By Tim Hartin
Three years ago, Sullivan County Golf Club superintendent Shaun Smith was just hoping that the beloved nine-holer he maintained in the Southern Catskills would reach its centennial year in 2025. Never did he imagine that the 100-year celebration would include author Tom Coyne, actor and comedian Bill Murray, and Super Bowl champion Jason Kelce. But his long-shot message on social media to Coyne not only gathered interest; it also sparked a passion and fueled a vision for the future.
On August 27 and 28, members and supporters gathered at the Liberty, N.Y., course to celebrate the past 100 years and look ahead at what’s to come. The two days included relaxed vibes, quality time among friends both new and old, and plenty of memories made – all things that characterize Sullivan County Golf Club. After an evening of food, friendship, and fun, attendees celebrated on the new-look layout the following day.
Since serving as the operator in 2023, Coyne and the team – which has come to include Murray, Kelce, and Mike Madden as part of the ownership group – have gone all-in. Both the clubhouse and course have received renovations that open the door to even more plans for a bright future.
“This was a shuttered, dark, and scary room, and that bar, you wouldn’t want to be sitting at,” says Coyne, looking around the once closed off portion of the clubhouse that now houses the restaurant and bar, Otto’s.
“Last year we did major construction on the course so we could open up some land for a driving range and some potential home sites,” Coyne says. “We have a lot more acreage here that we can do some really fun stuff with. With the way the course is routed now, we can do that.”
Coyne and Colton Craig formed a design firm in 2022 (ironically, that announcement is what spurred Smith to reach out to Coyne), with Sullivan County quickly becoming one of their projects.
“We have views, we have country. There are moments on the golf course where you can look around and really feel something special, even if you can’t find your ball.”
They removed a hillside of trees to open panoramic vistas, changed the routing, altered old holes and created new ones, built a driving range, and laid out a putting course next to the clubhouse.
For Coyne and crew, they’re just getting started. Long-term plans at Sullivan County include a short course, a lodge, and home lots – likely features that even Smith couldn’t have imagined when he first messaged Coyne.
“This course was built in 1925, and I knew that we had maybe just a couple of short years to pull something off,” Smith says. “I had dreamt of last night since I had known (owners) Sims (Foster) and Chris (Monello). We pulled off a lot. Sometimes I wake up at night, and it’s very stressful because I feel a lot of responsibility, but most of the time it’s just a really good dream. You see how beautiful it is out there. I get to see it – every sunrise and sunset – and it’s still here.”
One hundred years and counting.