All together now

By ANNE MARIE TOBIN

    With a combined 231 years of service between them, the Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts and Massachusetts Golf Association have had many milestone moments throughout their distinguished histories.

    Last May 10, the two organizations

made history when they signed a merger agreement combining the two into one new state organization now known as MassGolf.

    With a new name, a new brand, a new website (massgolf.org) and a new operating and governance structure that includes representation from both organizations, MassGolf hit the ground running January 1, when the merger became official.

    Under the agreement, MassGolf has assumed full responsibility for running all of the tournaments on the WGAM schedule, in addition to its own. For the first time in the history of either organization, the men’s and women’s state amateur championships will be conducted at the same site, with the men’s amateur being held at George Wright Golf Course and William J. Devine G.C. July 9-13 and the women’s amateur to be played for the first time at George Wright July 29-Aug. 2.

    The Massachusetts merger follows in the footsteps of several other state organizations that have successfully merged. “Rhode Island, Texas, Florida and several others have had great success following the decision to combine under one roof,” said MassGolf executive director Jesse Menachem. “We first started talking about it informally when Clarence Bennett was president of the MGA, and then we sat down together in late spring last year and found that our organizations had many similarities in terms of challenges and needs, such as the need

to grow participation.The bottom line for both groups was we both knew that we were not attracting certain segments of the Massachusetts golf community.

    “Both groups felt we needed to reshape our vision together. We will continue to provide
all the member services we have in the past, but we need to expand the First Tee

program and plan to offer enhanced services in the areas of course rating, handicapping, championships, juniors and our grow-the-game initiatives, and that the best way to do that was to combine resources and begin to work together as one.”

    Sound familiar? Yes, if you happened to be around on March 5, 1900 when six women representing four clubs (Oakley, The Country Club, Concord and Brae Burn) met at 45 Commonwealth Ave. in Boston to discuss the need to form a women’s golf association.  In her book, “On the Greens of Massachusetts, The Story of the Women’s Golf Association” of Massachusetts, 1900-2000, Moira McCarthy wrote that Grace B. Keyes, the first treasurer and state women’s champion, said it simply, “What we want, what we need is a way to play

and improve at golf. We need more chances to play and compete and need to meet other women who love golf as well.”

    Keyes’ message was heard loud and clear, as two weeks later on March 19, the Women’s Golf Association of Boston was formed. By May, the first team competition was held, and by late October, the association’s first amateur championship was staged.

    It didn’t take long for the WGAB to attract attention from the local media.The Transcript Newspaper had this to say about the WGAB on Oct. 27, 1900,

following the women’s amateur earlier that month at Oakley:  “The manner in which they took hold of the matter and organized the association and the way in which it has been conducted, free from debt and without outside assistance which could have been had at any time, speaks volumes for the sportsmanship involved and affords a fine example for the men of Boston to follow.” And follow they did, with the founding of the Massachusetts Golf Association in 1903.

    Cathleen Beach, former executive director of the WGAM, has moved on to a new role and new office as director of women’s competitions and player development.

    Beach said, so far, the transition to MassGolf has been seamless, especially when it comes to spring teams, the oldest and largest event on the women’s tournament schedule.

    “We have 750 players and 150 teams who registered to play this year, and that in and of itself speaks to the ease of the transition,” she said. “We had online registration for the first time, and now this year any woman can play or act as a substitute because we no longer have to be a member to play and our clubs no longer have to pay a membership fee. I think that this will bring exposure to women and clubs that in the past were not members

of the WGAM, so that is a great change for all the female golfers in the state.”

    Beach said she knew from the first informal discussions between the two groups that the time was right.

    “From the very beginning, there was a level of mutual respect and it just seemed like the lightbulbs all went off in our heads when we learned that our challenges and goals were the same,” she said. “The fact is, golf is gender neutral and that together we had a better chance at success than we had if we continued to work independently. It was all about the overall good of both of our futures and that we needed to change things to continue to do what

we do.”

    Beach said she is most excited that the women’s amateur will be at George Wright.

    “I grew up as a public player, and I know there were many women who believed that the WGAM should be for private players only and also some who didn’t like it when we had tournaments at public courses, so the fact that we are going to George Wright is incredibly

exciting and I couldn’t be happier.”

    There are approximately 86,000 Massachusetts golfers on the GHIN system, which will continue to be administered by MassGolf.

    Menachem said there, no doubt, will be growing pains during the transition period, but is confident that the strong relationship that has formed between the men and women in recent years will ensure success and growth.

    “We now will be governed by a 12-member board of directors that includes officers and people from each of the old organizations, and we also have introduced a new advisory board

consisting of past presidents, committee members and representatives from our affiliated organizations to assist the process as we work through all the details,” he said.

    “We put a lot of time into working through all of the departments of each organization and learned that we have some age-old perceptions we need to overcome, but I am confident that with everyone so much on board and so positive about our new direction, that we will be successful. This is an exciting time for all of us who love golf and want to promote it by growing the game. We have had a great working relationship with the women, and we look forward to furthering that in the future.”

    MGA president Tom Bagley and WGAM president Leslie Logan were the guiding forces for their respective organizations during the merger discussions last year.

    “After years of collaborating informally, it became clear to both associations that we could better utilize all our resources – staff, volunteers and finances – if we

work together,” said Bagley. “Our collective goal is to better serve all golfers in Massachusetts”

    “We’re confident that women’s golf in Massachusetts will thrive under the new structure,” said Logan. “Our membership, championships, events and scholarship programs will be better served by our two organizations coming together.”

     Beach said she knew from the first informal discussions between the two groups that the time was right.

     “From the very beginning, there was a level of mutual respect and it just seemed like the lightbulbs all went off in our heads when we learned that our challenges and goals were the same,” she said. “The fact is, golf is gender neutral and that together we had a better chance at success than we had if we continued to work independently. It was all about the overall good of both of our futures and that we needed to change things to continue to do what

we do.”

    Beach said she is most excited that the women’s amateur will be at George Wright.

    “I grew up as a public player, and I know there were many women who believed that the WGAM should be for private players only and also some who didn’t like it when we had tournaments at public courses, so the fact that we are going to George Wright is incredibly exciting and I couldn’t be happier.”

    There are approximately 86,000 Massachusetts golfers on the GHIN system, which will continue to be administered by MassGolf.

    Menachem said there, no doubt, will be growing pains during the transition period, but is confident that the strong relationship that has formed between the men and women in recent years will ensure success and growth.

    “We now will be governed by a 12-member board of directors that includes officers and people from each of the old organizations, and we also have introduced a new advisory board consisting of past presidents, committee members and representatives from our affiliated organizations to assist the process as we work through all the details,” he said.

    “We put a lot of time into working through all of the departments of each organization and learned that we have some age-old perceptions we need to overcome, but I am confident that with everyone so much on board and so positive about our new direction, that we will be successful. This is an exciting time for all of us who love golf and want to promote it by growing the game. We have had a great working relationship with the women, and we look forward to furthering that in the future.”

    MGA president Tom Bagley and WGAM president Leslie Logan were the guiding forces for their respective organizations during the merger discussions last year.“After years of collaborating informally, it became clear to both associations that we could better utilize all our resources – staff, volunteers and finances – if we work together,” said Bagley. “Our collective goal is to better serve all golfers in Massachusetts”

    “We’re confident that women’s golf in Massachusetts will thrive under the new structure,” said Logan. “Our membership, championships, events and scholarship programs will be better served by our two organizations coming together.”