The Deal

Financial Power-Moves Facilitated by the Fairway

The Player: Stanley Pine
Owner of Hampton Hills Golf Club
West Hampton Beach, Long Island
The Scenario: Hampton Hills Golf Club

How long have you owned Hampton Hills?
My partner, Barry Biel, and I bought Hampton Hills Golf Club approximately 23 years ago. I have been managing it for 10 years.

How long have you been playing golf?
Probably 20 years.

How often do you play?
In season, maybe three times a week. And I try to get in a couple of nine holers here and there.

What is your handicap?
19.
 
Does the Hampton Hills Golf Course host any fundraising, benefit or business events?
We do. We don’t do corporate outings at all. We do the Play For Pink Breast Cancer outing. It’s a big day. They raise a lot of money. I give them the course to assist them in making a few dollars on the day. We also give the course to a few local Police Athletic Leagues. We make the course available to the New York State Troopers from time to time too. Organizations like that raise money for fallen police officers, their families and their children’s education funds.

Have you ever been able to conduct business on the golf course?
Quite a bit, not only playing but as a manager of Hampton Hills. Before I was in the golf business, I was in the denim business—jeans. Once on the golf course somebody invited a fourth and during the conversation, the fourth mentioned he needed some fabric within the next three months and he mentioned he was trying to get it from Argentina. I had been to Argentina six times and was doing a lot of business there. While we were on the golf course I called up a salesman from one of the biggest industrial plants in Argentina that makes denim. I put him on the phone with the fourth member of our foursome and they ended up making a contract for something like a million yards worth of fabric. This guy was a supplier to Wal-Mart. We were on the 4th or 5th hole and it was the right place at the right time. The most exciting part was doing it on the golf course.

Have you had any other memorable business deals on the golf course?
This past summer I was playing with one of our members who mentioned he needed to rent a house while he was building a new one. I said to him ‘In two months I will have a house for you to rent.’  He said “Get out of here!” He looked at the house that afternoon. The following day he and his wife rented it for the year. Things like that happen. He is a member of the club, a friend and is still in the house.

Can you take us through the process of doing business on the golf course?
Most people are very respectful and realize that everyone is there just to relax and have a good time.  In the course of conversation while you’re waiting to putt or hit, the subject often becomes ‘What do you do?’ Very often people bend over backwards and say ‘Oh, here give me your number, I will call you tomorrow.’ I think a huge amount of business is done on the golf course by accident.

One of my friends is a service contractor in New York. While he and I were out in the Hamptons playing a round with a few other guys, one of them turned to my friend and asked ‘What’s your business?’ My friend explained that he handled cleaning and security for some of the larger buildings in New York City. The other player said ‘I’m taking bids for this building on 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue,’ which was the Chrysler Building. The other player asked my friend to call him in the morning. My friend called the man and was put in touch with the person who was running that particular building. Since then my friend has been providing cleaning, security and other services for the last three or four years.