About Us

RaNic Golf Club, formerly known as the Country Club of Ithaca was founded in 2020 by the Whittaker family. The owners, Sean and Jennifer Whittaker, were inspired by their two children Rachel and Nicholas Whittaker to rename the Golf Club after them with the name “RaNic”. RaNic’s mission is to shift from a country club perspective toward a more inclusive semi-private Golf Club.

The former Country Club of Ithaca was founded in March 1900 by a group of leading Ithaca business associates and distinguished professors at Cornell University. The first Club President, W.D. Bancroft, a professor from Cornell, wanted a club similar to the ones that were being built at that time in Corning and Elmira. Professor Bancroft and the founding members were able to rent land from Cornell and build a clubhouse and 9-hole golf course on what is now Wyckoff Avenue.

During the first half of the 1900s, the clubhouse and golf course changed locations several times in the Cayuga Heights area, moving from Wycoff Avenue to Highland Avenue. In the 1920s, the Club moved again to Triphammer and Jessup Roads and built an 18-hole course. In 1958, the Club sold some of its lands to Cornell and built a new clubhouse, swimming pool, and the present-day golf course where it is today. Geoffry Cornish, our course architect, was one of the premier designers of the time. For additional recreation, tennis courts were added in the 1970s.

Many prominent people have either played or have been members of the Club. What has enabled RaNic Golf Club to flourish as well as it has for over 100 years is the make-up of the membership. The Club has always had something to provide to its members — banquets, catering, dining, fitness center, golf, pickleball, shopping, social events, summer camps, swimming, tennis, and more.