Grant Horvat is one of the founders of the newly created YGT Tour, and he has played some of the most impressive golf courses in the world. But his latest video gave viewers a rare look inside one of the most exclusive clubs in the United States.
The popular YouTube golf star recently visited Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, New York, for a round that has quickly attracted plenty of attention. Horvat’s video has already surpassed 1.8 million views, giving his audience a glimpse at a course that is typically reserved for an extremely exclusive membership.
Horvat said he’d been trying to film the video for three years and was shut down four different times. His rising popularity and immense viewership growth over the past year likely explain their sudden willingness to let him inside the walls of a course that the public rarely, if ever, sees.
While completely underselling its features, essentially, Sebonack is a golf club for the ultra-wealthy.
What To Know About Sebonack Golf Club
Situated on approximately 300 acres in Southampton, Sebonack neighbors two of the most famous courses in American golf: National Golf Links of America and Shinnecock Hills.
According to Sebonack’s official website, the course features panoramic views of Great Peconic Bay and Cold Spring Pond, with expansive bunkers, waste dunes, and undulating greens incorporated into the natural landscape.
The course was designed by two of the biggest names in golf architecture, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak. In one scene of Horvat’s video, he shows a napkin on the wall where Nicklaus first sketched his idea for the course layout.
Horvat Reveals The Cost To Become A Member
For Horvat, the experience was about much more than simply playing another bucket-list course.
At the beginning of his video, he thanked Michael Pascucci for arranging the visit and acknowledged that he wanted to be respectful of the club’s members while taking viewers inside. The Assistant Pro at the course, Colby, took Horvat around and showed off some of the facilities, including the driving range, putting green, clubhouse, and locker room.
The exclusive nature of Sebonack was also evident in the price of membership.
When the club opened in 2006, reports put the initiation fee at roughly $500,000. That figure has climbed dramatically over the years. Horvat was under the impression when the video started that the fee was $1 million. He later learned during the process of filming that the initiation fee had reached approximately $1.4 million. That is before annual dues and other expenses.
Reported members have included prominent figures from real estate and finance, including Stanley Druckenmiller, Richard Santulli, Paul Desmarais Jr., and Johann Rupert. The club has consequently developed a reputation as a playground for some of the wealthiest people in the country.
That distinction also separates Sebonack from its more established neighbors.
While National Golf Links of America and Shinnecock Hills carry decades of history and exclusivity rooted heavily in tradition and social connections, Sebonack represents a newer generation of ultra-exclusive Hamptons clubs where the financial barrier to entry is enormous.
For most golfers, Sebonack is a course they may only ever see in photographs or videos. Thanks to Horvat, however, nearly two million viewers have now gotten a rare look inside.
YouTube Star Grant Horvat Gives Insider Look at a Golf Course for Billionaires