Warmer weather is on the way! Yay! The Spring 2021 issue of NS Golf magazine is too, due in mid-April. Until then, check this space and the North Shore Golf Facebook page for breaking news and updates.
By Bill Brotherton
When it comes to golf, no U.S. president has played the game better than Donald J. Trump. During his term, his handicap has wavered from 3 to 5. His scores are almost always in the 70s.
Granted, that might not be as impressive at the 38-under-par 34 reportedly shot by the late North Korean despot Kim Jong-il, but no resident of the White House has come closer.
Massachusetts’ favorite son John F. Kennedy had a single digit handicap, but odds are Trump would’ve cleaned his clock in a $10 Nassau.
Winthrop’s Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 Miracle on Ice U.S. Olympic Gold Medal hockey team, can attest to Trump’s prowess on the golf course. The Tedesco CC member recently teed it up with the president at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
In this Summer issue of North Shore Golf, Eruzione, a pretty fair golfer himself, talks about the man, the round, “presidential mulligans” and defeating Phil Mickelson in a closest-to-the-pin contest.
Gary Larrabee, in his Straight Down the Middle column, visits with the Murphy clan of Haverhill. Ted and wife Mary, who are celebrating the 50th anniversary as owners of Garrison Golf Center, look back and talk about how their four children embraced the game as well.
We also catch up with Bobby Baker, who is starting his 68th year at Lynnfield’s Reedy Meadows, and Winchester native/Heisman Trophy winner Joe Bellino, a former member at Hillview, Andover and Indian Ridge who now plays at Patriot Golf Club in Bedford.
In his Shades of Green column, Tedesco pro Bob Green, examines Tee It Forward, a joint initiative of the PGA of America and the United States Golf Association that’s practically been ignored by most golfers.
Also in this issue: For years, rock ‘n’ rollers were loath to admit their love for the game. As Jim Sullivan, the longtime music writer and now North Shore Golf columnist, writes “After all, the song doesn’t run ‘Sex and golf and rock ‘n’ roll!’ Alice Cooper, Huey Lewis, former Gang of Four drummer/Gloucester resident Hugo Burnham and other rockers share their thoughts about the game with Sullivan on these pages.
More local clubs have joined the PGA Junior League, which, local pros tell us, is succeeding in getting another generation interested in the game. Course owners and superintendents talk about the weird March weather that caused major destruction throughout the region. And, Town Meeting in Lynnfield shot down a development plan for Sagamore Spring GC; what does this mean for one of the North Shore’s most popular courses. There’s also plenty of breaking news in our Notebook, including reports on how our local players fared in numerous tournaments.
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for the magazine. Please let me know what you like, don’t like and how we can make North Shore Golf better.
See you on the links.