William Shaw, Salem Country Club’s general manager/COO for the past two years, has accepted the GM position at Andover Country Club. His successor is David Garfinkel, who had held the same position at Pine Brook Country Club in Weston since 2017. Before that, Garfinkel was GM at Woodland Golf Club in Newton for 14 years. Shaw had succeeded the late Peter Fischl, who served Salem CC in that capacity when Greg Cinotta moved over to Concord Country Club in 2018. Cinotta served as Salem’s GM for 11 years and was in charge when the US Senior Open was held at the Donald Ross course in 2017.
Meanwhile, over at Essex County Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, head PGA professional Jack Davis is Pennsylvania-bound. Davis is now Director of Golf at prestigious Merion Golf Club. He served Essex members for more than eight years. Before that, Davis was assistant pro at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in New York. Wow! Davis has worked at three of America’s greatest golf clubs and he’s barely into his 40s. … The new head PGA pro at Essex is Alex Hoyos, 36, who served as Davis’ 1st assistant pro from 2017-2020. Hoyos was director of golf at the same-sounding Essex County Country Club in West Orange, NJ, for the past five years. Hoyos was born of Cuban parents who, at 10 years of age, had escaped Fidel Castro’s reign. Hoyos worked at Augusta National during the 2018 Masters tournament and before that at a driving range at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. … Another of Davis’ Essex assistants, Tyler Corder, just landed his first head professional job at Marlborough Country Club.
The Ouimet Fund has honored Tedesco CC member and Ouimet scholar Michael Zmetrovich with its Richard F. Connolly Distinguished Service award. The award was to be presented at the fund’s annual banquet April 21 at Encore Boston. Zmetrovich, a Marblehead resident, is the fifth person with North Shore connections to be honored, joining Salem’s Michael Douvadjian (2023), Marblehead’s Peter Lynch (2010), Lynnfield’s Anne Marie Tobin (2008) and the late Dennett Goodrich of Essex CC, who was one of three persons who received the first award in 2000. This year’s banquet honoree is Connolly, a native of Woburn, whose contributions to the Ouimet Fund are unparalleled. Connolly will receive the fund’s 2025 Francis Ouimet Award for Lifetime Contributions to Golf.
Happy anniversary to the following North Shore clubs: Haverhill Country Club, 100 years; the former Colonial CC opened in Lynnfield 100 years ago; Rowley CC, 60 years; Happy Valley in Lynn changed its name to Gannon Municipal in 1975, 50 years; The City of Beverly purchased Folly Hill in 1975, 50 years; Jane Frost, a Beverly native, was voted the top USA golf instructor in 2000, 25 years; and Anne Marie Tobin (North Shore Golf’s associate editor, won her third consecutive WGAM Player of the Year award in 2000, 25 years.
Hillview CC PGA professional Chris Carter reports that the North Reading club is undertaking Phase 2 of its ambitious course construction project. This includes new tee boxes on holes 12, 14 and 18, extensive drainage work on the hole 13 fairway, and new bunkers on holes 12 and 13. … Hillview is owned by the Town of North Reading and is managed by Golf Facilities Management Inc., which also manages the city-owned Beverly Golf & Tennis Club and Gannon Municipal Golf Club in Lynn. … At Gannon, many trees have been taken down to improve sunlight to tee boxes and greens, and Phase 3 planning has begun for additional course improvements including new cart paths.
Course improvements continue at Beverly Golf & Tennis Club and those playing the first-rate public course early this season will notice a few changes, some temporary. The 18th fairway is being rebuilt to lessen the flooding issues that have hampered play on the challenging finishing hole for several years. Club management has worked with the city and Environmental Protection Administration on this remedy. The fairway will slide a bit more to the left – five trees were removed – and a retaining wall will be built near the creek on the right-hand side. David Dionne, the head PGA professional at Beverly, said the following changes will be in place likely through May: The first tee will be moved to the top of the hill, shortening the difficult par-4 opening hole and the 18th hole – normally a par 4 – will be a short par 3 with a temporary green. … Players will also notice improvements to the green on the par-3 12th hole, completed last fall.
