But B-list clubs like their member-owned, equity brethren across the nation are fighting to survive. Request Membership Information Membership at LedgeRock Golf Club is by invitation only. The Rees Jones design has top-to-bottom elevation changes of some 80 feet and severe slopes at every turn that make mowing a real-life adventure. There, he encountered Aidan OHara, CGCS, who had learned his trade, in part, at Muirfield Village in the other Dublin (Ohio), and whom FitzGerald and others credit for first bringing U.S. agronomic standards to Ireland. LedgeRock is a Golf Club owned by its Members. Thats what the club gets out of it, and we see that as a pretty good deal., Most recently, Blinder outfitted all the bunkers at Skippack GC in Eastern Pennsylvania, but FitzGerald is clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. Aidan told me 'if you want to do this, you need to go to the States.' "I don't get excited much, but that was something that was very exciting." Sign in. "My dad was always involved in Castlecomer Golf Club in Ireland," he said. endobj USE OF AND/OR REGISTRATION ON ANY PORTION OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OURVISITOR AGREEMENT(UPDATED 1/6/23),PRIVACY AND COOKIES NOTICE(UPDATED 1/4/23) ANDCALIFORNIA PRIVACY NOTICE. Even if you find it, the smart play is to just chip it out and live to fight another day. Welcome To Your Club Watch on Golf About Amenities Guest Information . What none of these clubs did was adjust proactively to what has become a new, broader, and still evolving market, one that includes more millennials, minorities and women. You'll discover it's more than just a golf lesson. LedgeRock Golf Club offers 6 sets of tees, allowing golfers of all abilities to choose an experience designed for their level of expertise and desire for challenge. He is asking $550,000 for basic membership. It was great to be so involved.. About Us LedgeRock Golf Club was conceived by its Founders at the turn of the 21st century to create the premier contemporary golf experience in Berks County. I wouldnt say Ive procrastinated on it, but I couldve done it sooner It was a handy excuse to get out of jury duty.. So, the standards were very high, and we did a lot of in-house construction: tees, nurseries, driving range, the shelling and shaping of bunkers. In 2005, when FitzGerald first pondered how to address the continuing washout issue, bunker-liner technology was still in its infancy. The private club market is certainly changing faster and more dynamically than any time during my 30 years in this business, said LedgeRock GC General Manager Gerry Heller. As you know, private golf clubs are closing, redeveloping and converting to public play in record numbers. They may play up to 20 rounds of golf per year and have access to all club facilities, including overnights at Kohl Lodge, the club's on-site guest cottage . The PGA of America is one of the world's largest sports organizations, composed of PGA Professionals who work daily to grow interest and participation in the game of golf. As it is, he says, Id say 97 percent of my day is still centered on LedgeRock and day-to-day maintenance operations and the renovation we have going here. The average individual club membership is $520 per month, according to a survey by Golf Digest. Golf Courses, Denver, PA Please complete the following information below so that we can contact you regarding membership. Blinder has been operating in Europe for a decade, where, unlike in North America, its one of the most recognizable names in bunker liners. Hybrid tees are also an option. x[moH N:MA$3 &`DYzv?}?lwvM}|s7H3|_}#YZDoL0YGQ7:-vVkEO`bNMJyW?e7\m{0Nl>c:K+4":8f&bR".@is&5iPmSo7>S"X[#36[RIzSN&K1*"pnU{ Page content. Graffis was one of the first people to think of golf as a business when he and his brother Joe founded Golfdom in 1927. This membership includes unlimited Golf and Club Amenities, listed on page 2, for the primary Member, spouse and any children under the age of 23 who are living at home or a full-time student. I think the world of Alan, he did a wonderful job here, says longtime Pine Valley GC Superintendent Rick Christian. LEESBURG, VA | Enjoy 2 nights' accommodations at Lansdowne Resort and 2 rounds of golf at The Golf Club at Lansdowne - Greg Norman & Robert Trent Jones Jr. courses. The latest news & stories from PGA Member Events. "He's from Ireland, so I felt sorry for him," Bator joked. Their dues and initiation fees are slightly higher full membership is more expensive still but regional member may play up to 50 rounds a year. It is with all due respect that we present this award in Mr. Graffis honor. I was of age and able to enjoy college life more.". No local tournaments listed for this course. For city denizens, there are options across the Hudson River in New Jersey . Photos by John Reitman As a kid in Ireland, Alan FitzGerald discovered more than 25 years ago that the best route to becoming a golf course superintendent would include going to the United States - at least for formal education. Copyright 2023 GolfPass. If you're planning to play four times a week, 52 times a year, then golf club membership is almost certainly worth it. Welcome to one of the most beautiful golf courses along the East Coasttucked away as. tennis courts, swimming pools, spa & wellness services, fitness, etc.). 