July/August 2018 Newsletter

   METROPOLITAN GOLF WRITERS ASSOCIATION

JULY/AUGUST 2018 NEWSLETTER

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).

SIMPSON SNARES Q&T PRESIDENT’S CUP

NICHOLAS, SULAVIK TOPS IN BETTER BALL

The MGWA this past June and July conducted two meetings and golf outings that were interesting, informative and well-attended, with both gatherings featuring spirited competitions. Pound Ridge GC in Westchester, NY, was our host for the June meeting while Edgewood CC in River Vale, NJ, was the site for our July get-together. Both meetings featured guest speakers who addressed our group during morning indoor sessions. As usual, our outing featured a buffet lunch, golf in the afternoon and refreshments after golf with prizes awarded.

The Quill & Tee GC is our golf club without real estate, and is affiliated with the Met Golf Association. The Quill & Tee GC is open to all MGWA members --- including those who may belong to a private club elsewhere --- and provides USGA handicapping services through the GHIN program along with a complimentary subscription to The Met Golfer magazine plus eligibility to enter and compete in MGA and USGA competitions. The Quill & Tee GC also conducts a number of exclusive competitions each season. The Quill & Tee GC tournament season reaches a highlight for 2018 at Ardsley CC in Westchester, NY, on August 28^th with its Club Championship and Member-Guest events. The Quill & Tee Club Champ will be listed along with other Club Champions in the year-end issue of The Met Golfer.

POUND RIDGE RECAP

Speakers at Pound Ridge on June 5^th included Club Manager Todd Leavenworth, along with Shot Scope Founder/CEO David Hunter and Chief Commercial Officer Gavin Dear. Because Pound Ridge still operates from a relatively small building that accommodates a modest lounge and golf shop, our MGWA meeting and refreshments took place in a large party tent that is situated between (and protected from) the driving range and the short-game practice area.

Leavenworth recounted a brief history of the acquisition of the Pound Ridge property by Owner Ken Wang, plus development by Architect Pete Dye, son Perry Dye and Construction Manager Michael Langkau. For more than 30 years prior to its acquisition by Wang, Pound Ridge had been operated as a nine-hole, semi-private facility; many remember long-time pro Mike DiBuono, who oversaw the previous operation. Prior to opening with much fanfare in 2008, the current Pound Ridge course was under development for 10 years and cost is estimated in the range of $40 million. Since the Dye course opened, a few tweaks to the course have been taken, including changing/adding some tee areas, cutting back on what was originally high and plentiful fescue patches, removing various amounts of trees. The course itself is still very demanding, even penal in spots, with a slope rating from the “way back” tee boxes of 150. Future plans include the construction of a larger clubhouse (which is in the permit stages) that Leavenworth said “will not be massive but more accommodating year-round.” Pound Ridge, by the way, is open year-round, weather permitting, and handled 400 golf rounds this past February. One myth that Leavenworth took special mention to dispel is that the golf fee at Pound Ridge is generally $230. That fee, Leavenworth pointed out, is the cost of a round --- which includes cart and unlimited practice --- on weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) prior to 1 pm during peak season (May-October). “We are full on the tee sheet on weekends,” said Leavenworth. The green fee on all other weekend times and weekdays for 18 holes is $150. “It’s not about the number of rounds we are trying to generate, but the quality of the experience.”

Shot Scope is a wrist band yardage-measuring device, and more, that is billed as “the smartest golf watch in the world.” Both CEO Hunter and CCO Dear, who are based at company headquarters in Scotland, joined us for the entire day, in addition to providing several prizes. They explained that Shot Scope provides GPS info about yardage from all course locations, along with further details about hazards, greens, and an array of stats. So far, the company has mapped more than 35,000 courses worldwide. The suggested retail price for Shot Scope, available in several models, is $249. Dear explained that the device not only aids golfers on the course, but also can assist in practice sessions by analyzing swing and scoring data. FFI: MGWA member John Frew, J. Hamilton Group, (johnfrew@msn.com, 917-776-4928).

The MGWA competition at Pound Ridge featured our annual President’s Cup tournament, which is contested with handicaps. Scott Simpson won the Quill & Tee President’s Cup with a 1-under net 71, followed by Jon Olson with a net 72 and, in third on a match of cards at net 75, Antonio Salva. In a counterpart MGWA handicap event for non-Quill & Tee attendees, Howie Meditz placed first with a net 71 and Drew Greenland was second with a net 72. Nearest to the pin winners were Simpson on hole No. 6 and Greenland on hole No. 15.