When you tee it up at Sagamore Spring GC for the first time this year, you’ll notice that the driving range near the first tee is no more. Tim Doucette, the club’s general manager and PGA pro for the past 9 years, said that lot has been sold to developers. No other part of the popular public course will be affected. The club’s First Tee program, however, will not happen this year due to the loss of the practice range. … Doucette said work on a cart path on hole 11 should be completed by mid-May. Water main work is also planned on the front nine this season. … Homebuilding company Toll Brothers Inc. broke ground in January on the luxury development at 1301 Main Street called Willis Brook at Lynnfield. Situated next to Sagamore, the 55-and-older home community will feature 66 single family homes and an exclusive clubhouse for residents.Peter Hood, general manager and Director of Golf at Bass Rocks Golf Club in Gloucester, reports the club is going green, using solar with Spectrum Energy to do its duty with renewable energy. Bass Rocks also plans to add a new green after Labor Day on hole 7 and many members and club staff are enjoying a few golf trips: Sea Island, Georgia, for women and Ireland for men.Ryan Train, starting his 6th season as head PGA pro at Tedesco Country Club, is welcoming back his entire professional staff, plus one. Cam Martin, who has worked in Tedesco’s bag room the past two seasons, is transitioning into a full-time assistant professional when the school year ends. He is a teacher in Salem. Returning for their sixth seasons are Ron Coiro, PGA – 1st Assistant, and Scott Haskell, outside operations manager. Returning for their third years are assistant pros Lee Jatkevicius, Sam Freund and Weston Lazarus. … Train said 2024 was a great year. Rounds were consistent from 2023 to 2024 about 26,000 “which is the new norm since Covid. We used to do around 18,000-20,000 and saw 28,000 in 2020. We’ve started to see traffic normalize a bit since many are headed back to the office.” … Mike McGillicuddy, Tedesco’s general manager and chief operating officer, said significant tree work has been done on holes 11, 16, and 17. Sightlines have opened up on #17 and dredging of a creek will also take place on that hole. Restoring the original fairway bunkers on #16 is likely and the stone retaining wall on #3 will be replaced with custom granite.
Darin Chin-Aleong, PGA is starting his 10th year as general manager at Rowley Country Club. PGA professional Mike Farrell returns after a brief stint at Black Swan Country Club in Georgetown. Farrell has more than 35 years of experience and has enjoyed long tenures at both Beverly Golf and Tennis Club and Mount Hood Golf Course. … Rowley has several exciting programs starting this spring, such as Golf Made Simple classes for beginners to learn golf in four classes; players will then transition into the club’s Tee It Forward League and Family League. … Rowley’s expansion plans for both housing and the course are moving forward. For details, go to www.rowleyfarms.us.
The Sun ‘N Air Golf Center in Danvers has several free Club Fitting Days planned for this golf season. The Titleist rep will be on site May 6 and 20; Callaway rep will be there April 30 and May 28; Cleveland/Srixon April 24 and May 22; Ping rep May 9; Cobra May 7; Mizuno April 21, May 19, June 23; Taylor Made April 23, May 27. “The Ping Fitting Van comes every year, and this year Titleist has introduced a new irons project,” said Tom Jones of the Sun ‘N Air team. Matt Bickford, director of golf for more than 20 years, is available for club fittings all summer long; he and Dave Gillis, lead golf instructor, are available for private lessons. Sun ‘N Air also offers ladies golf clinics, Little Birdie clinics for kids just starting out and many junior programs. For more information, go