Across the verdurous fairways of the New Seabury Country Club lies a golfer’s utopia, with stirring ocean views and osprey racing overhead. Inside the clubhouse lurks rebellion.
Members are suing the Carl Icahn-owned resort on Cape Cod, accusing managers of scheming to raise fees and call a halt to refunds on millions in initiation payments. The plaintiffs are also angry about what they describe as strong-arm tactics and cold indifference to attempts to broker compromise.
“It is the unprincipled bullying we object to,” said Bruce Lehman, a retired advertising executive who is on the Members Rights Committee. “If we were just to cave, what’s to stop them from doing it again and again?”
Well, they’re doing it around the country. In clubs large and small, the rules of belonging are in upheaval for the dimpled-ball set. The popularity of the Masters and other tourneys notwithstanding, courses are closing at the rate of 150 a year. The number of duffers is down to 25 million from 30 million a decade ago. Golf is just not hot, especially since the apparent end of the Tiger Woods glory days, and the old club model doesn’t work so well anymore.
“With all respect, everyone who feels the deal is changing on them, that, in fact, is the reality -- and it’s based in good business sense,” said Henry DeLozier, partner with Global Golf Advisors in Phoenix.
Suing Trump
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, hedge-fund manager John Paulson and Chinese developers are among those who’ve been buying up ailing or abandoned clubs, in many cases changing fee structures to lure new members. Their efforts have landed them in the rough on more than a few occasions with a disgruntled old guard. At Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, for example, golfers have sued, saying memberships were canceled and deposits not returned as required when fee rules were adjusted.
DeLozier said the recessionary cycle that began in 2008 exposed two flaws: refundability of initiation fees and caps on the number of members. Both used to be selling points, when there was a stream of newcomers eager to take the places of the departed. Today that’s often not the case.
Icahn bought New Seabury in 1998 after its owners went bankrupt. Hunter Gary, a senior vice president at Icahn Enterprises, declined to comment. Phone messages left for Icahn weren’t returned.
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