The Tuxedo Club begins executing elements of master plan

The Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, New York, announced that it has started a multimillion-dollar renovation of its Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed golf course. Slated for completion in May 2022, the project includes the creation of a new short game practice area, a new ninth hole, renovation of all fairway and greenside bunkers, and re-grassing of all necessary green surrounds.

The club has selected Rees Jones to lead the renovation. Jones along with his vice president and senior designer Bryce Swanson created a master plan for the renovation of The Tuxedo Club’s course, which the club adopted in 2017. The current renovation work is a step toward the completion of that master plan. LaBar Golf Course Renovations will handle construction.

Director of agronomy Casey Klossner will lead the internal efforts surrounding the project. Since arriving at The Tuxedo Club in 2013, Klossner has managed a complete upgrade to the course’s irrigation system, as well as the installation of a new pump house and the rebuilding of several greens.

“We are excited to be able to officially announce that our golf course renovation project is underway. Over the past several years we have been working hand in hand with Rees Jones on course improvement designs that we believe will take the Tuxedo Club golf experience to the next level,” said general manager Randy St. John, CCM, CCE. “Construction began in late October and already significant progress has been made, specifically on our new short game practice area and new ninth hole.”

Having restored over two dozen of his father’s courses, Jones said that the goal at The Tuxedo Club is to bring the course “back to the future.” This includes repositioning and reimagining the bunkers to incorporate his father’s original style, as well as constructing the bunkers in way that will improve the playability for today's game. The project will bring back the course’s classic look, while at the same time making the entire layout of the course more modern.  

“When I was younger, I remember my father's excitement when he was given the opportunity to design the golf course for The Tuxedo Club,” Jones said. “Dad knew that he had a wonderful site from which to work. The setting and flow of the holes were ideal for the creation of a minimalistic golf course that would stand the test of time.”

The current golf course is the third course at The Tuxedo Club; the first having closed when a second, improved course was created in 1892, and the second course closing in the 1950s when the construction of the New York Thruway required that an entirely new 18-hole course several miles from the main clubhouse. In 1957, the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed course opened for play.