Crestmont Country Club

HISTORY

In the early part of the 1900s Mr. Sipple, a farmer, gave approximately 300 acres of land to his grandson, August C. Sipple. The stone wall, still standing on Laurel Avenue, marked the western border of the property. In 1913, August Sipple built 13 golf holes on the property and called it Crestmont.

In 1918, Emma C. Sipple, widow of August, sold the property to Andrew and Agnes Force. The Forces kept the property until May 1922, then sold the club with all buildings, farm and golf machinery to the Newark Athletic Club of Newark, N.J. (N.A.C.).

In 1923, N.A.C. hired Donald Ross to design an 18-hole course. Ross, acknowledged as one of the premier golf course architects of all time, designed and built an 18-hole golf course leaving little of the holes put in place by Sipple. The work required felling hundreds of trees and excavating tons of rock. It is believed that the fairway mounds on the fifth hole were created to bury some of the rock.

Ancillary to the golf course, an athletic field and grandstand, plus a polo field circumscribed by a cinder track were built in a quadrant formed by the right-angle meeting of the fifth and sixth holes, currently our lower reservoir. This installation was the venue for the International Track and Field Championship in 1924 and two years later the Olympic Trials, which were noteworthy for the fact that Jesse Owens was one of the qualifiers. The concrete piers and metal stanchions for the grandstand are still in place just south of the reservoir.

N.A.C. ran Crestmont Golf Club as a privately owned public country club. It was advertised in the newspapers at the time, that Crestmont could be reached by auto or bus from Newark. Players were charged $2.00 on weekdays and $3.00 on weekends. In 1932 N.A.C. went bankrupt. As a result the property was taken over by Fireman’s Insurance Company of Newark.

Firemen’s ran the club until November 19, 1945 and then sold it to Richard H. Frost. Mr. Frost ran the property as a private club and named it Crestmont Country Club with officers and committees made up of members. He sold the club to Redmond Associates Inc. in December of 1953.

Redmond had 64 members who were also members of Crestmont Country Club. Redmond leased the property to Crestmont Country Club for 5 years on a net basis. The arrangement lasted for 1½ years until Redmond sold the complete existing facility to 248 members of Crestmont Country Club, our current organization.

GOLF

While Crestmont Country Club excels in all areas of private country club services, what is recognized as Crestmont’s feature attraction is its dynamic and challenging par 72 championship golf course. At 6,886 yards from our back tees, with 93 sand bunkers, multiple water hazards and ultra fast, undulating greens, our course is a genuine challenge for the best of golfers. In 2008, Crestmont was a qualifying venue for a field of 52 players vying for a spot in the United States Senior Open and yielded only three scores below par. Yet, Crestmont membership consensus is that our course is eminently “fair” and so tactically interesting that it can be played regularly throughout the season without ever losing the interest and enthusiasm of its players.

At Crestmont we are privileged to possess the original architectural drawings of famous Scottish course designer Donald Ross for each of our 18 championship holes (vintage 1927). And in 2008 we completed a multi-year, multi-million dollar “restoration” project designed to return the course to Donald Ross’s original, spectacular vision. As a result, our members play regularly on immaculate tee boxes, fairways and putting greens manicured by our in-house experts to traditional world-class specifications.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Certifications

• Class A PGA Member in Good Standing

• Candidate should have no less than five years of professional golf experience

• The successful candidate will have experience and demonstrated achievement in the managerial and technical skills necessary to maintain and enhance the performance of the club’s golf operations

• Strong budgetary and operational management skills with experience in recruiting, staffing and training, as well as overseeing a large operation

• Excellent leadership, interpersonal, communication skills and computer skills

• Experienced in written and oral business communications

• The candidate will display a commitment to ongoing professional development in order to keep the club’s golf programming engaging and contemporary

• General knowledge of agronomy and local agronomic practices

Knowledge, Skills, & Traits

• He/she must be a compelling and self-assured leader with a proven ability to attract, develop, and mentor a high – preforming staff

• The candidate’s leadership will also be evidenced in the development of highly cooperative relationships with peer members of the club’s senior staff and Board of Governors

• Ideal candidate will have a personal style that is approachable and congenial, allowing him/her to be well received and accessible to a diverse group of members with varying dispositions and golf acumen

• Commanding respect as a fair-minded individual of high personal integrity within the club and in the broader golf industry is an essential trait for this position

• Excellent golf and golf teaching skills

• Excellent understanding of golf rules and etiquette

• Excellent inter-personal skills that will enable incumbent to develop strong member relationships

• Excellent management skills to enable incumbent to develop a strong golf program for members and guests

• Strong written and oral communication skills

• Strong understanding of general computer and club software systems

• Good understanding of budgeting and accounting functions needed to manage a golf program

• Strong retailing skills and the ability to successfully manage a “Golf Shop” business

• Basic understanding of golf course maintenance management and playability related issues

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Crestmont Country Club will provide a compensation and benefits package commensurate with experience and qualifications.

This includes but not limited to:

• Competitive base salary

• Ownership of Golf Shop

• 100% of lesson income

• Allowance for continuing education and professional association dues

• Health insurance, vacation and other benefits per company policies

Job Type: Full-time

Reports To: General Manager

Employment Information

Crestmont Country Club is committed to a long-standing policy of providing Equal Employment Opportunity for all applicants and employees regardless of their race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, veteran status, marital status, disability, or any other characteristics protected by law. Background checks will be done.