LETTER: Rye Golf Chair Says Club is One of the Best Managed Entities in City

In a letter to MyRye.com, Rye Golf Club Chair Terry McCartney says Rye Golf is “one of the best managed entities in the City and we deserve better treatment than we’ve been getting lately from some on the Council”. He is referring to recent feedback from the Council on RGC’s tiered member program that charges new members at a higher rate.

Here is McCartney:

Letter to the Editor

November 14, 2023

I am writing to set the record straight about some statements that have been made recently about the Rye Golf Club.

First, every Rye citizen should know that the Rye Golf Club is a City “enterprise fund” that is required by law to be completely self-sufficient. That means none of your tax dollars go to the Rye Golf Club. In reality, like you, the Rye Golf Club is a taxpayer. In fact, we are one of the biggest taxpayers in the City. For example, last year the RGC paid the City over $400,000.  We also pay for all of our own staffing and maintenance costs. Thanks to our excellent General Manager, skilled Golf Course Superintendent, dedicated staff and numerous member volunteers, the Club is very well-run.

Second, while the City owns the land (and essentially leases it to us through the enterprise fund relationship), the Rye Golf Club is a private members-only club. No one can walk in off the street and pay to play golf or use the pool. We have 700 golf memberships and 554 pool memberships, which include many families, so the number of actual users of the RGC facilities is about 3,500 people. About 80% of our members are Rye residents – that rate has been steadily increasing for the last several years. Our non-resident members pay about double what Rye residents pay and always have. We pride ourselves on being a good member of the Rye community so, for many years, we have welcomed the Rye High School golf teams and many Rye Rec summer campers and seniors to use our facilities free of charge.

Third, to generate revenue so that we can pay our taxes to the City as well as our operating, maintenance and course improvement costs, we charge our members annual fees. Our membership fees are fair and our members feel like they get good value for their money. Our golf course is very nice and a bargain compared to other courses in the area.  For example, a family of five can join Rye Golf as a comprehensive member for just over $7,000 per year. The cost for that same family to join Harrison Meadows for similar amenities is almost $9,000 per year. The initiation fees alone at courses like Apawamis, Westchester and Winged Foot are well over $100,000.

Fourth, while we are an annual membership club, the large majority of our members are loyal and renew every year. We have a few members that have been at RGC for over 40 years and a few, like Jim and Lois Codispoti, who go back to the very beginning in 1965.  That loyalty is even more impressive given some of the hard times that we’ve been through. For example, when a prior GM embezzled a large amount of money from us or when a tainted fungicide product killed our greens. Thus, we value our loyal members and try to keep our fees as low as possible while still being good stewards.

To that end, after nearly a decade of level fees, a few years ago, in 2018, we imposed a modest 2% fee increase. Since then, to keep up with rising labor and material costs, we have gradually and prudently raised our rates each year. While other clubs in the area have imposed much larger fee increases, ours have been reasonable. This past year, we raised fees on renewing members 6% and kept new member fees the same as last year.

We don’t have initiation fees at Rye Golf but we do charge new members a little more than renewing members in order to fund our capital projects. Our renewing members also paid a little more in their first year as a club member. We currently have about $8 million dollars in capital projects to pay for – such as replacing our antiquated and inadequate irrigation system, renovating our bunkers, keeping the century-old, historic landmark Whitby Castle properly maintained, ensuring that our aging Olympic-sized pool is operating safely and more.

Finally, we have a dedicated group of volunteers at Rye Golf who actively serve their fellow members in numerous ways. The Golf Commission is an elected group of seven volunteers who are involved in all aspects of the Club. The Finance Committee spends many hours every year working with the GM and his staff to prepare a fair and balanced budget. The Pool, Tournament and Greens Committees, among several others, are also very active.  Commissioners were also involved in renegotiating the contract with Lessing’s in order to ensure that we receive a better share of their profits as they continue to book weddings at the Castle every week.

As a result of all of the above-described efforts, our operations run smoothly and our facilities are in good shape.  For example, over the years, RGC members have put over $4 million dollars into a reserve fund to pay for capital improvement projects. So, new members are getting the benefit of what that fund has already paid for and also what it is already scheduled to pay for over the next several years. Thus, we think it is only fair that new members chip in to the capital fund when they join. Since we currently have over 350 people on our waiting list, our fee structure does not appear to be a problem for potential new members.

Unfortunately, our new member fees have become a political topic lately. Some members of the City Counsel, led primarily by Councilman Bill Henderson, a former RGC member and recent President of the Apawamis Club, have said that our policy of charging new members more than renewing members is unfair and even “discriminatory.”  No prior City Council has ever said so. Indeed, our net-positive budgets have never been challenged in our 68-year history until recently.

The truth is that the Rye Golf Club is one of the best managed entities in the City and we deserve better treatment than we’ve been getting lately from some on the Council. Hopefully, the newly elected members of the City Council will resist the false rhetoric, ease into their new positions like they would any other important new job, make up their own minds and allow us to do what we do best at Rye Golf: deliver a top-notch recreational opportunity to our members at a fair price.

Terry McCartney

Chair, Rye Golf Club Commission