to sunairgolf.com or call the pro shop at 978-774-8180.Shuvam Bhaumik won the 2024 Bill Flynn’s North Shore Amateur Championship at Far Corner Golf Club in West Boxford last August. Bhaumik, a former North Shore resident, now plays out of Thorny Lea in Brockton. His two-round score of 1-under-par 143 was three shots better than runner-up Colin Brennan (Indian Ridge). Sam Lyman of Newburyport and Damon Lusk (Meadow Brook) tied for third at 148., while Michael Hersey (Meadow at Peabody) and Terry Manning of Georgetown were next at 150. Salem Country Club’s Kevin Daly won the Senior Division with a two-day total of 74-78 – 152.Isabel Brozena, a standout golfer while at North Reading High School, is having a wildly successful freshman golf season at Ohio’s Xavier University. She was named the Big East Golfer of the Week, after leading the Musketeers to a third-place finish at the WMU Rio Verde Invitational in February. Brozena tied for fourth with a three-round score of 215 (-1). Xavier women’s golf posted a runner-up finish at the Momentum Transportation UNF Collegiate in March. The two-day tournament was played at the Jacksonville Golf and Country Club. Brozena, who plays in the No. 1 spot, posted her second top-10 finish in as many tournaments, tying for eighth (225, +9). Last summer, the Indian Ridge member was red-hot. She ran away with the Ouimet Memorial Women’s Division championship, shooting 7-under 208 to win by eight shots over runner-up Morgan Smith of Vesper CC. The following week, she won the 91st Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Championship at Bayberry Hills and Bass River. She completed her high school golf success by winning the MIAA Div. 1 Girls State Championship. Tedesco’s PGA Junior League has increased from six kids in 2020 to 57 in 2024 and pro Ryan Train said he expects that number to increase. “Keep an eye on (stars in the making) Tyler Ostroff and Colton Sachar, Ostroff was Swampscott’s #1 player as a freshman.”Additionally on the junior golf front, Tedesco’s 1st Assistant Ron Coiro is in the process of revamping a North Shore Junior Golf League for elite juniors who are looking for something more competitive. Many clubs, such as Myopia, Essex, Ferncroft, Bass Rocks, Kernwood, Salem and others may be interested. Check North Shore Golf’s summer issue for an update.Jake Martin of Danvers was the 2024 NEPGA Junior Tour Player of the Year in the Boys 14-15 age group. Jake played in 22 events last season and finished in the top 10 every time, with 10 wins. His scoring average was 74.40. Jake, a member of the St. John’s Prep golf team, works in the Sun ‘N Air Golf Center pro shop, and has been taking lessons from Matt Bickford there for three years. … Dylan Orlando of Bass Rocks received Florida Gulf Coast University’s PGA Golf Management 2024 Student of the Year and 2024 Scholar of the Year awards.There were plenty of holes-in-one recorded last fall by North Shore golfers. Donna DiIeso got her ace Oct. 9 on the 12th hole at the Meadow at Peabody! She likes that hole. She also aced it in 2021.
Congratulations also go out to: Paul Sweeney, Nov. 16 Bass Rocks GC; John Boliver, Nov. 7 Sagamore Spring GC; Patrick Good, Nov. 5 Rockport GC; Quinn Danaher, Nov. 5 Myopia Hunt Club; Robert Kennedy, Oct. 22 Rockport GC; Kieran Harney, Oct. 12, Rockport GC; Joe Malloy, Oct. 4 Wenham CC; Adam LaRochelle, Oct. 9 Bradford GC; Bill Moody, Sept. 20 Meadow at Peabody; Paul Daley, Sept. 1 Sagamore Spring GC; Jay Meyers, Aug. 28, Ferncroft CC; Regina Johnson, Aug. 27; Thomson CC; Marie Opidee, Aug. 26 Reedy Meadow GC; Devin Russell, Aug 15 Salem CC; Ken Britt, Aug. 10 New Meadows GC; Ralph Thibodeau, Aug. 9 Thomson GC; Brian Loughlin, Aug. 4 Ipswich CC; Ed Coleman, Aug. 3 Bear Hill GC; Deirdre McCrae, Aug. 2 Sagamore Spring GC; Paul Varonakis, Aug. 2 Thomson GC.
