{"id":17537,"date":"2026-10-21T04:30:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T04:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/17537\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T04:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T04:30:34","slug":"gone-golfin-the-real-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/17537\/","title":{"rendered":"Gone golfin\u2019 – The Real Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who\u2019s tried to do business with a serious golfer on a summer Friday \u2014 or Monday, for that matter \u2014 may be on a fool\u2019s errand.<\/p>\n

With an abundance of storied golf clubs in the metropolitan area, the same is true of real estate\u2019s biggest players.<\/p>\n

Built on hundreds of acres of rolling hills in Westchester, New Jersey and the Hamptons, golf in the tri-state area is unquestionably a real estate story \u2014 sharing a clubby nature with an industry known for being less than hospitable to outsiders. <\/p>\n

Though New York\u2019s older clubs are steeped in history, a slew of new courses built over the past two decades have attracted the industry\u2019s biggest names and the imprimatur of golf starchitects who have pushed clubhouse aesthetics into the modern age. <\/p>\n

At the Bridge \u2014 a 17-year-old club in Bridgehampton whose members include HFZ Capital\u2019s Ziel Feldman and Marty Burger of Silverstein Properties \u2014 architect Roger Ferris designed a modern, glassy clubhouse that houses art by painter and photographer Richard Prince and contemporary artist Tom Sachs (both members).<\/p>\n

And at East Hampton Golf Club, which opened in 2000, the clubhouse was designed by Pembrooke & Ives, the interior design firm behind the luxury condos at 212 Fifth Avenue and the Astor at 235 West 75th Street, among others. (That club also counts high-profile real estate attorney Jon Mechanic, chair of law firm Fried Frank\u2019s real estate department, and Cushman & Wakefield\u2019s Doug Harmon as members.)<\/p>\n

In fact, New York real estate players help populate several of the toniest clubs in the Hamptons, where membership can be as steep as $1 million plus annual dues.<\/p>\n

And playing with clients and colleagues is, well, par for the course.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of quid pro quo going on in golf,\u201d said Robin Schneiderman, head of business development for Halstead and Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing, who plays at Gardiner\u2019s Bay Country Club on Shelter Island. \u201cI\u2019ll take you to my place if you take me to yours.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your handicap?<\/p>\n

The East End is dotted with exclusive clubs whose membership goes back generations.<\/p>\n

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Maidstone Club and National Golf Links of America are generally uttered in the same breath \u2014 often followed by the words \u201cdiscerning,\u201d \u201cprivate\u201d or \u201csnooty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the top three, Maidstone has been called the \u201cmost blueblood.\u201d <\/p>\n

The East Hampton club, founded in 1891, is said to have a seven-year waiting list.<\/p>\n

Famous members have included George Plimpton, co-founder of the Paris Review. Arthur Zeckendorf is also a member.<\/p>\n

Atlantic Golf Club, which opened in 1992 in Bridgehampton, has an equally prestigious (and deep-pocketed) member base. <\/p>\n

But early on, it had the reputation of attracting Jewish members who had been turned away from other clubs. Some of those early members included the Blackstone Group\u2019s Stephen Schwarzman and Jonathan Tisch, chair and CEO of Loews Hotels, according to published reports. Harry Macklowe is also said to be a member, sources said. And Corcoran Group CEO Pam Liebman plays there as well.<\/p>\n

Liebman said she\u2019s \u201ccemented many a deal over golf,\u201d and plays not just for the chance to spend several hours outside in a beautiful environment, but also to connect with clients and potential clients (often with cocktails on the last hole). It \u201cdoesn\u2019t hurt,\u201d she said in a text message, \u201cto often be the only woman playing in small or large groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strength of a golfer\u2019s game may depend on the day, but there are some real estate players with strong handicaps.<\/p>\n

John Leslie, senior managing director at ABS Altman Warwick, the capital markets arm of ABS Real Estate Partners, has a 3.4 handicap \u2014 meaning that on average he scores 3.4 above par on 18 holes. Steve Witkoff\u2019s handicap is 4.4, according to the Golf Handicap and Information Network, which is maintained by the U.S. Golf Association. Two Trees Development\u2019s Jed Walentas has a handicap of 4.8.<\/p>\n

CBRE\u2019s Paul Amrich went to college on a golf scholarship and almost went on a PGA development tour. \u201cIn hindsight, I\u2019m really glad that I didn\u2019t,\u201d he told the Commercial Observer this year. \u201cThose guys lived out of the trunk of their cars, and they\u2019re not playing professional golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not unlike co-op boards, golf clubs have strict admissions policies requiring sponsorship by a current member and hefty financial outlays. Even then, some decisions are shrouded in secrecy. Membership at the most elite clubs are often passed down from family members.<\/p>\n

ABS\u2019 Leslie said they probably take 10 new members a year. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people vying for those eight to 10 spots,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Too many clubs<\/p>\n

The fact is, there\u2019s a surplus of golf courses thanks to a building boom in the 1980s. But over the past decade, the number of golfers has dropped off.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An estimated 24.2 million Americans played golf in 2018, down from a peak of 30 million in 2001, according to the National Golf Foundation. That steep decline, partly a result of the sport failing to attract millennials, has taken a toll on golf clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of closures has outpaced openings for a 10-year period now,\u201d said Jeff Davis, founder of Dallas-based Fairway Advisors, a golf course brokerage and advisory firm. Nationwide, there are around 16,700 courses \u2014 with around 12 courses opening and 198 courses closing in 2018 alone. <\/p>\n

