American Golf: Celebrating 25 Years with the Chamber

By MICHAEL ANDERSON,

Content Development Specialist

For years, golfers have considered Staten Island as a hole-in-one for quality play. And of the Island’s four public courses, half are run by American Golf.  

"American Golf was a California company, and they decided to branch out worldwide. By 1984, they decided to expand to the New York City area, and they pretty much took over every public golf course in New York City at that time," said Chris Flegar, general manager at La Tourette Golf Course. "The City Parks Department used to run all the golf courses, but they had a hard time with upkeep, so they needed someone to manage them and turn a profit for the city themselves." 

South Shore Golf Course, built in 1927, is the older of American Golf’s two Staten Island courses. The 6,268-yard, par-72 course, is nestled off Huguenot Avenue in a tranquil, isolated setting with easy access from the West Shore Expressway. The course is also a favorite of off-Island golfers, as the course is just 10 minutes from the New Jersey Turnpike and Newark Airport. The Huguenot course has been named by Golf Digest as one of their "Best Places to Play."

American Golf’s second Staten Island course, La Tourette Golf Course, opened in 1929. The course is known to Islanders based purely on location, as the course surrounds the highly traveled Richmond Hill Road. The 6,708-yard, par-72 course's unmatched beauty is highlighted by rolling hills and valleys. It also houses the historic La Tourette House, a late Federal/early Greek Revival-style home built in 1836, that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Also, La Tourette is the only golf course on the Island with a practice facility. 

"La Tourette is generally considered the nicest public course in the city and most of the time we're rated higher than some other private courses. La Tourette is the most spread out, and it's one of the top two longest courses in the city," said Flegar. 

Although both courses are approaching their 100-year anniversaries, their layouts have largely stayed the same. La Tourette’s 13th and 14th holes were slightly altered to accommodate the Greenbelt's bike path, but some of the most significant changes are harder to see.

"In the late 1990s, American Golf installed new irrigation systems and made the courses much better for drainage than when the city ran them. And last year, we switched to a more technologically-advanced irrigation system by changing all the sprinkler heads and all the computers that are out on the course itself," said Flegar. "Also, in the early 2000s, the clubhouse at La Tourette was completely revamped and became more up to date with ADA-approved ramps and accessibility."

Just like golfers depend on La Tourette and South Shore for delivering quality enjoyment, American Golf has turned to the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce for the last 25 years to provide quality networking opportunities. 

"Members from our sales office have attended different Chamber events and the Chamber's Young Professionals Group (YPG) events to reach out and network for different events that we hold," said the general manager. "Going to Chamber events puts us in contact with businesses who may want to have their own golf outing or may be willing to contribute to other charities.”