In 2032, The Country Club in Brookline will host the Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Championship, as this pinnacle venue for golf in the United States showcases the state’s most talented female amateur golfers 131 years after it first hosted. This will be the 10th time The Country Club has held Mass Golf’s longest-running championship, second only to Brae Burn Country Club’s 15. This announcement comes approximately 18 months after the USGA announced that The Country Club would host four national championships, including its first U.S. Women’s Open. At the start of the next decade, Massachusetts’ best young female golfers will have a unique opportunity, playing at The Country Club in three important events: the 2030 USGA Girls’ Junior, 2032 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur and the 2045 U.S. Women’s Open.The Youth on Course program brings affordable course access to young golfers throughout Massachusetts. The $25 annual membership fee gives those ages 6-18 access to play at 33 participating courses throughout the Bay State (and 2,000 across the country) for only $5 per round. When Juniors join Youth on Course through Mass Golf, they also become Mass Golf members and gain access to a number of member benefits. Locally, Wenham CC, Bradford CC and Stoneham Oaks offer the program. For details and to register, go to https://www.massgolf.org/youthoncourse-2/ Here’s a quick look at a few upcoming local charity tournaments:
Greater Beverly YMCA
Friday, May 30: Haverhill & Plaistow Community YMCA Golf Tournament at Bradford Country Club >> https://one.bidpal.net/havpcygolftournament/welcome
Monday, June 2: Ipswich Family YMCA Golf Tournament at Turner Hill >> https://one.bidpal.net/2025ipswichgolf/welcome
Monday, July 14: Greater Beverly YMCA Community Tournament at Beverly Golf & Tennis Club >> https://one.bidpal.net/2025gbyatbgt/welcome
Monday, September 8: Greater Beverly YMCA Tournament at Essex County Club >> https://one.bidpal.net/gbyatessexcountyclub/welcome
YMCA of Metro North
Monday, June 23: 40th annual Fore the Kids Golf Tournament at Kernwood Country Club https://www.ymcametronorth.org/support/ymca-of-metro-north-charity-golf-tournament/
Hamilton-Wenham Edfund
Monday, May 19 at Myopia Hunt Club. https://www.hwedfund.org/golf
Lazareth House Charity
Monday, June 23: 30th Drive for Dignity Golf Tournament at Andover Country Clubhttps://lazarushouse.org/drive-for-dignity/ Dick Baker, a Lynn native who grew up at that city’s Happy Valley and became a beloved PGA professional at many North Shore courses, passed away on February 8. He was 86. He apprenticed with Les Dunn at Tedesco CC and became a member of the PGA in 1966. He served as head professional/director of golf at several clubs across Massachusetts, including Gannon, Beverly G&T, Kelley Greens and Hillview GC. A Gannon member posted that Dick will be greatly missed to all who knew him with his quick jokes, sarcasm and of course his cigar and well made martinis.
Gannon Municipal GC also lost a number of distinguished long-time members over the winter. Condolences to the families of Mike Nygren (winner of multiple club championships), David Brothers (brother of Don, Dewey, Dean and Dexter, all members), Pat Gecoya (teacher, guidance counselor, softball coach), Walter Newhall (member and employee; brother of club champ Tom), Bruce Johnson (member and brother of current member Wayne), Maynard Mcgregor (father of Deb Breslow and son-in-law/member Bob), Richard Jauron (NFL coach, honorary member and brother of current member Mike), Richard Donahue (member and retired City of Lynn employee), and Bill Foglietta (long-time member).
A personal note: I was a member at Beverly during Dick Baker’s time there and was his media partner in the NEPGA’s Pro-Press tourney at Ferncroft a couple of times. He was a wonderful man. … I also played golf with Pat Gecoya in Gannon’s Shoe City Golf League many years ago; another wonderful, gracious, giving man. … and just last month Rick Rennick, a member of Beverly G&T for more than 50 years, passed away suddenly. He was 70. Rick and I were members of the North Shore Community College golf team in the early ‘70s. When he won the Beverly club championship in 1985, I won the A flight championship and played in the same foursome. Rick won the championship again 30 years later in 2015. He was a heck of a guy and an exceptional golfer. And as a bartender he made a great Bourbon Manhattan at the Sword and Shield and Romie’s restaurants. RIP Rick.
