For one week a year, her housing development is turned into a professional sporting venue, but Esme Frensilli loves it.
“It’s fun,” Frensilli said. “I get into the whole thing.”
Frenselli’s house overlooks the 14th hole of the Tournament Player’s Club (TPC), the country club which is the centerpiece of the Avenel housing development.
When Avenel was being developed, the stadium golf course was an integral part of it.
“It was built to have a world class golf facility,” said 18-year Avenel resident Nancy Itteilag. Itteilag was one of the first residents in Avenel and is also a Realtor who works extensively in the area.
The club attracted a professional golf tournament, now known as the FBR Capital Open.
The Open creates some trade offs for residents and members of the club.
“I don’t have the convenience of the course I belong to because it’s closed,” said Avenel resident and TPC member Doug Poretz.
However, Poretz can just walk out the door and see the tournament. “I don’t have to get in my car and go see a major event,” he said.
The tournament has some economic benefits, Poretz said. The tournament contributes to the development’s property values, and that the prestige of being able to play on a professional course helps his business. “I can take clients or prospective clients out on the course,” Poretz said.
Residents like Frensilli, who has lived in Avenel for 12 years, learn to cope with the extra traffic and security. “I think, if you live here, you learn when to go out and when to come in,” she said.
Frensilli related a story of once visiting a friend who lives in Cabin John, just three miles away, and taking an hour and a half to get back home.
“I don’t go anywhere in the weekend [of the tournament],” Frensilli said.
In recent years, however, traffic has gotten better. “The traffic control they do for the crowds is pretty spectacular,” Itteilag said.
She believes that the tournament helps to spike home sales in Avenel. “I just get flooded with calls,” Itteilag said.
Residents in Avenel enjoy amenities such as 24-hour surveillance and professional landscaping and lawn care included in the homeowners fee. “They do such a good job taking care of the place,” Frensilli said. “You just lock the door and go.”
“Avenel is a great place to live,” Poretz said.
Itteilag is also impressed with how well maintained the development is. “It is one of the most beautifully maintained communities,” Itteilag said.
Perhaps because of this high level of maintenance, Avenel tends to hold onto its residents. Itteilag notes that she has had several clients who move to different houses within the development. Frensilli is one of them, she and her husband are currently living in their fourth house in the development. “There isn’t anyplace else I’d want to be,” Frensilli said.