Courses that were built purely as amenities for residential projects are particularly vulnerable. Great Rock Golf Course, an 18-hole course in Wading River on Long Island, was designed in the 1990s with 140 homes. By the early aughts, the club ran into financial trouble after trading lawsuits with the town and defaulted on its taxes, according to local news reports. In 2014, it was sold out of bankruptcy. The course is still private, but it\u2019s unclear who the new owner is. <\/p>\n

But even if a club isn\u2019t financially underwater, the land itself can be more valuable as a development site.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Elmwood Country Club, a member-owned club in Westchester, was sold to New Jersey-based Ridgewood Real Estate Partners for $13 million. The developer is now planning 175 townhouses on the 106-acre property.<\/p>\n

Toll Brothers, meanwhile, is building residential projects on two former courses in New Jersey. The firm is developing a 78-house project at the former site of Apple Ridge Country Club in Upper Saddle River, where it closed on the purchase in 2015. <\/p>\n

And, it\u2019s building 275 homes on the former High Mountain Golf Club, a semi-private club in Franklin Lakes that closed in 2014. The East End\u2019s most elite clubs have been largely immune to the golf course contraction trend, bolstered by status-driven golfers willing (and able) to cough up the dues. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s an opening to get into Atlantic, there are enough guys out there with the money to do it,\u201d said Fairway Advisors\u2019 Davis. \u201cSame with Maidstone, National and Shinnecock.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Young blood<\/p>\n

Though many of New York\u2019s old real estate families belong to the East End\u2019s blueblood clubs, real estate execs have flocked to a slew of clubs that have opened since 2000. <\/p>\n

Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton \u2014 which opened in 2006 and costs $1 million to join \u2014 counts Witkoff, the Related Companies\u2019 Stephen Ross and Starwood Capital\u2019s Barry Sternlicht as members.<\/p>\n

Silverstein\u2019s Burger is said to have joined the Bridge \u2014 which opened in 2002 with sky-high initiation fees but lax rules such as no dress code \u2014 this year. In addition to Burger and Feldman, other members of that club include Michael May, who runs Silverstein\u2019s debt fund, and Douglas Elliman\u2019s Howard Lorber. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon to belong to multiple clubs, each with its own reputation, history and course design. Feldman, for example, is also a member at East Hampton Golf Club. <\/p>\n

Michael Rudin started playing as a kid with his dad, Bill, and grandfather Lewis, who belonged to Deepdale Golf Club in Manhasset on Long Island. \u201cIt has the family connection,\u201d the younger Rudin said of Deepdale, where he still plays, along with Friar\u2019s Head in Riverhead and Atlantic.<\/p>\n

Rudin said his grandfather\u2019s legacy there extends beyond club membership: Lewis Rudin founded First Tee, a youth development organization that offers scholarships to students who get into New York University.<\/p>\n

Mixing business and golf is either de rigueur or an absolute faux pas, depending who you ask.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, ABS\u2019 Leslie met his now-boss Brian Warwick at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck in Westchester, where they are both members. (President Trump is also a member.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually had heard of Brian years ago through Peter D\u2019Arcy [head of New York for M&T Bank], who is also a member,\u201d said Leslie. Warwick said he \u201cdefinitely\u201d uses the club to cultivate relationships and show clients a good time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey love to come and play at these places because they\u2019re pretty nice places to belong to,\u201d said Warwick, who is also a member at National Golf Links of America, which\u00a0 opened in 1911 and counts billionaire and ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a member.<\/p>\n

Kal Dolgin, co-president of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates, said for years he and his brother, Neil, played at Engineers Country Club on Long Island, where their father belonged.<\/p>\n

Israel Dolgin forged strong relationships with a generation of members, who like him were largely self-made children of immigrants. They discussed family and business on the course, which \u201cbecame an extension to the proverbial boardroom,\u201d Dolgin said.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the Dolgins joined other clubs after Engineers was sold for $20 million to Scott Rechler\u2019s RXR Realty Investments. (RXR has since poured millions of dollars into the facilities, located in Roslyn near two of its residential developments.)<\/p>\n

Almost everyone in real estate has a \u201cgolf story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Ivanhoe, chair of Greenberg Traurig\u2019s real estate practice, said he was in his 20s when his then-boss called late one night saying he needed a fourth for a game the next morning. \u201cI had to scramble like crazy,\u201d recalled Ivanhoe, who had to retrieve his golf clubs at 11 p.m. but\u00a0 proceeded to shoot a 72 \u2014 giving him street cred with a previously cantankerous boss. (Incidentally, that boss was George Ross, who ended up working for Trump, whose four golf outings at Mar-a-Lago in 2017 cost taxpayers $13.6 million, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.)<\/p>\n

For his part, Rudin said he\u2019s never played with someone to get a deal done, but conceded that \u201cat some point it\u2019s inevitable whether you\u2019re doing business with someone \u2014 or not \u2014 to talk about business\u201d while playing. <\/p>\n

He and his dad still make a point of taking their longtime bankers out for a day of golf at least once a year. \u201cWe usually have it be me and my dad versus the two bankers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt takes the hierarchy of client versus lender out of the equation, and we\u2019re just playing as four people on the golf course. It\u2019s the great equalizer, to some extent.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anyone who\u2019s tried to do business with a serious golfer on a summer Friday \u2014 or Monday, for…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_volume":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2579,959,310,9196,625],"class_list":["post-17537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-culture","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-golf","tag-new-york-real-estate","tag-real-estate","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@fogolf\/117477023651742833","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fogolf.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}