Long Island’s golf season is already in full swing, and those happiest about it are business people who see the game not only as fun and a chance to be outdoors, but as an opportunity to get to know a client and maybe sign a deal.
A round with a client or a potential client is a lot more meaningful than a dinner or lunch or a meeting in the office, business executives say.
“Golf definitely gives you an opportunity” to do business, said Lawrence Lessing, chief operating officer of the Lessing Hospitality Group in Great River, which operates restaurants, wedding venues and provides food services.
Lessing, 38, who plays about 35 rounds per year and boasts a handicap of zero – he came oh-so close to turning pro – plays for fun and business at the Meadow Brook Country Club in Jericho.
“You spend four hours out there with no distractions,” said Lessing. “It’s not like you’re in the office and someone comes in and disrupts you. You really get to know someone. With lunch and all, it’s six uninterrupted hours.”
Tom Magno, 67, marketing director at Northville Industries, petroleum services Company in Melville, is an ardent golfer who plays about 30 rounds a year – he has a handicap of 12 – and likes to golf with clients.
“It’s a great way to communicate,” Magno said. He has finalized deals on the course. “It doesn’t happen all the time,” he said, “But it happens.”
Long Island, in the view of some golfers, is golf heaven. The Island has more than 140 public and private courses, including five at Bethpage State Park. Bethpage features the ultra-challenging Black course, which has hosted two U.S. Open Championships. Montauk Downs State Park Golf Course is considered one of the country’s top public courses, offering a sweeping view of the Atlantic Ocean. For beginners, Jones Beach has an 18-hole pitch and putt course.
Golfers and business people looking for something new in the sport this year will likely take notice of a new concept – a training center called Golfzon Range by Leadbetter, which was scheduled to open at 655 Merrick Ave. in Westbury, in mid-March.
The 9,000-square-foot training center is the second in the New York area for Golfzone Range, which opened its first site in Little Ferry, New Jersey in 2022.
The company was started in 1983 by David Leadbetter, a PGA Hall of Fame professional who was named PGA Teacher of the Year in 2017.
To be sure, there are other golf training centers on Long Island and elsewhere, but many focus on entertainment while Golfzon is a no-nonsense place that concentrates on improving a golfer’s game, Benedict Riches, the company’s CEO, told the Press.
“We’re not doing this only to make money,” Riches said. “We’re doing it to help people play golf better.”
Golfzon chose the Westbury location because of its proximity to Eisenhower Park, which has three 18-hole courses, the Red, White and the Blue, all considered challenging.
“The idea is to open hundreds of these (training centers) across the country,” Riches said.
Riches said he expects the center to attract a mix of new and seasoned players, and women, who are increasingly taking up the game, in part to do business on the course, along with their male colleagues.
Customers will pay $50 for an hour at the center, which is to feature 18 range simulators, a PuttView interactive sloped putting green, and instruction from trained personnel. Private lessons will also be available, including group classes, competitions and programs for kids.
There’s lots for those business people who life golf to do this season.
Clem Cote, managing principal at Sovereign Realty Group LLC in Syosset, said the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island will once again conduct a program of golf lessons for young professionals, which is aimed at teaching them the game and how to network with older professionals.
“We’ll be starting in April and we’ll have sessions in the spring and the fall,” said Cote, who added that the lessons are open to CIBS-LI Future Gen Broker Members, between the ages of 21 and 39.
Cote said he expects about 20 such members to participate.
For those who like Golf Lite, there is X-Golf in Commack and Westbury, Simplay in Hauppauge, and Birdies in Patchogue. All offer beer, food and cocktails.
