the Record reported.
So while the 18-hole, 6,600-yard course itself was a draw, the potential for a full-service banquet and event center was what really lured Betro into buying the place. Membership fees maintain the course, but profit, including cash for future investments, comes from the catering side of the business, the Record reported.
“You have to have a facility that can accommodate outside functions,” he said. “You have to have an anchor like a shopping mall. The anchor for us is the banquet hall.”
After taking over the club’s food service operation last year—with an option to buy the entire property—Betro installed a new kitchen with separate banquet and a la carte sections now overseen by chef John LaGreci. He offers an eclectic menu sourcing local ingredients and deserts from an in-house bakery, the Record reported.
“On March 1 we gutted the building down to the two-by-fours,” he said, pointing out new flooring and lighting. “The whole place is new. It wasn’t kept up. It was 1980s décor. It was old. It needed a clean sweep, a new lease on life.”
Behind him was an all-new patio for dining alfresco. The adjacent banquet hall will be enlarged and refurbished, he said, capable of comfortably accommodating about 350 people, or double the current occupancy, the Record reported.
Plans for a new swimming pool with a hot tub component are under review by the county Health Department, and Betro intends to poll the membership for its interest in renovating the tennis courts. A bocce court and horseshoe pits are also in the works, the Record reported.
“We’re trying to do a lot of things to get the whole family experience here,” Betro said.
There are now 161 members, a number Betro would like to see increase to about 250 next year. The golf course will continue to be private, while the public is welcome for banquets and restaurant dining, the Record reported.
A two-acre site is designated for a bridal cottage that will offer overnight stays before weddings, the Record reported.
“It’s a little scary,” Betro said. “There’s a lot of anxiety. Members say I can’t please everybody, but I want to.
“I’m energized like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve always loved this course. I never dreamed of owning it, but with the catering opportunity it’s a home run for us.”
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