The Rees Jones-renovated Monster Golf Club in Monticello, New York, has reopened with a new routing that incorporates parts of the old Concord Monster Course and the property’s Old International Course. The new layout took nearly five years to reach completion and is part of a $40-million investment by Resorts World Catskills.
The previous Monster layout, originally designed by Joe Finger and opened in 1963, had been closed since 2015. Jones used holes and corridors from the two former courses to create a 7,650-yard, par-72 new Monster Golf Club in the Catskill Mountains about a two-hour drive from Manhattan. The public-access course will be managed by Arizona-based Troon Golf.
“The opening of any golf course is a special time, but to do it in the picturesque Catskills and to be able to combine the elements of two celebrated golf courses makes this a truly remarkable occasion,” Monster Golf Club director of golf Uri Jimenez said in a media release announcing the news. “The magic of Rees Jones is omnipresent throughout the course’s 18 holes and the hospitality excellence of Troon Golf and Resorts World Catskills will offer golfers an unrivaled experience at the Monster Golf Club.”
The course features six sets of tees to accommodate any player. The club has a new fleet of carts and a golf shop located in The Alder, Resorts World Catskills’ newest boutique lifestyle hotel adjacent to the property’s casino and resort.
“The grand reopening of the Monster Golf Club is a milestone moment for Resorts World Catskills as it completes the vision we had for this amazing property,” Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East, said in the media release. “We are proud to deliver on the commitment we made to the Catskills community to reimagine and reinvigorate this storied golf course in partnership with the legendary Rees Jones. We can’t wait to welcome golfers from around the world to face the Monster.”