100 years. 79 years.
Each duration represents a good long life, whether one is talking about a person, a business or an event. And there is no doubt that the Lebanon Country Club and its premier event, the W.B. Sullivan Invitational Four Ball tournament have largely flourished in those respective time frames, much to the delight of a proud membership and community.
That does not, however, mean that LCC is content to fade away from the scene as it ages. In fact, led by new owner Stephan Van Der Ploog, the Lebanon Country Club and the Sullivan are busy planning a comeback of sorts after a decade-long decline that has been driven by economic issues both within and outside of its control.
“The club has been around for 100 years and it’s been such an important part of Lebanon County,” Van Der Ploog said last week to explain why he and his wife were interested in guiding a planned rejuvenation of the property at LCC property at 3375 Oak St. He purchased the property in January in an effort to pull it out of a financial funk that was certainly not aided by the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
“You have to invest money for a business to thrive. The membership at Lebanon is so passionate about the club. When we made the proposal (to buy) we needed 75 percent approval from the membership and we got 83. That was an indication of the members being bought in and supportive.”
“I believe Lebanon County is a growing county and the data supports that. We want to build and feel like there is a wonderful country club experience that is on par with (some of the other country clubs in Central PA). We’re never going to spend $40 million like Lancaster Country Club, but we are going to be more of a family, less informal type of environment.”
To that end, Van Der Ploog has made the first six months of his club stewardship a busy one, hiring a new club golf pro, a new assistant pro, a new general manager, a new course superintendent, and a new executive chef.
“The first six months have been fast and furious,” he said. “We’ve flipped all of the key positions.”
Now the next order of business will be to revive interest in the the Sullivan, set for its 79th go-round July 25-28.
Though still a quality, prestigious event for golfers in the area and beyond, the Sullivan has fallen off a bit from the recent past when it attracted 100 to 120 teams annually to Lebanon Country Club.
The task of making the Sullivan great again goes mainly to John Gross, a former Sullivan champion during his playing days in the ’80s and ’90s now living in North Carolina, and longtime LCC member and former Sullivan competitor Ben Brewer.
“The tournament is so important to the membership so we just tried to keep it going,” said Gross, who took over running the Sullivan after the retirement of longtime head pro Mike Swisher several years back. “Fortunately I got to know everyone who’s been involved in the tournament over the years. From there I talked to some guys that aren’t entered this year and they gave me some ideas that I’m going to share with Stephan. Stephan understands the importance of this to the community and membership. He’s been bending over backwards to be supportive of the tournament.
“And now Ben’s been stepping up to help me. Hopefully he can fill my role moving forward because it does take a lot of time and energy.”
The good news for all is that positive vibes regarding the transformation of LCC and the Sullivan are being felt all over, even reaching Gross at his new home.
“I think we’ll have a good event this year,” Gross said. “We don’t want to tread water, we want to keep making it better.”
“I have people telling me the course hasn’t looked this good in 5-10 years,” Van Der Ploog said, praising the work of the staff. “It’s gonna be a marathon to do this and I assure you we’re going to mess up. We’ve already messed up many times. But my philosophy is if we mess up we’ll always do the right thing – for a staff member, for a club member, and for the community.”
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