An Interview With Rome Country Club’s Wes Cupp
There are plenty of great golf course owners, but few bring the combination of passion, personality and genuine warmth that Wes Cupp brings to Rome Country Club. Wes is one of those people who seems to always have a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone he meets. His love for the game is obvious, but golf is only part of what makes Wes special. He is also a devoted family man who takes tremendous pride in the people closest to him and the community surrounding Rome Country Club. And then there’s the competitive side of Wes. Away from the day-to-day responsibilities of running the club, he is a world class speed golfer, combining the skills of a highly accomplished golfer with the endurance, focus and athleticism required to play the game at an extraordinary pace. Hope you enjoy our interview.
DB: Tell our Table-Hopping readers about the history of Rome CC and how long has it been in the Cupp family?
WC: The original nine dates back to 1929. In 1970, the back nine opened up along with the current clubhouse. Geoffrey Cornish was tasked with redesigning the golf course for the expansion. The greens on #1 and #9 are signature Cornish touches.
2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the Cupp family at RCC! My parents, Ted and Kit Cupp, purchased the club in November of 1976 from Rome Savings Bank. The club had just been foreclosed upon, ending its private club run. My parents, originally from Toledo, Ohio, had relocated to the area by purchasing nearby Hidden Valley Golf Club in Whitesboro, NY, just a few years earlier. My parents ran it for about 25 years and I’ve have had the baton for the second 25 years.
DB: Tell us about your favorite holes on the course and why?
WC: #14 is my favorite as my brother and I completely redesigned it about a dozen years ago. It is now our feature hole, as it is a downhill par three over water. #17 is a close second as its green is diabolical and it sits right outside our back deck (where we love to heckle unsuspecting golfers in the evenings!).
DB: What do you see as the biggest opportunity for Rome Country Club over the next 3-5 years?
WC: Our golf course continues to get better through tree removal and advances in agronomy technology. We are also planning a complete clubhouse remodel in the next few years. This project’s price tag is expected to be over $1,000,000 but it will position the club as the place to be for the foreseeable future.
DB: What are the biggest challenges facing the course right now?
WC: Golf is still hot after Covid so we are still riding some good times at RCC. But, like all businesses, fuel prices and inflation make pricing our services difficult. We try our best to keep prices reasonable and it seems like a more difficult task each year.
DB: What are you most proud of about the course, and what would you like to improve?
WC: I’m proud of all of the blood, sweat, and tears our staff and I have put into this place over the past fifty years. I like looking back at old photos and saying, “Wow, I can’t believe how much we have put into improving that hole. I sure don’t want to do that again!” But they say the journey is really all of the fun, right? The constant improvement of the course is always our mantra.
DB: I know both you and your wife Lauren are world glass speed golfers, tell our readers what it’s all about? And is it really true you once shot 74 in under 50 minutes?
WC: Speedgolf is your golf score plus your time in minutes. It is a crazy, miserable format that for some reason, my wife and I have had a lot of success with. We’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world competing; South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, England, Ireland just to name a few spots. Do a quick YouTube search and you can get a good look at this sport. My best competitive round is actually a three under 69 in 46 minutes. Give me your standard four and a half hour round and I would played much worse!
DB: Discuss your family life, your children and what’s in store for the Cupp family going forward?
WC: Life is super busy (this is probably why speedgolf was born out of necessity for us!). Lauren and I have four wonderful children: Leslie (12), Ted (9), Eleanor (5) and Natalie (1). This is in addition to owning and operating Rome Country Club, Lauren’s head coaching position for the men’s and women’s golf teams at Hamilton College, and a soon-to-be acquisition of another golf course in the area (more info coming soon on this one).
