Garret Bodington knows how to prepare for a major golf tournament

Those experiences will serve him well next summer, when Sebonack hosts the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open. It will mark the first time that Sebonack, a prestigious private club that opened in 2006 and has quickly become recognized as one of the nation’s best, will host a major tournament.

One thing that’s amazing about being part of the team here is that we helped design, build and maintain a course that within seven years was ranked in the top 50 in the country by Golf Digest. People asked how we were going to create something different from [famous neighboring courses] Shinnecock and National, but they really did create discount golf clubs something special here. To be ranked in the top 50 and host a national championship in the first seven years—not a lot of places can say that. My hat’s off to [Sebonack designers] Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak, and Michael Pascucci. When we were building Sebonack, one thing that was important was to not only build a course for men but Michael and his wife went around and put a lot of thought into the placement of tees for women. We have quite a few individual women members, so it’s been important to have women play golf here.

My boss, Craig, and I, we looked at the way they ran the Masters, because in the golf industry, it’s the best-run tournament there is, so when you’re hosting a tournament, you want to mimic the best. We outlined the Black course prep similar to the Masters, dealing with how to be prepared for

I met [Sebonack owner] Mike Pascucci in 2001 while I was working at the Black course, and it seemed like his favorite courses were a lot of the ones I’d worked at. I came on board with him early on, even before we were under construction here, not knowing that we’d be hosting a women’s Open in the first seven years. Michael’s vision was to have a top 100 golf course that would be tournament ready in case we ever wanted to do that.

Bodington took time from his busy schedule to speak with The Press last week about preparations for the big event, why Sebonack is such a great venue to host a major championship, and the changes that will be made to accommodate the best female players in the world.

I went from Augusta to Bethpage—so, from the most private course to the most public. They were built during times when women didn’t play golf a lot. But Michael really made the architects think about what was the best side to have the women’s tees on. Mike Davis and Jim Hyler from the USGA took their first trip here while the men’s Open was at Taylormade Rocketballz Irons Shinnecock in 2004, and we were under construction. They came by and looked around, not knowing that we’d host a women’s Open here. In the fall of 2007, they made their first trip to see it and play the course, and it was only the second year we were open. It’s come such a long way in that time, and they said, ‘We’ve never had a women’s Open on Long Island—would you be interested in that?’”

I started working at golf courses when I was 12 years old, and I worked 10 summers in the pro shop growing up in a town like Southampton, called Little Compton, Rhode Island. I worked at my first tournament golf course at Desert Mountain in Carefree, Arizona, and I was there during the 1996 Tradition, which was the last major that Jack Nicklaus won. And I was at Augusta National in the winter of 1996-97, and that’s when [Tiger Woods] won his first major. I worked full time there that winter, and I also worked there as a volunteer for the 1999 Masters. After the 1997 Masters, I went to Long Island to work at Meadowbrook, when they had a Senior Tour event TaylorMade R11S Driver there. Then I went to work at Bethpage in the fall of 1997, and I was part of the renovation of the Black course in preparation for the 2002 men’s Open.

updated Westwood Country Club with a redesigned golf course

Forget tee times - in recent years private clubs in the United States have dealt with budget battles, dwindling membership, and even lawsuits. In the last five years the economic downturn has forced scores of Americans to relinquish their memberships rather than pay average annual dues of $7,000 and initiation fees that can range from $5,000 to $500,000.

"This debate is playing out at every single club," says Steve Graves, founder of the consultancy Creative Golf Marketing. "More seasoned members inevitably resist change, but the clubs flourishing today are more casual, more family-friendly and more women-friendly."

Ask the 36 members of Pinnacle Peak who sued the club to recoup some $1.5 million they say they are collectively owed. After close to 70 members left during the recession, the club changed its Mizuno MP-68 Irons bylaws in 2011 to end quick payments for departing senior members. That lawsuit was dismissed in March, but similar litigation has been filed against other clubs from Arizona to Florida.

Potential new members are finding updated facilities where they can spend weekends with family and friends at very discounted prices. As Graves puts it, "Clubs are really offering members more for their money than ever before."

With few exceptions, clubs that survived the recession have undertaken sweeping makeovers, often pitting long-held traditions against the need to attract the next generation of members. Enticements often include state-of-the-art fitness or business centers, children's programs, gourmet dining and even relaxed rules.

While the county's most renowned taylormade burner superfast 2.0 fairway wood clubs - think New Jersey's Pine Valley or California's Cypress Point - remain out of reach for all but a select few, many clubs are still struggling to regain their financial footing despite the slowly improving economy.

Senior members, however, were less convinced. As the vote to proceed neared back in 2010, they questioned whether, given the economic climate, the club could afford to take on new debt. They doubted the proposed $50 per month dues increase would be enough to help pay for the project while revenue was lost during construction. A few members threatened to quit.

According to the National Golf Foundation, about 160 18-hole private and public golf courses closed in 2011. Country clubs saw sales - new memberships - shrink nearly 1 percent during the last two years on top of losses racked up during the recession, according to financial research firm Sageworks Inc.

As a result, clubs that once offered membership by invitation only are advertising markdowns on initiation fees or eliminating them and lowering annual dues. Others are featuring trial memberships with money-back guarantees, or they have opened their courses to the public, charging a per-day fee for a round of golf and use of the facilities. "We're seeing a serious price correction," says Jim McLaughlin, senior vice president at Troon Golf, a club-management group based in Arizona.

In Arizona, the Pinnacle Peak Country Club is offering potential members between the ages of 35 and 45 the option of putting down a fully refundable $5,000 deposit for a one-year trial discount golf clubs membership before committing to a $35,000 initiation fee. Monthly dues are reduced 75 percent.

Enticing as these offers might be, a contract is a contract, and it should be carefully read. Dues can increase. Extra charges such as food minimums or cart fees can add up.

Consider the Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine, California, where the original initiation fee of $300,000 was reduced to $125,000 in 2011. Myrtle Beach's exclusive Members Club has cut initiation fees to $12,500 from $45,000 in 2005. Shaker Ridge Country Club in Albany, New York, has waived its $6,000 initiation fee through June.

Some clubs refund some or all of an initiation fee if a member leaves, but it can take several months or even years before the money is repaid.

Such fees are used to pay down debt or for capital projects, Graves notes. Without them, a rundown club will stay that way, or members can expect assessments when funds are needed.