Robert and Jamy Rankin (submitted)
BY AAGD STAFF
September 26, 2019
Located just a short 30-minute ride from Pittsburgh (PA) in Allegheny Township is River Forest Country Club. “The Freeport, PA course is challenging, yet fun to play for a person with a high handicap. The beautifully manicured fairways and greens were in pristine condition. The fairways are tree-lined which requires accurate tee shots,” said AAGD traveling golf writer Jessie Brooks who took a swing at River Forest Country club this summer. “Seven of the fairways favored a fade and two favored a draw. The rest was straight or par three’s.”
Before heading to the first tee box, Brooks had carefully examined the course scorecard and learned that the yardage from the black tees is 6212 with a rating of 70.2/138 and from the blue tees, 5872, with a rating of 69.2/135. His round was challenging and fun, afterward, Books noted: “The owners and staff were very friendly, they welcome everyone to come and play. I enjoyed my round of golf so much that I plan to return to play it again with a friend.
River Forest Country Club is extraordinary and it has undergone a transformation of ownership. It was while working at General Motors, an American multinational automaker in 1986, Pittsburgh native Jamy Rankin found herself joining her boss for an event in his backyard. There the GM employee saw her boss’ son hitting golf balls. Curious, she became a part of the action, which led to her becoming more involved in the sport. Today, she is truly hooked on the game and enjoys playing as much as possible.
A retired Ford executive, Jamy frequently golfed in the Pittsburgh area and she met Steve and Andi Irwin at a luncheon event. The Irwins had partial ownership at the River Forest Country Club and they asked Jamy to come over and check out their club. In their plans to make some fresh changes at the club, Jamy was asked about her ideas and the discussion soon turned into an opportunity for partnership.
River Forest Country Club (GOOGLE)
“So I had to spring it on my husband. I said, ‘Honey, what do you think about buying a golf course?’” His response was, “‘Absolutely not’ —He was totally against the idea at first,” says Jamy.
“So the next day, he came up and saw what I saw.” On that visit Robert Rankin, a Pittsburgh firefighter, got a close-up view and tour of the 550-acre property that contained an 18-hole, par 72 championship course, a clubhouse and pro shop, locker rooms, a restaurant and banquet facility that can accommodate 200 people. The banquet space was impressive, as it would be ideal for generating revenue that could come from a multiplicity of bookings—everything from social events, meetings, holiday parties, weddings, and more.
Jamy Rankin (YouTube)
Churning through several months of hard-core research, Jamy completed her due diligence working with attorneys and submitting a business plan to the bank. Next, the Rankins and Irwins joined together and formed a new LLC, River Forest Enterprises. Under the new company, Robert Rankin leads as its CFO, Steve Irwin, an attorney, serves at legal counsel, Andi Irwin leads marketing while Jamy Rankin runs day-to-day operations as general manager. The group toasted to their collaboration in the club’s redesigned, and renamed, Lily’s restaurant, April 2, 2019.
Partnering with Steve Irwin and Andi Irwin, Jamy and her husband Robert are 50% owners of River Forest. This was life-changing for Jamy. The partnership also makes River Forest the first majority woman-owned golf course in Pennsylvania. “So, yeah, I’m not retired anymore,” joked Jamy, 56, in a media interview “I’m here running the place every day. So I don’t really get to play that much anymore—but that won’t last forever.”
Jamy says the club is doing very well. This year, under her management River Forest Country Club has gained an increase of 30% in rounds played and a 50% spike in sales.
GETTING ON
The club has about 400 dues-paying members but is also open to the public for play. Non-members pay $45 for a round, including a cart, during the week and $55 on weekends. There are also three membership levels:
•Par membership—for $150 a year, members get 10 percent off food, 20 percent off apparel and reduced greens fees.
•Twilight membership—for $900 a year, members get free golf after 4 p.m. during the week, but still pay for cart, plus the same reductions on food and apparel.
•Eagle membership—for $2,300 a year, unlimited free golf, reciprocal membership to the HYP Club in Pittsburgh and invitations to special members-only events.
Has Black ownership brought out more Black golfers? So far, yes, said Jamy. “We’ve seen an increase in Black players, and the Duffers league has been here and will be back,” she said. “So while we are targeting African American golfers, we’re targeting all golfers. We’d like more members, naturally.”
THE BIG PICTURE
Forest River has a futuristic vision for their enterprise and plans to do a whole lot more than just ‘golf’ at the course. The facility wants to be known as an entertainment venue where customers can enjoy live Jazz, themed nights with Reggae and comedy. The finely cultivated greens will also be open for golf, tournaments, and drone races!
The club also will be the first in its industry on the East Coast to offer WhingGolf, a brand new game with rules similar to regular golf, but instead of needing lots of clubs and other equipment to play, all you need is a Whinger, a putter, and a golf ball. The Whinger—a stick that’s somewhere between a jai-alai cesta and an atlatl—that lets players throw, or “whing” the ball down the fairway. This added new feature is designed to attract people who have never placed golf to the course, and Jamy is betting on it working to boost club activities and revenue.
“I’m really enjoying this—it gets all my passions,” she said in an interview. “It doesn’t even feel like work. We have great staff, a beautiful course, nice facilities and our customers have been super nice, also. What’s not to like?”
The River Forest Country Club is located at 130 Club House Drive, Freeport PA 16229. Telephone: 724-295-2217 www.riverforestgolf.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiverForestCountryClub/
