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).
MGWA MEMBERSHIP, Q&T RENEWALS NEAR DEADLINE
The 2026 registration renewal period for both MGWA general membership and seasonal membership in our Quill & Tee Golf Club is ongoing, with a mutual deadline of Wednesday, April 15th, before our rosters will drop 2025 members who have not renewed with either or both affiliations. After April 15th, those who have not renewed will not receive MGWA email notices and will not be able to view members-only website pages. Also, those who were in Quill & Tee in 2025 but have not renewed will no longer receive GHIN handicapping services and will not be able to partake in Q&T-only competitions at our 2026 outings.
Here is the link to access the MGWA renewal form for 2026. If you’re not already logged into the website, you’ll be asked to enter your username and password:
https://metgolfwriters.org/membership-renewal/
Here is the link to access the Quill & Tee Golf Club form for 2026. Again, if you’re not already logged into the website, you’ll be asked to enter your username and password:
https://metgolfwriters.org/product/quill-tee-golf-club-membership/
The 2026 dues structure for general membership is: Regular Member, $95; Associate Member, $125; Retired Member, $45. The website has an explanation of the criteria for the different categories. The 2026 dues for Quill & Tee membership is $65. General membership dues are 100% tax deductible; for Quill & Tee, $28 of the dues fee is tax deductible.
BILLY CONDON ADDED TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
With the resignation in January of John Paul Newport from the MGWA Board of Directors, the total number of Board members dropped to 14, one less than the maximum allowed by our Bylaws. After considering nominations for five candidates, the Board at its Zoom meeting on March 25th elected to add Billy Condon to its roster. Per the Bylaws, as a new member, Condon was appointed for an initial three-year term, with a maximum of four terms allowed as a member of the Board.
About Billy Condon: He began his career in golf as a Met Golf Association intern. He subsequently joined the MGA Communications staff and was Associate Editor of The Met Golfer magazine. After three years at the MGA, he was named Director of Marketing for Golf Genius Software. He later joined Golfweek/USA Today as Director of Sales and Business Development. He has considerable experience in “new media” with his involvement as Director of Sales at Skratch Golf, a significant content provider.
STANDING COMMITTEES NAMED FOR 2026
Each year, according to our Bylaws, the members of our Standing Committees need to be established and approved by the Board of Directors. Here is the composition of our Committees for this season.
Membership Committee: Mark Cannizzaro, Billy Condon, Hank Gola, Damon Hack, Pete Kowalski, Bill Pennington.
Communications/Social Media Committee: Gordon Andrew, Dan Berger, Brian Giuffra, Hank Gola, Jack Milko, Robin Sauerhaft, Anthony Scorcia, Chuck Stogel.
2026 Dinner Committee: Gordon Andrew, Diana DeLucia, Hank Gola, Pete Kowalski, Ann Liguori, Peter Morrice, Bill Pennington, Robin Sauerhaft.
Activities Committee: Dan Berger, Dave Donelson, Eric Berger, Hank Gola, Tony Salva, Chuck Stogel, Jozef Thur, Matt Ward.
In addition, with the MGWA having been founded in 1952, the 2027 season will represent the 75th anniversary of our organization. With an eye toward that event, and a special celebration, a 2027 Dinner Committee has been formed to begin working on that occasion. The committee at this time consists of: Mark Cannizzaro, Martin Davis, Diana DeLucia, Hank Gola, Pat Norton.
All of our 2026 committees have been meeting and working as warmer weather looms on the horizon. A list of confirmed MGWA meetings/outings is included at the end of this Newsletter. Our Communications/Social Media Committee has been formulating a schedule of Podcasts for the upcoming season. The MGWA has a YouTube channel and posts videos from interviews with all sorts of interesting folks from the world of golf on YouTube along with audio on Spotify, and other MGWA items on X.com, Facebook, Instagram and more. We need more of our members to register for our YouTube channel, which is free. The more subscribers we have, the more impressive we become for potential interview subjects and potential clubs to host our outings. Here is a URL link to access the MGWA on YouTube, where you can subscribe:
https://www.youtube.com/@metropolitangolfwritersass4061
Our Activities Committee requests that any of our members who print or broadcast items, or post news of their own following an MGWA group visit to a Met area club, please forward to MGWA Newsletter editor Chuck Stogel via email at chstogel@aol.com. Here is the link to a post on X.com from MGWA member Frank Qasim after our visit last summer to Woodway CC:
https://x.com/frankieq25/status/1950322077354909837?s=46&t=04kIKuiD5jP9S-0kz3QrSg
NEW WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING, MGWA MAKES DONATIONS TO LOCAL CHARITIES
The Met Golf Writers website, metgolfwriters.org, has a new look which was unveiled in late December. In a project that took several months to bring to fruition, and overseen by Robin Sauerhaft, MGWA Client Administrator, our renovated web presence has a clean, modern look that is easy to navigate and is packed with interesting content. There is a revised log-in procedure that provides for setting up a unique password for each member. Information and instructions about the new website were emailed to all our members prior to the website’s relaunch.
