With spring and summer quickly approaching, many local social clubs are preparing for the high points of the season. The Port Washington News spoke with Kevin Dudleston, director of membership sales and marketing for the Village Club of Sands Point about their upcoming season, membership and events happening beginning later this year.
Q What is coming up at the club this year?
A: We’ve got lots going on here at the club. We are in our third and final year of our membership drive, with the idea being that we’re trying to build up as many members as possible in the last three years so we can really build up the community experience here at the club.
On April 19, beginning from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., we are going to have an open house, which will be available to members of the public. They can come along for the day, use the facilities, have a tour and play golf. We are going to be using that day to entice new members to join the club.
Later on that month, we will be hosting the Long Island PGA Match Play championship, that’s going to be the qualifier, with the actual tournament taking place in May.
Aside from that, we have a PGA junior league team for ages eight to 13 years old. This is for our members, who compete with other clubs in the area as well. For those who are interested in joining the team they can visit, www.pgajrleague.com.
Q Why should people purchase a membership? What benefits will people be able to receive for joining the club?
A: Benefits include being part of the community especially around Port Washington. A majority of our members are from about a five-mile radius of here. It’s a brilliant way for them to get involved, meet new friends. That’s one of the many reasons people join, is to actually be part of our community. We have more than 800 members, currently. Fifty percent are from Sands Point themselves and the other 50 percent is made up of Port Washington, Roslyn and the surrounding areas. We have a variety of memberships depending on what people are interested in. We do have a promotional offer on our fall membership, which includes golf, racquet sports, the pool and, of course, all of the social aspects of the club as well.
Q How did the Sands Point Club get involved with the PGA Match?
A: This is a team we actually created two years ago. It started very small, we only had one team, but now because it has become so popular we have two teams. What we have done is really promoted our junior program both internally and externally. We have about 60 active juniors who participate in our junior clinics that we have in both spring and fall and then we have the actual junior league teams, which are comprised of about eight to 16 people.
Q What else will the club be offering during the summer months?
A: All of our memberships run for the whole year. In the summer we are at our true peak season so the pool will be open. We have some good pool programs as well and we have a swim team. We also have a camp for the kids as well. Starting from the age of five, which is run by a third party called KE Camps. You can go to www.KEcamps.com to find out about our six week program, which is actually run here at the club. You don’t have to be a member to participate in that, however there is a discount for our members should they decide to sign their kids up. We are very family friendly. We have actually seen that over the course of the last two to three years, the majority of our members are young families.
Our basic pool memberships start at $4,350 for the year, as well as the pool that includes all of the social privileges as well. What we are really trying to do is to start promoting more kid friendly events. We just had a princess brunch and we will be having a superhero brunch later on March 15 for members. We are trying to introduce more family programming here at the club, to entice people from the local area to join our club and really build that community spirit and have something for their kids to do as well.
Q What is something people may not know about the club?
A: Well, we are a very community friendly club, certainly lots of our community members are local and very active in the community. The Village Club of Sands Point is also looking to be a venue for families who would like to come along and be part of that community and enjoy being part of a club. We are close by, we’ve got some nice views, which overlook Hempstead Harbor. It’s just a really nice place for people to come and enjoy their downtime without having to travel too far.
The Village Club of Sands Point is located at 1 Thayer Ln., Sands Point. For more information regarding memberships or upcoming events, visit www.villageclub.org or call 516-944-7400.