EDGEWOOD RECAP

Co-owner Bruce Schonbraun explained to the MGWA group at Edgewood on July 10^th that when he and Eric Witmondt (both coincidentally members at Mountain Ridge in New Jersey) purchased Edgewood four years ago and began a series of upgrades to the 27-hole course and other facilities, the club was at 40% of what the membership subscription had been in better times. Since the acquisition in 2015, the partners and their staff have grown the membership to more than 90% of the previous high. “Our goal has been to make changes and market Edgewood as a diverse, family-oriented club,” said Schonbraun. “We don’t see ourselves in the ‘golf’ business. We consider that we are in the ‘entertainment’ business. While golf is the club’s main feature, it is not its only amenity. We are facing dramatic social changes, especially with the family unit. People have so many choices with what they want to do, and how they want to spend their money. As a result, private clubs have gone through tough times; memberships are down, facilities have deteriorated, dues are up. Our goal is to build a better package. We want the club to be a ‘sticky’ activity, with fuller family participation.” Schonbraun pointed to three avenues that have led to membership growth at Edgewood: 1. Several area clubs have closed; 2. New members in general that weren’t club members previously; 3. Creation of a “resort membership” category, which offers primarily pool, tennis and dining. BTW: Schonbraun also is an owner of Greenbrook CC in North Caldwell, NJ, and Orange Lawn Tennis Club in So. Orange, NJ. FFI: MGWA member and Edgewood VP-Marketing, Sales and Club Operations Kyla Basso (kbasso@edgewoodnj.com; 845-499-6521).

The Quill & Tee tournament at Edgewood, using the Blue and White nines, consisted of the annual Quill & Tee Better Ball, with handicaps, as well as a qualifier for those who signed up for the Met Golf Association Better Ball Championship. Quill & Tee Better Ball winners on a match of cards at 3-under net 68 were Nick Nicholas and Chris Sulavik, who did not opt before playing for the opportunity to advance to the MGA event. Second on the match of cards were David Barrett and Tom Ierubino, who will advance as Quill & Tee representatives to one of the MGA sectionals in hopes of qualifying for the Championship itself in the fall. Third place finishers at net 69 were Dave Donelson and John Zanzarella. Nearest to the pin winners included C.J. Papa on No. 7 White and Ierubino on No. 9 Blue.

PASTERNAK NAMED PGA GOLF PRO OF THE YEAR

Dan Pasternak, the PGA General Manager at Essex Fells (NJ) CC, this week was named the 65th recipient of the PGA Golf Professional of the Year Award. In winning the highest annual honor given to a PGA Pro, Pasternak heads the 2018 PGA National Awards class for “qualities of leadership, strong moral character and a substantial record of service” to the PGA and the game of golf overall. As the first-ever PGA Pro to assume the role of GM at the 122-year old Essex Fells club, Pasternak has enjoyed a distinguished 22-year career as a PGA member.

The first New Jersey PGA section member named PGA Golf Professional of the Year, Pasternak has served at the national level on the PGA of America’s Board of Directors. He is currently President of the New Jersey Golf Foundation, which he helped launch in 2004 as the charitable arm of the NJPGA. The 2013 Bill Strausbaugh Award recipient on the national level, Pasternak also is a two-time recipient of the NJPGA Golf Professional of the Year award (2007, ’11).

PEOPLE, PLACES, ETC

A redesigned MGWA web site is scheduled to launch this week, so please take a look at www.metgolfwriters.org. Our website supervisor, who worked closely on the renovations with our web/host company, is MGWA Client Administrator Robin Sauerhaft (rsauerhaft@mgagolf.org). Numerous new standing elements and features have been added to the website; plans are to add a considerable number of photos over the next few weeks.  Robin will send an email to the membership when the changeover to the new site is complete . . . Our next newsletter will include a recap of the 2018 MGWA National Awards Dinner. The MGWA Executive Committee met on July 31^st to review this year’s Dinner and begin preliminary plans for our 68th National Awards Dinner in 2019. Early accounting reports that revenues from this past year’s dinner enjoyed a modest increase over 2017, continuing a positive trend that began with the retention several years ago of a Marketing Director/Agency to augment committee efforts . . . MGWA member and Westchester Magazine group publisher Ralph Martinelli is in “very serious” condition in the Intensive Care Unit at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York following complications that occurred during a cardiac procedure in Florida several weeks ago. Friends, family and Today Media staff members are “optimistic,” but doctors are reportedly guarded in terms of a prognosis for any sort of recovery . . . OBIT: Former MGWA member Jim O’Connell, 64, the longtime college basketball Editor at The Associated Press who also covered golf, died July 2 after a lengthy series of ailments. Known as OC, O’Connell, who lived on Long Island and was a graduate of St. John’s University, served as the AP’s national college basketball Editor since 1987 and, often, as the nightly Sports Supervisor at the wire service’s headquarters in New York. A former Sports Information Director at Fordham University and an inductee into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, OC also covered many of the top men’s and women’s pro golf Tour events in the Met area. O’Connell is survived by his wife, Anne, and sons James and Andrew . . . Ernie Palladino, 63, of Staten Island, died July 21 after a 10-year battle with cancer. A longtime New York Football Giants beat reporter, among other sports assignments, he formerly worked for the Staten Island Advance, Gannett Westchester newspapers and was an online columnist for WFAN.com. He is survived by his wife, retired Advance reporter Diane Lore; a son, Andrew; two daughters, Liz Stipanov and Kathleen Palladino; and a month-old granddaughter, Gabriella Stipanov.

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