“The Roxbury is rated one of New York’s top 10 destination spots,” Adamiak says. The venue sells out every weekend, at roughly $750 nightly. To be fair, Adamiak has also benefited from The Roxbury Motel-transformed by savvy owners into a hip, theme-based destination with 30 unique rooms-being located a half-mile from Shephard Hills. “Wedding planners now know about us and send people here,” he says. Energized, Adamiak spent $28,000 to purchase a 13-foot vaulted wedding tent with LED lights. That outing reaped a one-day profit of $1,800. Adamiak discovered weddings and golf mix when 40 wedding attendees played nine holes, ate and drank. Improbably, Roxbury has become one of New York’s biggest barn-wedding destinations, with the town’s five venues each accommodating 200-plus people. That epiphany seems somewhat prophetic now, as the destination puzzle pieces are coming together. “That’s when I realized the transition from local-only to destination-diversifying into banquets and weddings-had to happen,” Adamiak says. Shephard Hills “eked by” in 2013, and Adamiak managed to bank enough money for 2014 in case memberships further dwindled. Soon after, membership dropped “precipitously,” and Adamiak could only afford two of his three maintenance crew workers. Later that summer, a group of intoxicated teenagers broke into Shephard Hills’ shop, stole keys, and caused $30,000 of cart fleet damage. “It helped,” says Adamiak, “but I still had to pony up lots of money.” A greenskeeper/lumberjack even logged the property, which yielded $10,000 that was used for seasonal start-up. Adamiak turned to high schoolers to man the shop. Somehow, Shephard Hills opened-a bare bones version, mind you-in 2013 without a liquor license the concession consisted of sodas and water and a hot-dog machine. “We crashed and burned,” Adamiak recounts. Adamiak was also notified tardily that a 50-year drought had turned the course brown. Then in September, the association belatedly announced it was broke, couldn’t pay employees, and had to close. A few months later, Adamiak’s father died, which forced him to stay in New Jersey all summer. That’s when Adamiak terminated an association-hired chef who was consistently either too tired to cook or turned away customers. It’s a wait-and-see adventure.”Īdamiak’s hurdles have been numerous, including stretches without payment or reimbursement for extensive expenses, once for “six or seven years.” He also had to fire several employees, some for stealing, and then watch as his pro shop and food-and-beverage managers left during the 2008 recession. “I’ve basically owned a money pit for 14 years,” Adamiak quips. He gutted and renovated the club’s 1912 Dutch Colonial clubhouse himself, and built a 150-foot wedding patio overlooking the 10-acre Kirkside Lake. Once he took over, Adamiak set about breathing new life into Shephard Hills. My herniated discs and bad knee prove it.” “I literally fell into this course,” says Adamiak, whose family has owned a Roxbury farm since 1965. He assumed the contract and now leases the facility to the association. Still, he labors on.Īdamiak was a longtime Shephard Hills Golf Association member when he became the de facto owner after the facility was sold to the SHGA. That combination won’t recoup the countless dollars and sweat equity Adamiak has invested, nor will it lure visitors from New York City (two-and-a-half hours away), Albany (one-and-a-half hours) and Kingston (one hour). Shephard Hills-built atop the 365-acre estate of 19th-century railroad magnate Jay Gould-is a local facility with a local mentality. “I’ve probably made mistakes,” admits Adamiak, who shuttles between running Shephard Hills and his family’s New Jersey-based real estate rental business. Finally, things seem to be coming together. Since that time, he’s been toiling to transform the course he grew up playing into a destination. It’s been a long, expensive saga for Frank Adamiak, but his stars might finally be aligning.Īdamiak, a New Jersey native, became owner of nine-hole Shephard Hills Golf Club in tiny Roxbury, New York, in 2000. Frank Adamiak’s road to course ownership has been bumpy, but he remains committed to his cause
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