Endicott Hands En-Joie Golf Club to Troon's Indigo Sports as County Warns of $8 Million Irrigation Bill
The Village of Endicott, New York, voted unanimously to hand day-to-day operation of En-Joie Golf Club, home of the DICK'S Sporting Goods Open, to Indigo Sports, a Troon company. How the village pays for a roughly $8 million irrigation replacement is still unsettled.
The Village of Endicott, New York, voted unanimously on Nov. 5 to place day-to-day operation of its village-owned En-Joie Golf Club with Indigo Sports, a Troon company, starting Jan. 1, 2027. That vote ends a management arrangement with Broome County that has been in place since 2006 and expires Dec. 31, WICZ reported. The course is the longtime home of the PGA Tour Champions DICK'S Sporting Goods Open.
Under the contract, the village retains ownership and final approval over budgets, capital improvements, and key personnel, WICZ reported. Indigo handles daily clubhouse operations, greens maintenance, staffing, player rates, and marketing. The agreement lasts through Dec. 31, 2031, with automatic renewal options. The county charged no management fee and contributed $80,000 a year to tournament operations. The village now pays a management fee and remains responsible for course repairs and tournament costs. News 34 reported that the fee is $96,000 a year plus a 3 percent annual increase.
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Ownership of the property and responsibility for multimillion-dollar capital repairs formed the core points of dispute, according to WICZ. Broome County Executive Jason Garnar challenged the village's account. Letters from Garnar and Legislature Chairman Dan Reynolds show the county offered two options: fund an estimated $8 million to $10 million irrigation overhaul in exchange for ownership of the property, or continue managing En-Joie if Endicott bonded for the repairs itself. Garnar said the county could not legally issue bonds to rehabilitate an asset it does not own. "We have offers in writing," he said.
The irrigation system sits at the center of the dispute. A county-commissioned engineering study found that the course's 70-year-old network has exceeded its lifespan for years, according to WICZ. "The lifeblood of a golf course is the irrigation system," Garnar said. He warned that the course risks losing its PGA Tour Champions event without major repairs.
At a press conference at En-Joie on Nov. 6, Mayor Nick Burlingame announced the Troon contract. The village anticipates the irrigation replacement will cost around $8 million, WBNG reported. Burlingame said the village intends to seek grant funding and use course profits to cover it, and News 34 reported the village would pursue phased bonds if state grants fall short. Press Connects reported the village has already begun seeking grants. Funding has not been secured. "So we're not expecting an increase in taxes at this time," Burlingame said. He said the county wanted to take ownership of the course without paying for it.
Troon's vice president of operations, Christopher Strand, said all current course employees will be offered positions with the company. "We'll be able to keep play going throughout that entire process," Strand said, referring to the irrigation work. Garnar answered the same day. "Now village taxpayers could face a massive tax increase to replace the system themselves, or the Village could decide not to replace it at all," he said. He also said, "At the end of the day, En-Joie belongs to Endicott, and this is the Village's decision." Garnar said the county will work toward an orderly transition over the next seven weeks.
En-Joie has hosted the DICK'S Open since 2007, and before that the PGA Tour's B.C. Open from 1971 to 2005, according to Troon. The 2027 tournament is on the PGA Tour Champions schedule at En-Joie for June 25 to 27, 2027. Village and Troon representatives said the management change will not immediately affect the tournament and that they hope to keep it at the course, WBNG reported.
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Endicott is not the only municipality weighing what public golf costs, as seen in the City of Westlake's clubhouse dispute in Louisiana, where the city is suing the builder and architect of the $6 million clubhouse at its city-owned course. In Endicott, the village now has a private manager and a plan to pursue grants, but how a roughly $8 million irrigation replacement at a village-owned tour venue gets paid for remains unsettled.
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