Hello everyone!
I am Shaun Smith, superintendent at Sullivan County Golf Club in Liberty, NY. I want to introduce myself by first thanking Ran, Andrew in particular, and everyone else who has posted on the site regularly. The importance of the dialog shared here over the years to those of us learning the subject matter cannot be overstated.
I also wanted to add relevant information to this thread as SCGC heads into its 100th year.
The course was laid out, built, and opened for play in the spring/summer of 1925 on a 200 acre horse farm purchased earlier the same year. Len Rayner and Maurice McCarthy were the course architects and builders.
Four years ago the owners gave me a year to find an investor from the golf industry to help turn the place around or else it was going to be put up for sale. Having accepted the superintendent position under those terms, I am extremely lucky to now have firstly, Tom Coyne, but also Mike Madden, Bill Murray, and Jason Kelce forming the ownership along with the existing owners and myself.
It is an infectiously fun scruffy 9 hole course with lots of elevation change, blind shots, amazing views, zero in-ground irrigation and beautiful old grasses (bents, fine fescues, rye, and blue) which we’ve preserved through the renovation.
Last season, we undertook all of the major aspects of a budget minded renovation of the course which included 14 acres of tree removal, two completely new holes, new green sites or reoriented tee shots and corridors for four holes, rebuilding of existing bunkers, 3 new bunkers and the addition of various mounds and berms, hydroseeding fine fescue native areas, removal of existing asphalt cart paths replaced with gravel paths, drastically enlarged the putting green, and added a practice tee and range. All for well under $1 million.
The design work was done by Colton Craig and Tom Coyne of Craig & Coyne (now Smyers Craig Coyne) and myself. Construction was overseen by me and Willie Wilson with the builders U.S. Pitchcare.
The renovated course plays 2931 yards from the back to a par of 34.
The course is healing up nicely, though winter can take a while to make a complete exit here in the Catskills. With a project done on a shoestring budget using almost exclusively our existing turf, stripped and flipped, and grown in entirely with hand watering, it gave our four man crew a run for our money. Visible scars and other evidence of the project will be seen this season, and it may take longer to get all of the wood off property (my god the wood), but the corridors are clear and the club is on good footing.
Please come out. I’ll make a deal for GCA participants. First one’s on me if you get in touch.
Shaun