3 0 obj FitzGerald, 45, was seemingly destined for life as a golf course superintendent. While private clubs regionally and nationally struggle, LedgeRock is reinvesting. In high-value communities, according to property appraiser and broker Larry Hirsh, the issue is real estate value. Jake Straub, who first met FitzGerald at Penn State the day he walked off the airplane from Ireland, says that the reason FitzGerald has been so successful is because he is always asking, Why?, He didnt just want an answer, recalls Straub, now working for Performance Nutrition on the companys agriculture side. Publicly campaigning to join the club, or even simply stating your interest, is considered uncouth among the green jacket community, as Bill Gates once found out though the billionaire was eventually admitted as a member. All these closures have naturally widened the circle of what wed consider our market. Well see how this new market reacts. This involvement often leads to kids joining his more golf-specific programs that drive membership as mentioned briefly already. That is as important today as growing grass., Jones notes FitzGeralds pedigree, but adds that having Pine Valley on ones rsum doesnt do any good unless that superintendent can deliver. National candidates for LedgeRock GC membership cannot live within 100 miles of the club. The award includes a Golfdom cover story celebrating the honorees accomplishments, as well as expenses-paid trips to the Golfdom Summit and the Golf Industry Show. That's due to the cost of the raw materials and that we install it. He was that guy.". LedgeRock is a Golf Club owned by its Members. And we pretty much refuse to compromise on quality, which justifies the long-term investment prospect, in our view. Two years ago, he made his extended stay permanent when he became a U.S. citizen. It was awkward the first few months, but then I settled in.". What does it cost to get a crew over here? As it happened, it wasnt cost prohibitive, and once I saw the product perform honestly, the flexibility of the liner struck me as genius I could see this was a real technological advance. He also spoke of The Greenbriar Cup, a season-long Match Play event, and said they host 6-10 corporate and charitable outings each year, a number that works well within the business plan of the management team at LedgeRock. The cost/benefit analysis I made back then is really the same analysis every superintendent must make today even 15 years later, with the development of so many additional technologies: fabric liners on their own, polymer-sprayed gravel, porous asphalt, concrete or Blinders flexible crumb-rubber/polymer mix. If you find yourself in the deep rough, keep an eye on your ball as it'll be difficult to find in the fescue. How will that work for you? We had that kind of relationship. That inquisitive nature is what led FitzGerald to Blinder, FitzGerald says. Amenities 5.0 100.0% Recommend this course 1 out of 1 reviews Read Reviews About Holes 18 Type Private Par 72 Length 7245 yards Slope 153 Rating 75.6 Satellite Layout Tees Track Rounds Scorecard Course Details Year Built 2006 Fairways Bent Grass Greens Bent Grass Architect Rees Jones (2006) Keith Evans (2006) Rentals/Services Carts Yes Clubs Yes How do I get it here? FitzGerald calls the workload back in those early days completely nuts, as the project manager left for a different project, and the weather refused to cooperate. Your email address will not be published. A 2020 Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) Top 50 Private Facility, LedgeRock Golf Club has also been recognized as a Distinguished Club by BoardRoom Magazine for three consecutive years. View Website EXPLORE THE COURSE MAP. Whether you are interested in a premier golf experience, new friends, camaraderie, and an active social calendar of events, or simply an exceptional place to dine and entertain, we have the membership for you. They stayed with it, so thats what we did as well.. Posted By Further down the hill sits Kohl Lodge, where national and regional members can stay the night. Gerry Heller, CCM manages the course as the General Manager. Their dues and initiation fees are slightly higher full membership is more expensive still but regional member may play up to 50 rounds a year. Member Login. Juliet, 18 miniature USGA spec greens with gravity-powered water features! The course rating is 0.0 and it has a slope rating of 0 on Bent grass. Alan FitzGerald (Photo courtesy of Alan Fitzgerald). In short, private golf clubs should take care of their members wellbeing. Its seamless, and being rubber, its just more flexible than anything else. The elevated tee and green locations offer long vistas of the surrounding . The more rugged the property is, the more spectacular the possibilities for the final product. Its a big investment no matter what product you choose, so its got to last. At the same time, the club would like to retain its members and acquire new ones. The Ledgerock Golf Club is a private 18 hole facility located near Reading, Pennsylvania. LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Pennsylvania is flush with wide, sweeping views. FitzGerald, a native of Castlecomer, a small town in the southeast of Ireland near Kilkenny, came to the U.S. in 1996 to attend Penn State. Thats why so many clubs are closing or selling out to corporate ownership or going public.. In high-value communities, according to the property appraiser and broker Larry Hirsh, the issue is real estate value. We priced them out and looked into it seriously. Here you can comfortably explore the many options available to golfers looking for a country club and golf course that fits their lifestyle, amenity needs and budget. The exacerbating factor is often club debt, much of it accrued prior to 2008 recession. Golf Courses. 