The Boston Golf Club, located in Hingham, Mass. 18 miles south of Boston, is closed and may not open for the 2011 season amidst reports of serious financial problems. Other courses in the area have had play since mid March.
Opened in 2005, the heralded Gil Hanse design received instant acclaim and is ranked 21st on the 2011 GolfWeek's list of Best Modern Courses.
I've talked to a number of people familiar with the situation and the information all seems to indicate the same causes. First, a club member who had been funding a large annual deficit in recent years informed other members that he would not be doing so in 2011. Second, the lease payments for the land on which the entire course sits triples in May.
BGC was founded by Rob Ketterson and John Mineck. In 2007, Mineck was killed in a construction accident on the golf course.
(Photo: Brett Zimmerman, copyright 2010)
Wow Tony
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty shocking. BGC is a seriously good golf course with lots of thrilling shots and a great walk. Sorry to hear this news.
I'm not a financial guy but I have to ask how someone signs a lease that will have payments TRIPLE form one payment to the next? That sounds like a recipe for the disaster that looms ahead. They must have felt the good old days would never end and members would have unlimited budgets forever.
Interesting how they seem to be keeping this story of them closing from reaching the internet.
ReplyDeleteOld Sandwich ????
ReplyDeletethey filed mainly to get better loan terms , the lease was done so that there would be a enough members when the payment increase came, the remaing owner is getting a divorce from ned johnson's daughter (fidelity ) alot of people thought the johnson's were the owners not true..they need to go semi-private for a few years take in some revenue and when the economy rebounds go back to being private..
ReplyDeleteLovely golf course. Too bad reasonable people couldn't sit down at the table and hash out a resolution. What is to become of the staff ? the caddies ? These are the people that are truly impacted.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend caddies there and because they kept it secret and mislead them into thinking they had a job this season we are broke. What kind of dog and pony show are they running over there. Your all millionaires so you don't think of the employees who can't feed their families because the BGC couldn't be bothered to tell them to look for employment elsewhere. That course and the people who "run" it are a joke!
ReplyDeleteGolf course is located in an urban setting. Founded in 1923 Clovernook Country Club was originally designed by William Langford and Theodore Moreau. This course covers 6,554 yards and Cincinnati has a couple 71st It has a course rating of 71.8 and settling index is 131 on Bent grass. Clovernook considered one of the best courses and the oldest private in Greater Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous whose boyfriend was a caddy at BGC. Email me, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk with you about how he was informed. Apioppi@earthlink.net.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing from you.
Anthony
The length of the golf course is not the first priority. This is due to make a golf swing will not be easy. A club for good measure and good golf will be important. However, before measuring the required length of a club, you need to know that should not be too short or too long for this limited its business effectively and make a change in weight during the golf swing. However, factors such as gender, height, distance from the wrist, age and speed of response are also an important consideration.
ReplyDeleteSaw Donald Trump at the course friday prior to the Kraft funeral, hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteits a magical course, will be fine in long run.
ReplyDeleteTerrible management, plain and simple. When it started, it was great... They never listened to the people who knew anything about how to do it the right way... Buh bye BGC.
ReplyDeleteit,s a very nice club of golf cort.ve the energy and the sense of release and fun that's suddenly come back to the Sox after so much sourness. Time to enjoy the moment. The future is the future--lighten up, at least just for now!
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Tony, The club seems to be in better health then ever. I hate rumor mongering!
ReplyDeleteAgree with 4-6-12 comment. Membership is enthusiastic and growing.
ReplyDeleteBoston Golf Club is as fine a golf club that you will find anywhere. The Gil Hanse design provides for a beautiful round of golf from the 1st tee to the 18th green. It is a very challenging course but very fair. There are so many good holes, 18, that it's hard to determine which is my favorite. I must admit I'm biased. I get to walk this course everyday as a caddy. I've walked Major Championship golf course at Valhalla and Baltasrol. Two great places. Hole for hole Boston Golf Club maybe a better round than both of those. A different but just as great experience!
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