Feb. 4—WATERTOWN — The Parks and Recreation Department will be looking for a new manager to oversee the Thompson Park Golf Course.
After running the 18-hole course for the past two seasons, Jordan Northrop will be leaving the historic Thompson Park Golf Course this summer.
He’s moving out of the area. His wife, Katherine, a Fort Drum soldier, has been promoted to major and will be attending the Army’s law school in Charlottesville, Va.
Northrop says he’s going to miss the golf course in Thompson Park. He has been credited as being a driving force in its opening after the city acquired it in 2023.
“It’s the golf course that I played at and worked at as a kid,” he said.
Parks and Recreation Superintendent Scott M. Weller said Tuesday “it’s to be determined” who will replace Northrop. Northrop has done everything he could to make it successful, Weller said.
“He’s been a huge asset for us,” Weller said.
When Northrop was hired in 2023, Weller said he knew right away he had the right person to run the city’s newly acquired golf course. He was impressed with Northrop as soon as he met him for a job interview.
Northrop, 37, a 2005 Immaculate Heart Central graduate, will stay through the city’s golf championship in mid-July before leaving.
He came to Thompson Park with lot of experience managing golf courses. His first job was in Myrtle Beach as an assistant general manager at River Oakes Golf Course when he was just 21.
He then headed to South Philadelphia, where he had his first general manager job at FDR Golf Course and became general manager of Clearview Park Golf Course in Queens, which is the busiest golf course in the country with 93,000 rounds played annually.
Northrop came on board at Thompson Park amid the city’s debate over its controversial $3.4 million purchase from Michael A. Lundy.
At the request of City Manager Eric Wagenaar, Northrop has put together a five-year business plan for the course, showing expected revenues and expenses, capital projects and other suggestions that he made.
But he’s now preparing for the upcoming season, although an opening date has not been set. He’s optimistic despite a season that was dampened by an unseasonably wet summer last year.
So far, 11 tournaments have been inked in for the summer. He expects the number of tournaments to fall short by a couple from last year’s 18.
On Monday night, the City Council approved a series of fee increases, including season passes, charges for carts and individual rounds.
Despite some debate by council members, Weller described them as “right in the middle” and competitive with other area courses. They’re going up because “costs continue to go up” to run the facility, he said.
Northrop will continue to get the course ready for the opening. A new T-box was created for the 18th hole.
In other news, Weller “is still working” on a new deal for David J. Marconi to run DJ’s at the Park in the golf course’s clubhouse, adding that he “will know soon.”
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