Affiniti Golf Partners adds three club

Affiniti Golf Partners continues to add premier properties to its stable of managed clubs with the addition of Dutchess Golf & Country Club in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Waterfall Country Club in Clayton, Ga., and Thistle Golf Club in Sunset Beach, N.C., according to Affiniti founding partner, Whitney Crouse.

Established in 1897 and located 80 miles north of New York City on the east bank of the Hudson River, Dutchess Golf & Country Club was one of the very first golf courses in the country. It began life as a nine-hole course designed by the club members, with the purported help of Scotland’s Willie Park, Jr., winner of The Open Championship in 1887 and 1889, and a prolific golf course architect in America, Canada and the United Kingdom.

A second nine holes was added at Dutchess G&CC in 1924 by the members and architect Devereux Emmet, who also designed the original Congressional Country Club course near Washington, D.C., and the Green Course at Bethpage State Park.

Waterfall Country Club is a spectacular planned community located in the Blue Ridge Mountains overlooking 2,800-acre Lake Burton in Clayton, Ga. The centerpiece of the community is a Scott Pool-designed golf course that has the most dramatic on-course elevation changes in Georgia. Its signature par 3 2nd hole falls an astounding 215 feet from tee-to-green and is framed by a natural waterfall.

Club amenities at Waterfall Country Club include a 52,000 sq. ft. Sports Center with an indoor swimming pool, European spa, steam room, sauna, fitness center, indoor tennis, basketball, volleyball and more. The Lodge at Waterfall offers commanding views of the golf course and lake, and has a cozy lounge with both casual and formal dining rooms.

Opened in 1999, Thistle Golf Club is considered one of the very best golf experiences in the Myrtle Beach golf market, consistently being ranked in the Top 5 on the Grand Strand. Thistle Golf Club is an uncommon facility that celebrates the formal origins of golf and takes its name from the golf society that played over the Links of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland beginning in 1815. The Club has gathered an expansive collection of memorabilia from the original Scottish club dating back to the early 1800's, including a rule book written in 1824 that forever influenced the way the game is played today.

A perennial 4 1/2 Star winner on Golf Digest magazine’s prestigious list of “Places to Play,” Thistle Golf Club is just minutes away from pristine Atlantic beaches and the legendary seafood in Calabash, N.C. It is also a short drive from the world-class entertainment and shopping of Myrtle Beach, S.C. to the south and the historic coastal town of Wilmington, N.C. to the north.

Said Crouse, “Affiniti is very gratified to add three such outstanding and compelling clubs to our roster of managed properties around the country. We certainly will strive to maintain stewardship of the game’s history at Dutchess, the celebration of that history at Thistle and the natural grandeur of mountain and lake at Waterfall.”