Dellwood Country Club Gets New Name, Golf Course Makeover

After getting a major facelift last year, the 90-year-old Dellwood Country Club in New City is getting a major overhaul of its landmark 18-hole A.W. Tillinghast golf course and has been given a new name.

Dellwood’s new owners said Friday they have changed the name of the club to Paramount Country Club. Club representatives said owners wanted a name that is in keeping with the legacy of the club, but reflects efforts to modernize its facilities.

“As part of our passion for this project, we wanted to bring all the elements together under one name that reflected everything Dellwood has been and the greatness we see in its future,” said Jeff Mandelbaum, an attorney and investor who is a member of the West Orange, N.J., family  that now owns and operates the club. “As we phase in the new name, we’ll also be phasing in more projects that exhibit our excitement for the property.”

Club members were told of the name change this week.

With the name change, golf course architect Jim Urbina, who won praise for his efforts as co-designer to create Old Macdonald, the newest course at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, has developed a new master plan for Paramount Country Club’s A.W. Tillinghast-designed golf course.

Urbina said he fell in love with the New City property when he first visited back in August 2010. Urbina said his goal is to restore the golf course to the true integrity of Tillinghast’s 1920 design.

“You talk about a hidden gem, this course wasn’t listed in any book.” says Urbina.  “But when it’s done, Paramount is going to open people’s eyes.”

Urbina said the golf course has been changed over the years by the effects of nature and 90 years of play.

“Over time, courses don’t expand. Tees, greens, bunkers, fairways — everything gets smaller,” Urbina said. “I want to bring back the expanse, the broad views and beauty that original owner Adolph Zukor and A.W. Tillinghast once saw.”

Urbina and the club’s new owners say they are focused on bringing the course back to Tillinghast’s original vision, including the incorporation of some long-lost and rarely seen architectural elements. The restoration is slated to be done in segments, starting this spring.

The course will remain open for play during the renovation process.

The country club dates back to its days as the weekend property of movie mogul and Paramount Pictures founder Adolf Zukor, who used his “Mountain View Farm” to entertain the celebrities of the 1920s. Thomas A. Edison introduced Zukor to Tillinghast, one of the leading architects of golf’s “golden era."

Acquired by Mandelbaum's family in 2009, the Paramount Country Club owners sayd the club is already a very different facility from the old Dellwood. They said nearly $5 million has been invested in renovating the clubhouse, grounds, pool area and 12 tennis courts.  A nine-bedroom cottage for members and guests has been modernized and a fitness center added. 

The existing snack bar is set to be replaced in 2011, with an indoor/outdoor Paramount Bistro to be added.

Dellwood Country Club celebrated its grand re-opening in May 2010 after a six-month renovation that began in October 2009.