Hamilton Farm GC Where Old-World Charm Meets New-Era Needs

A staff with wide-ranging talent and experience is helping an historic property make the most of its unique potential.

by Joe Barks (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
June 2008
 

Hamilton Farm GC AT A GLANCE • Founded: 2001 • Location: Gladstone, N.J. • Ownership: Townsend Capital, LLC, Baltimore, Md. • Number of members: 225 (cap: 350) • Structure: Private, invitation-only; five membership categories • Golf courses: Two (Highlands, 18-hole championship course and Hickory, 18-hole, par-3 short course) • General Manager/COO: Tim Bakels, CCM • Head Golf Professional: Matt Freitag • Director of Grounds: Paul Ramina • Executive Chef: John Rellah

The Hamilton Farm team has come together to stand tall and deliver new levels of service and quality in a high-end setting. Pictured (as numbered at left): 1) Paul Ramina, Director of Grounds; 2) Francine Attanasio, Dining Room Manager; 3) Amy Chick, Event Coordinator; 4) Diane Ydoate, Executive Assistant; 5) Matt Freitag, Head Golf Professional; 6) Timothy M. Bakels, CCM, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager; 7) John Rellah, Executive Chef; 8) Renzo DiCarlo, Facilities Manager; 9) Erin O’Connor, Membership Director; 10) Greg Gibbs, Food and Beverage Manager/Sommelier; 11) Richard Violante, Controller.

The e-mail popped into Tim Bakels’ in-box shortly after 5:00 PM on a Wednesday in May. He saw that the sender was a prominent member who, like most of the people who belong to Hamilton Farm Golf Club (HFGC) in Gladstone, N.J., had never been shy about letting Bakels know what she liked, disliked and expected, ever since he arrived in 2006 to be the club’s new General Manager and Chief Operating Officer.

So as a 30-plus-year industry veteran, Bakels’ instincts told him to hit “Open” immediately—and to get ready to respond just as quickly.

“I don’t know where to begin,” the message began. “This year is looking so incredibly great. The course is in fabulous shape. The pro shop is great. I am even playing on Saturday morning with the pros and I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I am having. I must also comment on the dining experience. It has not been better. The food is great and different. Each time I eat something, I wonder how he could have made it that good. The service has continued to be impeccable. I just needed to let you know. Thanks for your fabulous work.”

The club’s 64-room Georgian-style mansion (above), restored after a 1978 fire to recreate the look of the home built on the property by financier James Brady in 1923, includes 10 private overnight guestrooms.

After first stopping to pinch himself and make sure he hadn’t somehow fallen asleep at his desk and drifted off into the club manager’s perfect daydream, Bakels allowed himself a moment of satisfied reflection. Having a high-profile member of such a high-end facility take the time to send such praise validated that the considerable challenge he and his staff had taken on less than two years earlier was proving to be worth all the hard work.

Something Missing
Bakels never intended to come back to his native New Jersey, after a long career with California clubs and most recently, seven and a half years as General Manager of Desert Highlands Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. But an extensive search identified him as the right man for the urgent fix that HFGC’s owner, Townsend Capital, LLC (a commercial real estate investment and development company), needed in 2006.

After acquiring the Hamilton Farm property in 2001 and creating the new private, invitation-only club, Townsend found that challenging (post-9/11) timing, combined with formidable competition in the always-tough high-end northern New Jersey/metropolitan New York market—which only stood to intensify as new properties such as the Liberty National and Trump National golf clubs came onstream in the area—was making it difficult for HFGC to make its own name for itself and build toward its 350-member cap (deposits at HFGC range from $50,000 to $300,000 for its five levels of membership).

The HFGC clubhouse complements the property’s restored Mansion and Lodge to provide a unique variety of dining and social venues.

This was frustrating to owner David Townsend, because he knew the property had unique features that should carry special appeal. The 600 acres of property now used by the club has a history dating to the early 20th century, when it was part of 5,000 acres of farmland spread over three counties. After New York financier James Brady purchased the property in 1911, he built a hunting lodge and 64-room Georgian-style mansion. Both structures have been carefully restored (the mansion was gutted by a 1978 fire) and now offer unique amenities to HFGC members and guests, as venues for events or overnight stays (the Lodge is available for rent as a fully furnished, four-suite guest house, and the Mansion has 10 private overnight guestrooms).

