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He’s joined royalty and poet laureates on the course, but right now, there is no time. He’s not even taken a practice swing this season.īurns has played cathedrals like Augusta National and Pine Valley. For a lot of people, the golf course was a place they felt safe.” The sport demonstrated how great it is even in difficult times. It was wonderful to see members and families golfing probably more than they have in their lives. A lot of people couldn’t go into work so they found themselves here. The weather improved and in April, we were allowed to golf.
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And then the rates began to come down a little.
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“For all of us in this area, it was awfully scary at the beginning,” Burns said. Open that was nearly canceled or relocated several times before July, the staff at Winged Foot was tasked with finding a way to handle the unprecedented influx of members looking to play golf this spring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Length of service at some clubs is measured in dog years, but not here.Īlong with getting ready for a U.S.
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The folks who handle the day-to-day operations and look after 600-plus members-head chef Rhy Waddington, director of operations Lily Braswell, head golf professional Mike Gilmore and director of golf courses Steve Rabideau-came with top-shelf credentials and have spent more than a decade together. The job is more administrative now and we have built a great team.” It’s not something I would’ve been prepared for when I arrived. We built employee housing, built a new pool complex, renovated the clubhouse and both golf courses. I became more involved with managing the club’s relationships with the USGA and the PGA of America. “At first, it was a very intensive food and beverage job. “My job has really evolved over the years,” Burns said. Every once in a while I would get approached, but then one day, I was told, ‘Hey, the job at Winged Foot is going to open up.’ I was the first one to have my application in.”Īnd for the last 29 summers this has been home. There were some members from Winged Foot who used to visit the club and they were apparently impressed with the operation. “Our membership came mostly from Queens and was very, very Irish Catholic,” he said. That experience opened doors and Burns was hired as the general manager at Plandome Country Club in Manhasset at the age of 28. It was a straight shot, maybe half an hour from New York City.”īruce Willis had a job there while attending Montclair State. “Elizabeth Taylor would visit along with Richard Burton. “Everyone back then knew about Burns Country Inn,” he said. Open, it was Burns who answered the phone.īurns was raised in Clifton and spent a good portion of his childhood peeling shrimp for guests at the family’s restaurant. When the USGA reached out in 2012 to mend the proverbial fences and inquire about coming back to Winged Foot to play a sixth U.S. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and Colin has got a wonderful personality and management skills that glues everything together.” So many of the members are multi-generational. And he’s got a great love for the history of the place. He does a terrific job with the staff, which is great from top to bottom. We see Winged Foot as an extended family, we’re very social and Colin helps engender all of that. “What makes Colin so great is a wonderful sense of service, a true dedication to his job. “This is really in his blood,” Winged Foot president Brendan Boyle said. The 61-year-old New Jersey native is comfortable in any setting, any conversation.īurns enjoys some of the finer things in life and openly shares frequent excursions on social media, but he is also enthusiastic about Taylor Hams. Winged Foot continues to be a place where men and women play the game, practice the game and introduce their children to the game. We all work to be welcoming and want to make sure there is nothing stuffy about the member or guest experience. “Golf is at the heart of everything we do here.
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I’ve seen kids grow up and get married here then have their own children. “It’s so special to watch that,” Burns said. It’s the quiet breakfasts with staff, the conversations with longtime members about new dining spots and the detailed tours of a historic clubhouse with flabbergasted guests that inspire the iconic club’s longtime general manager.Īnd the sight of parents and children hustling to squeeze in a few holes before the sunlight fades brings each long day to a fitting end. There are perks that come with the job, but Colin Burns rarely ventures down the meandering stairs to play the historic courses outside his office window at Winged Foot Golf Club.