5 Minutes with General Manager of Hamptons Hills Country Club

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS, NY — Along with the natural beauty of the beaches in the Hamptons, some of the most scenic spots are the expansive golf courses.

Hamptons Hills Country Club, located in Westhampton Beach, has one of the finest golf courses in the Hamptons. General Manager Stanley Pine talked to Patch about what it’s like to work at the well-known spot and why golf is so important to him.

Pine remembers the exact day playing golf turned into a passion. “The first time I swung at that little ball and hit it the way Arnold Palmer would. A rarity for — but that keeps me coming back,” he said.

Like many people, Pine said he first fell in love with the Hamptons when he and his wife started spending summers on the East End in 1976. “By 1999 we made the Hamptons our primary residence," he said.

On the East End, Pine said he'd found home: “The open space, the farms and water views bring down my blood pressure immediately.”

Hamptons Hills is spread over 209 acres of hills and is located at the highest elevation in the Town of Southampton, which affords its members scenic views, Pine said.

“It’s in the middle of over 2,000 acres of a pine and oak tree forest. It's a sanctuary from the frenetic pace of the city,” Pine explains.

Pine, whose golf inspirations are Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler, says that the unique beauty of Hampton Hills is that playing the course is never the same twice. “From the first tee to the second green is a 100 foot drop in elevation.”

Managing a members-only club in the Hamptons has afforded Pine some memorable experiences, he said.

Pine has met and played golf with “some of the most interesting people in America," including a President of the United States, the mayor of New York City, the presidents of Bear Sterns and Goldman Sachs, and football players including Michael Strahan, David Tyree, Justin Tuck, and Nick Mangold.

"I'm from Rockaway Beach in Queens — this has been some trip," Pine said.

An important advantage of his job, according to Pine, is that the active lifestyle means he weighs approximately the same as he did for the past 40 years: “So I would say that is definitely a perk.”

While for some Hamptonites the summer is starting to wind down, Pine said that at Hampton Hills the golf season is still in full swing. “The course opens at the end of March and closes the day before Thanksgiving.”

Photo of Stanley Pine courtesy Stanley Pine; other photos courtesy J. Krajicek.