The MGWA Board of Directors, at its annual meeting, decided to donate nearly $45,000 to various charitable golf-related organizations in the Met area. Funds were primarily raised from our National Awards Dinner and from additional Association activities. The MGWA Board allocated $10,000 each to the respective Caddie Scholarship Programs of Long Island, New Jersey and Westchester/Fairfield, plus the MGA Foundation. Others receiving donations include the Women’s Met Golf Association, the New Jersey PGA and the Met PGA.
MGWA’S CROWELL, LIGUORI, ROBERTS, STOGEL RECEIVE AWARDS
Met Golf Writers Brian Crowell, Ann Liguori and Jimmy Roberts, in golf, and Chuck Stogel, from the world of basketball, were recently honored and presented with awards. Crowell, who is the General Manager for Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx, NY, was named PGA of America Golf Professional of the Year. He was honored in January at the 73rd PGA Show in Orlando, FL . . . Liguori, President of Ann Liguori Productions, was also honored during the PGA Show by the ING Media Awards for her Long Form Radio Show “Talking Golf” on WFAN highlighting Rory McIlroy’s Masters win . . .Roberts, a veteran broadcaster for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, in February received the Tim Rosaforte Distinguished Journalist Award from the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic in West Palm Beach, FL . . . Also in February, Stogel, who has been President of the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association since 1980, was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in the Media/Administrator category in a ceremony at the Midtown Hilton in Manhattan.
MET AREA CLUBS MAKE OFFSEASON STAFF CHANGES
Every year, during the winter offseason, there are staffing changes at Met area clubs. Here is a recap of some new people in new places.
On the New Jersey side of the river:
Anthony Casalino, Director of Instruction, North Jersey CC; Chad Ferguson, Head Professional, Spring Lake GC; Tim Hepler, General Manager, Peddie School GC; Joel Inman, General Manager, Montclair GC; Eric Johnson, Director of Instruction, Baltusrol GC; John McCarthy, Director of Golf, Forsgate CC; Rodney Silvagni, General Manager, White Beeches G&CC.
From the Met PGA section, new Directors of Golf or Head Golf Professionals:
Mike Argentine, Ardsley CC; Peter Ballo (pictured), Wykagyl CC; Taylor Davis, Southward Ho CC; Chris Gabriele, Old Westbury G&CC; Keith Handler, Sterling Farms GC; Will Jones, Garden City Golf; Tanner Megal, Westchester Hills GC; Matt Noel, Huntington CC; Ian Orr, Redding CC; Adam Patronik, Hudson National GC; Casey Pyne, The Stanwich Club; Pitch Riley, The Hills; Greg Rutkoski, Pleasantville CC; Casey Schermick, Richmond County CC.
Notable Met section golf pro retirements: Angela Aulenti, Sterling Farms; Jim Bender, Ardsley; Tom Sialiano, Pleasantville; Jim Smoot, Huntington; Mike Summa, Stanwich.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We’re reaching out to our membership for volunteers to write the press releases for each of our National Awards Dinner honorees. We normally produce about 6-8 releases each year, which follow a basic template. The volunteer would simply be asked to research and write two or three biographical paragraphs about the honoree. Samples of the releases we produce are on our website: https://metgolfwriters.org/press-releases/. If you’re interested, please contact Robin Sauerhaft at rsauerhaft@mgagolf.org.
PEOPLE, PLACES, ETC.