Adding to HFGC’s unique character, the property includes historic horse stables that still serve as the official home to the United States Equestrian Team. The stables now add to the old-world look (see cover photo) of the club’s championship Highlands golf course, a Dana Fry/Michael Hurdzan design built after Lucent Technologies bought the property in the late 1990s. (The stables now also house unique offices and maintenance facilities for HFGC’s course and grounds operation.)

And if all of that, plus the distinctive free-form bunkers and other natural attractions of the Highlands course, weren’t enough, HFGC also owned a second, truly unique golf option: its Hickory course, an 18-hole, 3,000-yard layout, also designed by the Fry/Hurdzan team, that stands as the only USGA-rated par-3 short course in the world. The Hickory course is not only visually appealing in its own right (see photo, pg. 16), it serves up a special set of challenges (Tiger Woods didn’t break par on it) as well as unique appeal in the form of shorter (three-hour) rounds and the opportunity for concentrated short-game focus.

A permanent tent structure with capacity for over 350 adds to the property’s versatile array of event options.

You Can Come Home Again
With all this going for it, however, something was still missing at HFGC. That’s where, and why, Bakels came in. The contrasts between Desert Highlands and Hamilton Farm couldn’t have been more extreme, he notes—but the same operating principles could apply.

“[Desert Highlands] was a whole different animal, with nearly 600 members and home sites and a wider range of amenities, including tennis and fitness, plus a larger food and beverage operation,” Bakels says. “But it ran like clockwork, with no surprises—and that’s what was needed [at HFGC], too.

“I clearly saw the beauty of the property and its potential, and decided to take the challenge,” Bakels explains. “It was a question of getting the right team of professionals together and providing clear direction and leadership, so everyone understands why we’re here.”

As he set out to meet those goals, Bakels found in some cases that departments were overstaffed and had too many “idle hands,” so he streamlined the ranks to give more operating room to experienced managers such as Director of Grounds Paul Ramina, Food & Beverage Manager/Sommelier Greg Gibbs and Event Coordinator Amy Chick.

The Founders Room in the HFGC mansion includes a wine cellar and is made available for private dining.

In other cases, budding talent was underdeveloped, so he cleared the way to promote team members like Head Golf Professional Matt Freitag and Membership Director Erin O’Connor, so they could use their abilities to the fullest.

And in still other cases, Bakels had to create new positions such as Executive Chef (see separate article, pg. 36), to elevate F&B to the level needed for such a high-end property.

After the club’s management structure had been properly revamped, and key slots on the team properly filled, Bakels then put a new emphasis on member communications (through regular, department-specific e-mails) and special services (such as contracting with an outside service to do on-site car washing and detailing while members play golf).

On the golf side, Bakels told Freitag he didn’t want to see him in the club’s pro shop, even though retailing (see photo above) is an important part of the operation. So Freitag, the record-holder for both HFGC courses, now focuses on inviting members out for rounds—and in particular, getting them on the Hickory short course, to experience its special appeal.

“It’s literally a one-of-a-kind asset,” says Freitag. “But it’s been underutilized, only getting about 1,000 rounds [of 12,000 total at the club] each year. We’re doing all we can to change that, because just having Hickory clearly gives us an edge, both for individual play and for events.

“The beauty of being able to play in three hours, but still with plenty of challenge where you’ll have to use every club, is unparalleled,” Freitag adds. “I think we could easily double the number of rounds that get played on it each year.”

“This is not your typical golf shop,” says Head Golf Professional Matt Freitag of the 1,400-sq. ft. retail area in the HFGC clubhouse. “We drive it as a boutique and keep it well-stocked with high-end merchandise. You’ll never see a sale sign.”

Freitag also plans to make better use of Hickory as a “great place to practice,” integrating the short course as an important component of an instruction program recently enhanced through the high-profile additions of Director of Instruction Mike Adams and former LPGA tour player Karen Noble.

The Numbers—and Words—Don’t Lie
As the e-mail Bakels received attested, all of these efforts are paying off by creating a new excitement about HFGC, both within the existing membership and among potential invitees.

“Guest room occupancy is up 20% for the past two years, food and beverage is up 23%, and rounds are up 7%,” Bakels reports. “We’ve clearly turned it around.

“For something as special as Hamilton Farm,” he adds, “you just need to let people know what you have. Then you have to ensure the full experience once they’re here. If you do that, they will come—and keep coming back.”