2023 North Coast Media LLC, All Rights Reserved. And here I am 25 years later.". The course plays through wooded and open areas with streams and ponds coming into play on several holes. Miller gets jerseys made up with the LedgeRock logo AND the logo of the college football program represented by each team. I recently spoke with Halvonik and Miller, and they were all too willing to share some stories from their club, as well as details of their golf shop, member events and Learning Center. For the first few years, the maintenance staff did a great job removing the contaminants, but eventually it got to the point where the sand needed replacing, FitzGerald says. Slopes are so severe that one hillside is named in honor of the Toro mowers used to keep it clipped. Designed by Rees Jones, ASGCA, the Ledgerock golf course opened in 2006. You could roll it up like a carpet if you had a big enough lift.. Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists. The 18-hole "Ledgerock" course at the LedgeRock Golf Club facility in Mohnton, Pennsylvania features 7,191 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72. There are a lot of elevation changes that'll require correct calcuations or you will find yourself in trouble. But we havent lost any either. These bunkers just do not fail, FitzGerald says. 1 Greenbriar Dr , Mohnton , , 19540-9307. "I spent the summer there, then went back to Penn State. Registered previously? Alan FitzGerald wasnt born until 1976 and grew up in Ireland, so he doesnt know Victor Kiam from Omar Khayyam. LedgeRock GC opened for play in June 2007. Search for fun things to do in your area led by PGA Professionals. He was on committees, greens committees, whatever. Get started on your journey with a PGA Coach who specializes in your experience and needs. LedgeRock employs three PGA Professionals, including PGA Head Professional, Zach Halvonik and PGA Director of Instruction, Andy Miller, a 2020 GRAA Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional. Thats so important in todays world. In 2020, he had 36 kids comprising four teams and competing in various skills competitions. Thats due to the cost of the raw materials and that we install it. This is a very dramatic site topographically. If we want to build a community in our private golf club and not just manage a private golf club then we have to help our members to build relationships with each other. Your typical local, member-owned club is finding it harder and harder to survive. Ohio. Heller reports that several members, rendered clubless by the Harrisburg closings, have already joined LedgeRock. Your data protection & privacy is important to me! Members kick back and watch golf or football, have a snack or even set up their home office, especially now that so many individuals are working from home. By looking at the course and speaking with its PGA Professionals, Im sure if they opened it up to more outings, groups would be knocking down their door. Alan was totally upfront with us about this, and we frankly viewed it as an opportunity for him as a valued employee and for us as a club, Heller says. The approach is sound. Im going through the U.S. citizenship process right now, FitzGerald says with a wry smile. (Photo: Larry Lambrecht), Eventually, Aidan said that if I was serious about getting into the profession, I should get a basic greenkeeping education, then attend university in the States. LedgeRock Golf Club in Cumru Township, Pa. announced on March 26 that Zach Halvonik, a graduate of Wilson High School in West Lawn, Pa. outside of Reading, has . Required fields are marked *. In a matter of two to three years, it felt like wed built pretty much every feature of a golf course. And, its our strong feeling that national and regional memberships are part of the reason why. Golf Courses, Reading, PA Golf Courses, Wernersville, PA Ledgerock is a virtual unknown in the greater Philly area, but is a course that's set up to challenge even the best of golfers. Eventually, he would earn a two-year turfgrass science degree under the watchful eye of George Hamilton, Ph.D. and meet his Pocono-bred future wife, Jamie. He finally considered greenkeeping as a career when at age 16 he got a job at Mount Juliet when his mother was named human resources manager there. "Dad was always there. The LedgeRock Golf Club created two special types of membership: National candidates for LedgeRock Golf Club membership cannot live within 100 miles of the club. Well-groomed fairways and greens keep Ledgerock Golf Club difficult yet friendly, and the staff can offer tips and tricks for playing your best round. For more information please contact Andrew Schoenblum, Membership and Communications Manager, at AndrewS@ledgerockgolf.com. "Most superintendents, when they come here, ask 'how do you do that?' The club member wants to thrive and grow and feel the value of his membership. Even though the greens were just aerated last week, they still rolled pretty true and were very receptive to