Thursday, September 16, 2021

Westchester Hills Golf Club to Begin Rees Jones-Led Golf Course Redesign and Renovation


(White Plains, New York)
— Westchester Hills Golf Club in White Plains, N.Y., founded in 1913, will begin a significant redesign and renovation of its 108 year-old golf course on October 5th, 2021.  The Club retained famed golf course architect Rees Jones, who created and will oversee implementation of a new golf course master plan.  Jones’ plan and course redesign was shared by Club President Mark Stagg with Westchester Hills members via a Town Hall meeting on September 9th.

Rees Jones, who is known as “The Open Doctor” for his design work on golf courses that have hosted major championships, said the Westchester Hills’ redesign work includes the expansion of 14 greens; the creation of new greenside pitching swails; reshaping fairways; renovating all of the course’s bunkers and strategically adding new bunkers; and installing a new state-of-the-art irrigation system.  Additional course features, influenced by Jones’ notable designs worldwide, will further enhance the golf course.

“The entire membership is excited about the work, which comes on the heels of renovations the Club implemented in 2021 and included a major upgrade to our pool and a redesigned and expanded putting green,” said Stagg. “Those changes created a resort-style setting, including new fire pits and enhancement of member amenities.”

Westchester Hills Golf Club General Manager, Josh Lowney, commented that “The prior upgrades around the pool and clubhouse were extremely well received and resulted in significant growth of the Club’s member base.”  Lowney and the Club’s Board of Governors expect that the upcoming investment and renovations in the golf course will result in further member growth.

“The time is now to improve this great course and club, and we are excited to be working with Rees Jones to create an amazing experience for our members,” said Stagg.

“We look forward to collaborating with Rees Jones to further our vision of a premier world-class private club for our members,” Lowney added. “By the spring of 2022, we will deliver to our membership a significantly enhanced world-class facility and widely recognized track. The pride of Westchester Hills is our members and we are thrilled to improve a classic golf course for their everyday play.”

“We are very excited to start this project in October. Our vision is to liven a classic-style golf course while upgrading the course’s playability and maintenance standards,” said Jones. “The club improvements over the past few years have been marvelous. The members at Westchester Hills strive for excellence and we are proud to be included in their success and help build on that to improve the overall playing experience. The golf course’s existing features and our master plan design will take the Hills golf experience to a new level, maximizing existing features, while adding new ones.”

Rees Jones has worked on seven U.S. Open venues, nine PGA Championship venues, six Ryder Cup venues, two Walker Cup courses and one Presidents Cup venue. Jones’ notable original designs or redesigns include courses at Baltusrol Golf Club (N.J.), Bethpage State Park Black Course (N.Y.), Congressional Country Club (Md.), and Torrey Pines Golf Course.

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