The new operators of Eisenhower Park's restaurant and catering facility are focused on bringing professional golf back to the Red Course and are spending millions of dollars on upgrades to make that a reality, according to Newsday's James Madore.
The group, EGB Hospitality LLC, plans to reopen the facility on May 1 following $5.5 million in improvements "necessary to bring national golf events" back to the park, per Newsday. Formerly The Carltun, the new venue will be called The Grand Lannin in tribute to Joseph Lannin, the man behind what was originally the massive five-course Salisbury Golf Club. In an additional nod to history, EGB plans to name its golf-course concessions after famed architect Devereux Emmet, designer of the Salisbury courses, including the current Red Course.
EGB has applied for sales-tax exemptions with the Nassau County IDA and made a presentation to the agency earlier this month.
"We're changing the former Carltun into a tourist destination that's going to pull people from all five boroughs [of New York City] and from New Jersey," [EGB's Elias] Trahanas said in an interview. "By revamping this iconic facility in this iconic park, we're going to attract more than just golf tournaments. We're going to attract many events, from corporate [functions] to charity [galas]," he said. -- James Madore, Newsday, 1/27/23
Eisenhower Park's most historic tournament was played in 1926 when the Red Course -- then known as Salisbury #4 -- hosted the PGA Championship, won by Walter Hagen. A sign commemorating the event hangs over the entrance to the park's golf building.
Decades later, after the Northville Long Island Classic (later the Lightpath Classic) left the Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, it relocated to Eisenhower Red and became known as the Commerce Bank Championship, part of the Champions Tour. The last tournament was played there in 2008.
[PICTURED RIGHT: A tournament badge from the 2004 event, the first one to be sponsored by Commerce Bank following the move to Eisenhower Park.]
