Many in the community have raised questions about the management of Harbor Links and the relationship of its manager, Century Golf, with the officials representing the Town of North Hempstead.  To some, the overly cozy relationship has made it impossible to determine whether the purpose of Harbor Links is to provide a site at which the taxpaying public can enjoy the golf course or whether the function of the course is to provide profits sufficient to subsidize other TONH ventures and further enrich Century Golf. 

From the latest shenanigans engaged in by our TONH representatives, it appears that profit is the overriding objective.  Just last year, Harbor Links was closed to the public on more than 60 weekdays, on average about 2 1/2 days each week. During some weeks, the course actually was closed to the public on every weekday.

Because we believed this policy was misguided, some of us explained our concerns at TONH Board meetings last summer.  We were told that the board would look into the matter.  On Dec. 15, 2022, the Town Board adopted a specific policy to allow outings only on Mondays.  This specifically recognized the longstanding TONH policy at Harbor Links, which allowed for closures only on Mondays.

In announcing this decision, Supervisor Jennifer DeSena stated that:  “We did hear tremendous feedback from the community that a public golf course was being paid (for) by tax dollars should not be having private outings multiple times a week, so we are going to bring this back to one outing a week and this is something that (about which) we will be in close contact with (Century Golf).”  We were very happy that our concerns were addressed so directly.

However, something was going on behind the scenes.  How do I know this?  Because after the March 1 meeting, I learned that management at Harbor Links had been working on a proposal to add more outings since January. Though this proposal was ready for presentation at the January (and February) meetings, they were told to sit tight.  

Back on Dec. 19, Blank Slate Media reported a new agreement with the management company limited how often the Town’s Harbor Links Golf Course course could close to the public for private outings after resident complaints. The one-day-per-week rule was a temporary compromise until the contract could be renegotiated in 2023.  

Maybe the Town wanted this news flash to fade.  At some unknown point, it was decided that an item would be added to the March 14 TONH meeting agenda requesting the addition of outings at Harbor Links. TONH meeting agendas are, typically, available to the public for review in advance of the meeting. But then it mysteriously became a part of an emergency meeting scheduled for Wed., March 1, at 10 a.m. as an addition to the main topic of addressing the funding needs of local fire departments.

The addition of golf outings at Harbor Links was not publicized in advance of this special meeting—in fact, only because we received an email on Feb. 27—barely 36 hours before the meeting— did we even find out that there was a plan to approve closing Harbor Links for an additional 26 days for outings.  Neither the date/time of this meeting nor the lack of notice was a coincidence; the supervisor’s office clearly did not want the public to discover that the TONH was seeking to reverse, in relative privacy, a decision the TONH Board made less than three months earlier. 

Just as clearly, the supervisor’s office did not want to hear any other complaints; otherwise this non-emergency could have been addressed at the normal March 14 board meeting. What was an approved plan of 22 Monday outings from Dec. 15 was going to grow to 48 outings on multiple weekdays: two outings practically every week, five weeks of three outings, as well as closing six different Fridays for these private events. The addition of a senior discount on Fridays was a lame attempt to appease an already distrusting group of residents and taxpayers. 

The process of notifying many organizations that they would be unable to hold their outings at Harbor Links should have begun on Dec. 16, 2022.  Going from 64 to 22 outings is a dramatic change, but one that the board voted to approve unanimously and was blessed by those involved in the 2023 budget, who stated that a decrease in outings would not result in a budgetary shortfall, and that Century Golf had agreed to the once-a-week limitation for the duration of their one year extended contract.

At this March 1 meeting, Supervisor DeSena made an impassioned plea that charitable organizations relied on us for their annual fund-raisers and how could we tell them now to look elsewhere? Why weren’t many of these organizations told in December to look elsewhere?  And if being charitable is a mission of the Town, why did management make their initial selection of who should stay and who should go by choosing the largest revenue producers? 

Once again, the facts belie Supervisor DeSena’s position.  Information we have received from the TONH itself indicate that fewer than one third of these additional outings are for the benefit of charitable organizations.  To make matters worse, since this March 1 meeting, Century Golf added another four outings (three non-Monday) by simply asking the supervisor’s office for permission.  No other board member was consulted. These three outings have since been removed from the calendar after we notified board members of this egregious action.

Last summer I was told by Century Golf, ‘if the Town does not want us to schedule outings, we won’t schedule outings.  We will do what the Town tells us.” Closing the golf course so often is an insult to the taxpayers who paid for the construction of Harbor Links.  If you are a golfer and find this offensive, come to the April 11 Town meeting.  If you can’t speak at the meeting,  at least show your displeasure.  

Jack Genicoff

Port Washington