SEND IN YOUR NEWS AND NOTES: All members of the MGWA, with items for our Newsletter, are urged to e-mail them to Chuck Stogel (chstogel@aol.com).
PHOTO GALLERIES: Please note that photo galleries from many of our MGWA meetings and outings are posted on our website (metgolfwriters.org). There are foursome photos, action photos, meeting photos and more. To access, log on to our website and click on Meetings & Outings, then open the photo gallery you wish to see (photos are free to copy).
LARRY NELSON TO RECEIVE GOLD TEE AWARD
MGWA Dinner Tickets Available at Reduced Price for Members
World Golf Hall of Famer Larry Nelson, a winner of three majors and a three-time U.S. Ryder Cup player, will be presented with the Gold Tee Award — our association’s highest honor — at the 71st MGWA National Awards Dinner scheduled for Wednesday, October 11th, at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Briarcliff Manor, NY. An Alabama native who grew up in suburban Atlanta, Nelson has amassed 41 professional victories in his career, including 10 wins on the PGA Tour and 19 on the Champions Tour. A Vietnam vet who did not take up golf until the age of 21, Nelson won the 1981 and 1987 PGA Championships, and the 1983 U.S. Open. He competed on the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1979, 1981 and 1987.
The MGWA also announced that the Young family — David, Barbara and Cameron — has been chosen to receive the 2023 Family of the Year Award. David Young recently retired as the head professional at Sleepy Hollow while Cameron Young currently competes on the PGA Tour. Additionally, Julio Ugaz, a longtime member of the kitchen staff at Tamarack CC in Greenwich, CT, will receive the Mary Bea Porter Award for performing a life-saving Heimlich maneuver last season at the club. Other MGWA awards to be announced include: the Paul Dillon Distinguished Service Award, Lincoln Werden Golf Journalism Award, Winnie Palmer Award, Club of the Year and the Dave Anderson Spotlight Award.
MGWA members are encouraged to attend the National Awards Dinner in support of our association and our charitable beneficiaries. Met Golf Writers members may purchase up to two tickets at the reduced price of $195 each (regular tickets are $425). Tickets are available now via the MGWA website (metgolfwriters.org); just log on and then click on “Awards Dinner” to access the member’s ticket order form.
HENDRICKS FIELD ADDED TO MID-SUMMER SCHEDULE
Charles Banks Design Recently Restored by Stephen Kay
Hendricks Field Golf Course in Belleville, NJ, one of three layouts operated by the Essex County Parks System, has been added to the MGWA’s full-day meeting and outing calendar, scheduled for Wednesday, August 2nd. Hendricks Field was designed by C.B. Macdonald disciple Charles “Steam Shovel” Banks (Forsgate, Whippoorwill, Hackensack, Essex County, Knollwood, Tamarack, more) and opened in 1929. It underwent a comprehensive restoration in 2021 crafted by architect Stephen Kay. Renovations included new drainage, tees, bunker work and some property expansion. A par-70 course, Hendricks Field boasts many of Banks’ classic features. It is fairly short but still challenging, with multiple tees stretching from 4,549 to 6,150 yards. Kay, along with Essex County Parks Director of Golf Operations Tim Christ, will speak to our group during a morning meeting session. Competition at Hendricks Field will offer the annual MGWA Pinehurst Tournament. A signup notice will be sent in early July. The other courses under the Essex County umbrella are Francis Byrne in West Orange — a 1926 Banks design currently closed for major restoration by Kay — and Weequahic in Newark, a 1913 George Low crafting and the oldest public course in New Jersey.
MONTCLAIR CHAMPS: STOGEL, THUR, MacMILLAN
More than 70 MGWA members attended our first meeting and outing of the 2023 season, held on May 9th at Montclair GC in West Orange, NJ. A varied program of presentations was featured, along with a sun-splashed afternoon of competition on a renovated and devilish par-70 golf course.
At our morning meeting session, the MGWA group met in the club’s main ballroom and heard from: Montclair’s Tim Bolton, Director of Golf, and Michael Campbell, Director of Golf Course Operations; Kevin Purcell, Executive Director, and Rebecca Gaona, Communications Director, from the New Jersey State Golf Association; and Cleveland/Srixon reps Corey Brigham and Rich Talbot.
Bolton provided our group with a bit of club and course history, explaining that, with its founding in 1893, MGC is one of the oldest golf clubs in the United States. The club had four “nines” constructed in the 1920s, three crafted by Donald Ross and a fourth by Charles Banks. Montclair, which over the years has received upgrades designed by father-son members Robert Trent Jones and Rees Jones, and Rees Jones Inc. top architect Bryce Swanson, this season is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Carol Semple Thompson’s 1973 U.S. Women’s Amateur victory at MGC.
In talking about the most recent renovations, Campbell explained how “over time, the courses lost their architectural integrity. With respect to their history, it was our intention to restore and preserve the courses. We spent hours going over aerial photos, dating back to the 1930s. We did our best to interpret what Ross and Banks had in mind. We also did a lot of tree work. And, in everything we did, we also maintained consideration for the ‘modern’ game and the play of today’s golfers.”