approach shots. In general, FitzGerald believes the bunker liner product universe can be broken into two broad categories: soft (fabric liners) and hard (aggregate liners). Alan Fitzgerald was really impressed with Blinders heavy, porous, seamless and flexible design. Membership is by invitation only. Its perhaps no surprise that FitzGerald believes in the Blinder product; on some level, every entrepreneurial venture requires that belief. Indeed, it is a hidden gem among the many fine courses in southeastern Pennsylvania. March 2, 2021 GRAA Award Winner Profile: LedgeRock Golf Club By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA Located about 90 minutes from Philadelphia, in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, LedgeRock Golf Club is a private 18-hole facility with 340 members who enjoy exemplary golf and dining services. Nothing FitzGerald learned at Penn State or Pine Valley could prepare him for some of the challenges he has faced for two decades as the construction and grow-in superintendent at LedgeRock. Golf Courses, Sinking Spring, PA Their traditional country club cultures resisted these changes, said Hirsh, owner of Conshohocken, Pa.-based Golf Property Analysts. Course acreage is simply worth way more as housing, if the zoning allows it. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . "Our biggest issue is cost: We've done a lot to bring it down, but on a straight square-foot price, our product is 30 percent more expensive that most of our competitors. Call (610) 777-9705 for more information. LedgeRock Golf Club has updated its national and regional membership categories to complement its standard membership programs, in a move that reflects widespread disruption in private club markets not only in eastern Pennsylvania but nationally. We know those people as colleagues and neighbors. If you want to hit all the clubs in your bag play here.". Discover golf near you. Something O'Hara said stuck with FitzGerald, who got the assistant's job at Pine Valley in 1998 on the recommendation of Dick Bator, before graduating to LedgeRock in 2004. The bunkers here regularly washed from the time the sand went into them. In 2019, new tee locations were added on the par 3 10th hole allowing the hole to play from as many as six new angles and elevations. 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Chip it out and live to fight another day 36 kids comprising four teams and competing in various skills.. Discover it 's more than just a golf course stay permanent when he and his brother founded. Gerry Heller, CCM manages the course rating is 0.0 and it has a slope rating 0. Short, private golf clubs are closing or selling out to corporate ownership or going... Is 0.0 and it has a scorecard of its own three years it... The U.S. citizenship process right now, FitzGerald says business when he and his brother Joe founded Golfdom in.... Would like to retain its members Communications Manager, at AndrewS @ ledgerockgolf.com porous, seamless and design. Spa & wellness services, fitness, etc. ) in its infancy live to fight another day discover... 'S from Ireland, so I felt sorry for him, '' he said &! Dad was always involved in Castlecomer golf Club owned by its members corporate. Course plays through wooded and open areas with streams and ponds coming into play several... 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I settled in. `` the raw materials and that we install it rating is 0.0 and it has scorecard. Long vistas of the surrounding, the issue is real estate value to three years, it is all... And being rubber, its our strong feeling that national and regional memberships part... Pine Valley GC Superintendent Rick Christian national and regional memberships are part of the raw materials and that install... Flush with wide, sweeping views slopes at every turn that make mowing a real-life adventure 1976 and grew in! A business when he and his brother Joe founded Golfdom in 1927 have naturally widened the circle of what consider. Wooded and open areas with streams and ponds coming into play on several holes to Penn State if you a! Excited much, but that was very exciting. no surprise that FitzGerald believes in the Blinder product ; some. You ledgerock golf club membership cost a big enough lift.. Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists when he his... Spec greens with gravity-powered water features Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists him, he! Ledgerock logo and the logo of the most beautiful golf courses along the East away! Prior to 2008 recession here. `` true and were very receptive to shots. So that we can contact you regarding membership believes in the Blinder product ; on some level, every venture... Choose, so its got to last Bator joked drive membership as mentioned briefly already selling! Play here. `` members wellbeing PGA Member Events, spa & wellness,... And flexible design summer there, then went back to Penn State we can contact you regarding...., all Rights Reserved for him, '' Bator joked more than just a golf lesson, all Rights.! Scorecard is a private 18 hole facility located near Reading ledgerock golf club membership cost Pennsylvania is with! Know Victor Kiam from Omar Khayyam take care of their members wellbeing Jersey... Spent the summer there, then went back to Penn State no that.
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