News from Goat Hill: Club opens season with course upgrades

Now in its 125th year, the Shelter Island Country Club (SICC), affectionately known as Goat Hill, continues to play a central role in the Shelter Island community. Last weekend, the club hosted its annual opening membership meeting, where the volunteer board of the nonprofit shared recent developments and future plans for the historic site.

This year’s board consists of Linda Springer, Tim Sheehan, Ginny Gibbs, Jim Buckland, Karen Gibbs, Brett Surerus and Michael Martin.

Grounds and maintenance updates headlined the meeting. The board introduced the club’s new grounds superintendent, Arielle Gardner, who started this spring. She brings a wealth of experience in sustainable agriculture and has been hard at work for weeks preparing the course for the summer season.

Ms. Gardner, working alongside the board’s grounds committee, including Sheehan, Surerus and Martin, announced the major undertaking of replacing some of the course’s worn tee boxes. With the greens in excellent shape, the board hopes that improving some of the course’s worst tee boxes will substantially improve the player experience at The Goat. The front and back tee boxes on the par-4 eighth hole, along with those on the iconic par-3 ninth finishing hole, are the first to undergo construction.

The tee markers have already been moved to temporary fairway positions since the current boxes are being dug up, laser-leveled and laid with new soil and, eventually, sod. The project is especially visible to those driving up to the club on Sunnyside Avenue, as the new tee box and stone finishing have already taken shape on the forward tee box.

Other grounds improvements already completed include clearing the area and repairing the seventh-hole fence, and removing the fallen tree on the ninth hole. Sheehan said the grounds committee is excited to “welcome Arielle to the team,” celebrate the progress made so far, and continue “making the Goat look and play as good as possible.”

Other Happenings

Board members said the Member-Guest event will return for its third year. The event will take place over the weekend of Aug. 21, and include multiple days of festivities to honor the club’s 125th anniversary. The festivities will begin that Friday evening with a quick nine-hole warm-up round to get guests acquainted with the course. The round will be followed by an evening gathering at the clubhouse and continue into Saturday morning with the full tournament and related festivities.

The board said a special 125th committee will be formed to help plan and facilitate fundraising initiatives, and welcomed any members interested in participating to reach out to a board member directly.

The Owen N. Dickson Junior Golf Program returns this year, marking the program’s fifth season. The program has drawn the interest of the Island’s junior golfers, with participation hovering around 30 to 40 participants annually. This summer, the program will also feature a Junior Golf Open. Linda Springer, the club president and organizer of the program, said she hopes the newly added Open will draw interest from junior golfers within the club’s program and among other interested players. The event will include fundraising to create a scholarship in honor of Scott Lechmanski, helping introduce children of all ages to the game.

The board also noted that the school’s recent “Day of Gratitude” included a collection of letters from Island children expressing their appreciation for everything the club does for them and the community. Students wrote letters expressing gratitude for golf opportunities, being able to sled in the wintertime, and the club’s role in giving back to the community. The board said the letters were heartwarming and greatly appreciated.

The club also shared its plans for recurring and new tournaments. Among the returning tournaments, the annual Sag Harbor men’s and women’s outings, held at SICC and Sag Harbor, will return this year, with dates to be determined. The annual member outing at Gardiner’s Bay Country Club is also slated to return, likely during the first weekend in October.

The golf committee also shared its interest in getting the membership more involved in club tournaments. Last season, members John G.C. Brownlie and Julia Best stepped up to run the Tuesday Twosomes event, and the board said there is more room for member input. The weekly and monthly tournament offerings give members a chance to play with new people, socialize, and enjoy what makes the club special: its community. Members should reach out to the board to suggest tournaments they would like to see, new formats and other ideas.

Pro Shop and Golf

The year promises to be one of the best SICC has ever seen, with an entirely new fleet of golf carts, an enormous undertaking in grounds and maintenance, and plenty of beautiful summer days on the horizon. The Pro Shop will begin full seven-day operations this week, open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Sunday. Tee times are not required, but for more information, call the Pro Shop at (631) 749-0416.

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