Gaona told our gathering that 2023 has been designated the New Jersey State Golf Association’s Year of Women’s Golf. The NJSGA — which conducts eight state championships for women, five USGA women’s qualifiers and hosts several non-competitive women’s golf days — is scheduled to hold the inaugural New Jersey Women’s Open championship at Montclair GC on June 21-22 over the club’s Second and Third Nines. “Any professional, plus any New Jersey amateur with a maximum handicap index of 9.6, is eligible,” said Gaona. “We’ll be conducting the event during the same week that the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be held at Baltusrol. And there’s a lot of buzz and excitement in the area for both.” The NJSGA event will offer a $20,000 purse for its pros. Set for 36 holes this year, future plans eye a 54-hole championship.
A morning Cleveland/Srixon demo session was conducted on the Montclair range by Brigham and Talbot, who also spoke at the indoor meeting. Brigham described how Srixon has an advantage in manufacturing since the brand is owned by a large company (Sumitomo) that makes its own rubber and urethane and maintains quality control throughout its proprietary processes. In the realm of clubs, Cleveland is well known for innovations, especially with its assortment of wedges.
An afternoon of golf featured the annual Quill & Tee President’s Cup, a handicap event conducted in three flights and traversing Montclair’s Second and Third Nines, the same layout that will be used for the inaugural New Jersey Women’s Open. Yale Stogel (pictured, right) captured the A Flight crown with a net 77-7–70, Jon Olson was second at 79-8–71 and Brian Giuffra third with 85-12–73. Jozef Thur (pictured, left) prevailed in the B Flight with 80-13—67, Wayne Kamidoi was second at 91-20—71 and Dan Berger third with 89-16—73. In the C Flight, Iain MacMillan was best with 96-26—70, Peter Cleary next with 96-25—71 and Doug Goodman third at 101-29—72. Nearest to the pin winners were Terry O’Keefe, Thur and Stogel on the Second Hole/Second Nine and Goodman, Hank Gola and C.J. Papa on the Seventh Hole/Third Nine.
NY’S PHUNG CROWNED DCP NATIONAL CHAMPION
Alexandra Phung of Forest Hills, NY, won the 2023 Drive, Chip and Putt national overall title at the Masters in Augusta, GA. It was Phung’s third trip to the DCP finals, having finished sixth in the 7-9 division in 2019 and then third in 2020. Phung, who began playing golf at the age of 5, survived three local and regional qualifiers — at Harbor Links on Long Island, Bethpage State Park and TPC Boston — to advance to Augusta. A student at Henderson University School in Boca Raton, FL, Phung plays out of Bonnie Briar CC, Larchmont, NY, in the summer and at Stonebridge CC in Boca Raton during the school year. When asked about the key to her young success, she responded: “Hard work and practice pays off.” (Pictured in photo with the DCP trophy, l to r: Ann Liguori, MGWA Board member; Dan Frankel, Met PGA Director of Junior Golf; Phung; Brian Crowell, MGWA President).
GLENARBOR TO HOST LABRITZ GOLF CLINICS
Beginning this fall, PGA Tour Champions pro and GlenArbor GC touring professional Rob Labritz (pictured) is launching the Rob Labritz Performance Golf Clinics, to be held at the club in Bedford Hills, NY, or at scheduled remote locations. “My proven and holistic methods of performance coaching will put you on a path to a lifetime of scoring skills,” said Labritz. “It’s part scoring clinic, part premiere corporate golf event, part motivational insights … and all great fun from coffee to cocktails.” Sessions include instruction from the GlenArbor teaching team, a round of golf, plus food & beverage. Clinics will have a 5-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio and will accommodate up to 24 golfers at a time. For more info: www.roblabritz.com/contact.
PEOPLE, PLACES, ETC.
Talking Golf with Ann Liguori, which airs Sunday mornings on WFAN New York radio, has won the 2023 Gracie Award in the “Sports Talk Show, Local, Major Market” category. Named for the late actress and comedian Gracie Allen, the Gracies are presented by the Alliance for Women in Media and seek to acknowledge and honor achievement and programming by, for and about women. Liguori will be honored at an awards luncheon June 20th at Cipriani in Manhattan . . . Chelsea Creo has been named General Manager at North Jersey Country Club, Wayne, NJ. She was the catering and events manager. Arnold Kruck is the new chef at NJCC. The MGWA will visit North Jersey this summer for a meeting/outing on August 31st . . . Hudson National GC in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, is closing its course this summer for a major renovation that includes an all-new irrigation system and substantial upgrades everywhere. The course, which opened in 1996, is a Tom Fazio design . . . NEW MEMBERS: Tom Guidice, MLB Network, tommy.guidice@mlb.com . . . Jean Palmieri, Women’s Wear Daily, jpalmieri@wwd.com . . . James Throssell, Gary Player Enterprises, james@garyjimplayer.com . . . Jeff LaMarita, MetroSat Communications, jeffmetro@aol.com.