The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Will NCR exit affect country club?

The company doesn’t own the facility first made available to the general public in 1995.

Staff photo by Jim Witmer The NCR Country Club will host the U.S. Open Sectional qualifying competition Monday, June 8.

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
5/26/12
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
5/25/12
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
5/25/12
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
5/25/12
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
5/25/12
> More headlines

By Bucky Albers, Contributing Writer Updated 1:56 AM Thursday, June 4, 2009

It has been business as usual at NCR Country Club since the announcement Tuesday, June 2, that NCR Corp. will move its headquarters from Dayton to Duluth, Ga.

The maintenance crew has been sharpening the NCR South course in preparation for Monday’s U.S. Open Sectional qualifying competition, and the contestants are beginning to play practice rounds.

For club members, however, there is one big, unanswered question: How will the Fortune 500 company’s move to Georgia affect the beautiful country club that was created for its employees?

Right now, nobody seems to have an answer.

Steve Bolerjack, the club’s general manager and chief operating officer, learned of the company’s decision from the local media.

“It’s just as new to me as it is to you,” he said Tuesday. “At this point I just don’t know a thing. We plan to make a statement to the members as soon as we have information to share.”

Bolerjack does not expect any changes in the near future.

“I don’t anticipate any,” he said. “There is nothing that would lead us to believe that there will be. We will continue as the healthy club that we are.”

NCR Country Club, a 36-hole facility that opened 55 years ago, is considered the finest club in the Dayton area.

It has hosted four national championships.

Unbeknownst to many, NCR Corp. does not own NCR Country Club and has not owned it since it opened.

In December 1953, several months before the club’s grand opening in May 1954, the corporation deeded it to the nonprofit NCR Employees Benefit Association for $1 “and other valuable considerations.”

NCR founder John H. Patterson believed in having happy employees in and out of the workplace and NCR President S.C. “Chick” Allyn carried that philosophy forward when the company built NCR Country Club.

NCR subsidized the golf of its employees for many years, making it possible for them to play two of the best courses in Dayton for next to nothing.

But in 1971, the production workers became affiliated with the United Auto Workers union, and NCR quit subsidizing the employees’ golf in 1976 when its mechanical cash registers became obsolete.

Although the club now has a board of directors that includes representation from employees, retirees and associate members, the corporation has always had officials hovering over the country club’s activities.

NCR Chief Operating Officer Robert S. Oelman was chairman of the 1969 PGA Championship held at NCR and was one of eight operating members of the NCR Employees Benefit Association at the time.

In 1986, when the club hosted the U.S. Women’s Open, NCR CEO Charles Exley Jr. was general chairman and one of his vice presidents, Don Herman, was vice chairman and prime mover of the event.

The NCR Corp., formerly National Cash Register, clearly used the major championships, including the 2005 U.S. Senior Open, to showcase its products and entertain clients. It also entertained clients and employees at the club.

In 1992, when $4 million was needed to build a new clubhouse and halfway house, the corporation gave the club a 35-year, $3.5 million interest-free loan for the project.

But now the corporation has decided to leave Dayton after 125 years, and nobody seems to know what will become of NCR Country Club.

Don Toberen, a 40-year NCR employee and one of two retirees on the NCR Employees Benefit Association board, refused to speculate about the future.

“The club is owned by the Employee Benefit Association,” Toberen said. “At this point we’re going on like we always did.”

Would the NCR Corp., which may no longer have an interest in a golf course in Dayton, have the right to dictate a sale of NCR Country Club?

Leo Harty, a former president of the country club, said no. He said the club belongs to the NCR Employee Benefits Association, which is incorporated.

He said the club has been adjusting to a declining NCR employee base for 35 years and has positioned itself well for the future, with many new members and many improvements to the golf courses and the other facilities.

“Fortunately for us, we don’t have major expenditures to look at,” he said. “We’ve been attracting a number of professional people to maintain a pretty high level of membership.”

Harty said he has no idea how many employees are among the current members and could be leaving when NCR leaves.

Bolerjack declined to reveal how many of the current club members are NCR employees.

One thing is certain.

NCR Corp. will not be able to pick up the NCR Country Club and move it to Georgia.

Share this article