Before he ever thought about drilling a golf hole, David Gang was writing code.
A software engineer, he came to the game in his late 20s at a sleepy course near his home in Western New Yorksneaking into holes at dawn and dusk. He loved the solitude and the challenge. But it wasn’t until his son, Matthew, who has Down syndrome, took up golf that Gang’s interest deepened into something else. A major moment came during a pro-am at Sherwood Country Club in Southern California, when Matthew, then 8, got to walk the course with Tiger Woods.
“Tiger was so warm and welcoming; he basically invited Matthew into his world,” David Gang told me the other day. “It was a reminder of what a powerful force golf can be.”
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Gang left determined to create a place that reflected the joy he and Matthew felt playing – an accessible, flexible and engaging course rooted in camaraderie and a sense of belonging.
This vision took shape in Storm King Golf Club in the Hudson Valley, on a modest plot in the shadow of a mountain of the same name. Revisiting an existing design by Chris Gray, Gang has brought to life an entirely new course, one that breaks with 18-hole convention but stays true to the spirit of the game. The core is a walkable nine of about 3,000 yards, though fairways split and reconnect through an intricate network of tees and greens—five distinct nine-hole loops, more than 30 tee options, and about 225,000 square feet of putting space (more than double what’s found, including a fairway and 1 tee). quadruple green. The result is a golf kaleidoscope of sorts, with over 45 holes possible depending on the route you choose.
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courtesy of the storm king
Attached to it all is a short 19-hole course that joins par-3s across the property – an easier and faster option for a quick loop or a spirited match with friends. Gang describes it as “golf, reimagined.”
He conceived Storm King around three guiding principles: playability, maintainability, and durability. The grounds are cared for by robotic lawnmower. The footprint is small, the inputs minimal. You can move in just over an hour or waste an afternoon trying out new combinations. Post a pointor not – the real point is the camaraderie and the walk.
Gang is 69 years old. Early in his career, he helped build AOL before starting his own software company, Brightspot. He has done well for himself. Storm King is his way of doing good for others. Although the business plan is still in flux, it promises to be something of a hybrid, with fractional ownership memberships that allow small groups to rent the course for the day; select windows designated for public access; and events with proceeds going to charities.
This past weekend marked the first of those events — the Storm King Match Games Invitational — which featured a field of 32 adaptive players and wounded veterans playing in support of Tunnel to Towers, a nonprofit organization that helps first responders and military veterans.
The course hummed. But, says Gang, “it still felt empty. We could have easily hosted 40 to 48 golfers playing simultaneously without a hiccup.”
There will be time for that. Storm King is hosting limited invitational play through November 15th before closing for the season. It will reopen on June 1 next year.
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