Ayden Golf and Country Club Assistant Manager Wyatt Russell and General Manager Ryan Baker, from left, check out clubs in the pro shop.
Cool pool, green fairways New manager takes reins at Ayden Golf and Country Club By Emily Bronson
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s locals welcome the returning summer months, the Ayden Golf and Country Club looks forward to the best time of year with a new general manager, Ryan Baker. A staple to Ayden residents and golfers since 1958, the country club has undergone much change over the course of half a decade. While working there in the past, Baker said just in his time as an employee, he has seen the country club and golf course grow tremendously. Baker said in May he has only held the general manager’s
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post for about month, but he can tell the best part of the job is interacting with community members. He said the previous general manager left Ayden to serve another country club in Greensboro. “You get to meet everybody,” Baker said. “Everyone knows who you are, you know who everybody else is. It’s really nice.” The busiest time of year at the country club is the summer months, Baker said. The golf course is open all year, but summer is when the club’s pool opens and most golfers take to the green, he said. Ayden Golf and Country club hosts a summer swim league called the Wahoos, Baker said.
Although the swim league practices at the club’s pool, he said they operate separately from Ayden Golf and Country Club. “In the summer months, all of our golf carts are full by noon,” Baker said. “Every weekend, the pool is absolutely full of kids. Everybody seems to be here. It’s just a really really rocking good time.” A part of the Eastern North Carolina Junior League, the club hosts a golf league for kids from 5 to 18 to participate in over the summer, Baker said. As the director of this, Baker said he coaches the participants for them to eventually compete in junior tournaments all throughout the summer with
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other leagues in eastern North Carolina. “A whole bunch of kids come out, even if they have never played golf before, I give them coaching instruction. Every golf course in eastern North Carolina does this,” Baker said. The Ayden Golf and Country Club is not a private club, Baker said. Individuals who aren’t members can still use the club’s amenities with higher-priced fees. Baker said the best way to place a membership with the club is via email. The club’s email address can be found on their website, he said. “We have two different types of membership,” Baker said. “One is executive. That’s our allround membership. It includes golf, it waves your green fees and it gives you access to the pool and tennis courts. You get 15 percent off in the pro-shop. The second one is like the social membership. That’s just access to the pool and tennis courts.” Ayden Golf and Country Club is more than a golf course, Baker said. Along with the facilities that offer a wide array of activities, the club also serves as a venue for weddings, retirement parties and other group events, he said. The ballroom in the country club is available to rent out for special occasions, Baker said. The venue for the month of May does not have any availability and June is starting to fill up as well, he said. “We are very family-oriented here,” Baker said. “We have
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