AUTHOR, AUTHOR: Here’s a brief email note we received from MGWA member John Steinbreder, who has one new tome in print and three books forthcoming. “The first is a Centennial history of the Westchester Country Club. It is my 26th book and came out last summer, with fellow MGWA member Jimmy Roberts penning the Foreword. And I have three more being released this summer. Two of those are histories of Southampton Golf Club (last year’s MGWA Club of the Year) and Bull’s Bridge (in northwest CT), and the third is a volume on golf in Morocco titled Kingdom of Golf and produced in conjunction with the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation” … Last month, following the Winter Olympics, MGWA member and sports psychologist Dr. Tom Ferraro did an interview with the Daily Mail about “Why Athletes Choke.” Here is a link to read about it: Psychologist: Why Team USA Keeps Choking … NEW MEMBERS: Sonny Burgo, Pete’s Golf, sonny@petesgolf.com . . . Anthony Carnevale, Golfing Magazine, acarnevale04@gmail.com . . . Greg Louw, Lotogo Video, glo732@icloud.com . . . Rich Poggi, Fairways and Greens: A Novel, rich@richpoggi.com.
Upcoming MGWA Schedule:
Tuesday, May 19th — Echo Lake Country Club, Westfield, NJ. Echo Lake was founded in 1921 as the result of a merger between Cranford GC and Westfield GC. The club occupies land purchased in the late 1600s from the Leni Lenape tribe of Native Americans. The course has gone through several iterations, with holes designed in its early years by Donald Ross, Robert White and Willard Wilkinson. The past few seasons have seen a Master Plan being implemented by Rees Jones Inc. RJI co-designer on the project is architect Steve Weisser. The Echo Lake course is a par-71 with six sets of tees stretching 5,207 to 7,202 yards. Presentations/guest speakers: Echo Lake officials; PXG equipment demo; Dunning Golf Apparel; Steve Weisser, RJI co-designer. Tournament: Quill & Tee President’s Cup (individual play with handicaps).
Monday, July 13th — Montammy Golf Club, Alpine, NJ. Situated just off the Palisades Parkway and about seven miles north of the George Washington Bridge, Montammy GC was founded in 1966 with an 18-hole course designed by Frank Duane. There was a major clubhouse renovation in 1996. The course — par-72 for men, par-74 for women — has five sets of tees from 5,374 to 6,811 yards. The layout features distinctive elevation changes and various ponds to consider; greens are fairly large, with considerable undulation. Renovations are underway crafted by Rees Jones Inc. Guest speakers: Club officials, course renovations co-designer Bryce Swanson from RJI. Tournaments: Quill & Tee Club championship; Quill & Tee Member-Guest.
Tuesday, August 4th — Siwanoy Country Club, Eastchester/Bronxville, NY. Founded in 1901, Siwanoy in 2026 is celebrating its 125th year as a club. The current course, designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1913, succeeded two early nine-holers and sits within the Town of Eastchester and adjacent to the Village of Bronxville. Robert Trent Jones provided renovations to the course in 1952. A 38,000 square-foot clubhouse upgrade took place in 2020. The par-71 course, with numerous elevated tees and compact greens guarded by severe bunkers, has five sets of tees ranging 4,742 to 6,736 yards. Guest speakers: Siwanoy club officials; Golf Heritage Society: George Petro, President, Bill Robertson, Executive Director. Tournament: Quill & Tee Better Ball Championship (with handicaps).
Thursday, August 27th — Preakness Hills Country Club, Wayne, NJ. Founded in 1926, Preakness Hills is proudly celebrating its Centennial this season. The original golf course was designed by Willie Tucker and opened in 1929. It has undergone several renovations over the years, including craftings by Brian Silva in the 1980s and Ron Forse in the early 2000s, and most recently a modernization by Nagle Design Works that produced new and expanded tee boxes, and tree removal. The terrain is moderately hilly, with mostly large greens and water in play on seven holes. There are six sets of tees with par varied at 70 or 72, and the course stretching 5,405 to 6,836 yards. Guest speakers: Club officials, Nagle Design architect (tentative). Tournament: MGWA Team Shootout (with handicaps).
Tuesday, October 6th — Mountain Ridge Country Club, West Caldwell, NJ. 73rd MGWA National Awards Dinner. Honorees to be announced.
Tuesday, October 13th — Bethpage State Park, Black Course, Farmingdale, NY. Golf holes will feature final day pin locations from Singles matches in the 2025 Ryder Cup.
