Calverton Links abruptly closes, future uncertain
Calverton Links abruptly closed for the season on Oct. 31, and it doesn’t appear it will reopen anytime in the foreseeable future, said the golf course’s general manager, Steven Lee.
“I asked the family what the future of Calverton Links was and they said they don’t know, but they know they don’t want to be involved with running it anymore,” said Mr. Lee, who spent 15 years working at the 172-acre Edwards Avenue golf course in Calverton. “They said they were looking for someone to buy it.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Calverton Links was not listed for sale. Bill Schulman, the owner of Calverton Links, could not immediately be reached for comment.
His daughter, Lenore Treiman, a real estate agent in Florida, would only say Tuesday that the golf course was “closed for the season,” a fact also illustrated on a sign on the course’s Edwards Avenue fence, as well as a message sent to course members on Nov. 1.
Eagle’s Landing Caterers, a catering hall located on the premises of the golf course, is also closed for the season, and has stopped taking bookings into next year. Tony Maaiki, the catering manager at Eagle’s Landing, said he had “no clue” what the future of Calverton Links was.
“It’s closed for the season as far as we know,” he said. “We’re not taking any bookings for next year or anything.”
Mr. Lee said he took a second job at Poxabogue Golf Course in Bridgehampton in June, where he is now employed full-time.
On Tuesday morning Jeff Seeman, the superintendent of the golf course at Calverton Links, said the golf course faced competition from nearby municipal golf courses, who he said were able to lower their prices because their courses are “technically subsidized by the county,” he said.
Six golf courses are available to the public in Riverhead Town, as well as exclusive Friar’s Head Golf Course, which is private access only. One of the public courses is owned by the county – Indian Island Golf Course, which offers rate discounts to county residents who purchase a green key.
“Our daily rate structures need to support our private enterprise of running a golf course, which every year becomes more and more expensive,” Mr. Seeman said. A daily round of golf during the week at Calverton Links cost around $55 and included a bucket of golf balls, he said.
Calverton Links wouldn’t be the first golf course in the area to note a struggle to draw golfers recently. Over the summer, Long Island National Golf Course was purchased by real estate developer Donald Zucker for $6 million after its prior owner filed for bankruptcy. According to the New York Daily News, Zucker later said he was going to make the course private.
