x
  1. Home
  2.  News
  3.  Business

Hef’s Hut opens with golf simulator, pool table, and heated patio — and attracts locals

Vernon. While the golf course is now in outstanding playing condition, the bar and restaurant needed a significant upgrade. Hef’s Hut is a social venue that welcomes locals and out-of-area visitors alike for reasonably priced food and drinks and fun indoor entertainment.

| 01 Feb 2022 | 07:28
    Vernon Mayor Howard Burrell (center) provides golf tips to Jennifer Lubliner, Vernon’s Economic Vernon Mayor Howard Burrell at the opening celebration with Vernon Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Hopper, Buffy Whiting, Tara Burns, and Great Gorge staffer Samantha Guidotti (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)
    Vernon Mayor Howard Burrell (center) provides golf tips to Jennifer Lubliner, Vernon’s Economic Vernon Mayor Howard Burrell at the opening celebration with Vernon Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Hopper, Buffy Whiting, Tara Burns, and Great Gorge staffer Samantha Guidotti (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)
    General manager David Killin (center back) with members of the Great Gorge Golf Club staff (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)
    General manager David Killin (center back) with members of the Great Gorge Golf Club staff (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)
    Vernon Mayor Howard Burrell (center) provides golf tips to Jennifer Lubliner, Vernon’s Economic Development Advisory Committee chair. They are pictured with Debbie Coulson, recording secretary for the Vernon Chamber of Commerce; David Killin, Great Gorge Golf Club general manager; and Elizabeth Cassidy, Warwick Chamber of Commerce President (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)
    Vernon Mayor Howard Burrell (center) provides golf tips to Jennifer Lubliner, Vernon’s Economic Development Advisory Committee chair. They are pictured with Debbie Coulson, recording secretary for the Vernon Chamber of Commerce; David Killin, Great Gorge Golf Club general manager; and Elizabeth Cassidy, Warwick Chamber of Commerce President (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)
    Mark Creamer, marketing and sales manager at Great Gorge Golf Club, watches a guest hit a tee shot in the long drive competition (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)
    Mark Creamer, marketing and sales manager at Great Gorge Golf Club, watches a guest hit a tee shot in the long drive competition (Photo by Dr. John T. Whiting)

A new bar, restaurant, and entertainment center named after the world’s most famous playboy, Hugh Hefner, opened in Vernon with a ribbon cutting on Jan. 21.

Well-wishers including Vernon Mayor Burrell; the presidents of the Warwick and Vernon Chambers of Commerce, Elizabeth Cassidy and Jennifer Hopper; Jennifer Lubliner, chair of Vernon’s Economic Development Advisory Committee; and other dignitaries and many friends of the Great Gorge Golf Club turned out to celebrate the new 19th hole, Hef’s Hut. Its new general manager is David Killin.

Hefner, who died in 2017, bears a complex legacy as the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine. He extended the Playboy brand into a world network of Playboy Clubs. Hefner brought the Playboy Club and the 27-hole Great Gorge Championship Golf Course, designed by renowned course architect George Fazio, to McAfee, N.J., in 1970. He is currently the subject of a 10-episode docuseries titled “Secrets of Playboy.”

The Great Gorge Golf Club has had its good times and bad. But through the leadership of Killin and owner Jeff Koffman, the course has returned to its glory days, when celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Frankie Avalon, and Tony Bennett played the course.

While the golf course is now in outstanding condition, thanks to longtime course superintendent David Brubaker, the bar and restaurant needed a significant upgrade. Hef’s Hut is now a social venue that welcomes locals and out-of-area visitors alike for reasonably priced food and drinks and indoor entertainment.

Guests at the ribbon cutting tasted some of Hef’s Hut’s delicious finger foods, produced by Great Gorge Food and operations manager Jack Longa and Chef Brodie Mcdonald, and their new Great Gorge Brewery IPA beer. They played in darts and pool, a long drive and closest-to-the-pin competition using a new, state-of-the-art golf simulator.