Lawrence reduces club fees

In an effort to increase membership at the Lawrence Yacht and Country Club, village board members unanimously approved reducing membership fees next year at their July 6 meeting.

Membership at the club has been declining for several years. Though the club’s general manager, Leo McMahon, would not provide any figures, the club is losing members to other clubs that feature more amenities. “The golf industry is struggling at this time,” McMahon said. “We believe our rates relate to the present financial situation of most area golfers, and we are in effect giving area golfers what they want: a friendly experience at an affordable price.”

The village is increasing golf cart rental fees from $24 to $28 for 18 holes and from $12 to $14 for nine holes, and the fee for guests — who are allowed only Monday through Thursday — will increase to $35, according to Village Administrator David Smollett.

In addition to the golf course, the club offers its members the use of a marina, tennis courts and a restaurant that is also open to the public. And Mayor Martin Oliner said he is “seriously looking at adding amenities to the club all the time.”

But Deputy Mayor Joel Mael said that adding other amenities to the club, such as a gym or beach club, has been discussed for many years. “I don’t know that any of those will be a reality any time soon,” Mael said.

Though the village stands to lose up to $40,000 in revenue from the reduction in fees, according to Oliner, he added that the club needs to market itself aggressively to draw new members. “We have to start doing things that are creative,” he said, “especially in areas that we don’t have sufficient members. We’re trying to attract members who are going to contribute to the club’s well being.

“The decreases in rates were all recommended by the [village] Parks Commission,” Oliner said. “Their cuts were steeper and my viewing was, we need to increase revenue as much as possible, but on the other hand, it’s hard to argue what rate we should charge since it’s more important to get members into the club.”

The club offers a variety of memberships, including seven-day-a-week gold and silver memberships, a weekday-only bronze membership as well as junior executive and family memberships.

Trustee Ed Klar said he is optimistic that lowering fees will increase membership. “I’m hopeful that by doing this, we’ll attract new members to our club,” Klar said.

Asked if the village would consider privatizing the club, Klar said that Lawrence would never surrender total control. “Bringing in management companies is always a possibility,” he said. “We’re trying to make the club the best it can be for the village and for members.”

Oliner echoed Klar’s comments, saying that the village would not consider selling the country club. “We’re exploring all sorts of things, and how we manage it might be open in the future,” Oliner said. “Right now we’re focused on increasing revenue and membership while trying to rationalize expenses.”

Mael said he opposed significantly lowering fees at certain membership levels. “It’s hard to make up the difference in the lost revenue by new members,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we have lowered our prices to a point that I am not aware of any other club in the New York metropolitan area that people can get the value of the price we are charging.”

Dan Rivas, the membership development committee chairman at the Inwood Country Club, said that Inwood offers various membership packages in which members can pick and choose the amenities they will use. The club currently offers a clubhouse, guest rooms for rent, a gym, a beach club in Atlantic Beach, shuttles from the club to the beach, a restaurant and

a pool.

“We fit the community’s needs by having different membership categories available to them,” Rivas said. “Member rates vary depending on the package they create.”

At the Woodmere Country Club, General Manager Donald Mollitor said the club offers a golf membership, a sports membership — which includes tennis, pool and clubhouse but not the golf course — and a dining membership that includes the use of the clubhouse, restaurant and card rooms. “Most members have the golf membership,” Mollitor said.

Due to the Lawrence club’s lower prices for 2012 and its proximity to Manhattan, Mael said, people might view it as a second or third club to join. “I hope we see an influx in new members,” he said.