North Shore Golf Magazine Spring 2017

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EDITOR’S LETTER
Bill Brotherton
bbrotherton@essexmediagroup.com
Back to the future
The North Shore of Massachusetts
boasts a rich golf history. In the
late 1880s, the North Shore
was the summer playground for
the wealthy and golf played a
major role in attracting and
engaging the well-to-do. A few
holes began popping up on
private land from Ipswich to
Beverly to Gloucester. Then, in
1893, construction of the area’s
first course began in Manchester
and Essex County Club was
established. Many more would
follow.
As North Shore Golf magazine
embarks on an exciting new
adventure, we look back to the
past in this issue’s cover story.
The North Shore Golf staff has
unearthed a wealth of littleknown
facts, trivia and secrets
about our courses, clubs and
the men and women who have
contributed to the region’s golf
heritage. We hope you enjoy
this trip down memory lane.
And if you know of stories
we’ve neglected to mention,
please share.
A little history about this
magazine: It started in 2003
and for a decade won praise for
its coverage of the North
Shore’s golf scene. After a
three-year hiatus, Lynn-based
Essex Media Group, publisher
of The Daily Item, La Voz,
Lynnfield Weekly News,
Peabody Weekly News and
01907 and ONE magazines, has
revived and re-energized the
publication. We warmed up
with a digital-only fall edition,
which can be seen on our website
(northshoregolfmagazine.com).
Now we’re back for good; with a
new issue arriving every quarter.
I n t h i s i s s u e , w e a l s o
preview the U.S. Senior Open
Championship, which will be at
Salem Country Club June 26 to
July 2 and challenge the finest
professional golfers age 50 and
older. We learn from Matt
Sawicki, the USGA’s director of
championships, what it takes
to prepare for and run such
a mammoth endeavor. Plus,
longtime Salem News scribe
Gary Larrabee, who won the
NEPGA’s 2016 George S. Wemyss
Award for his contribution to
the game and will write a column
for each issue, looks back at
Salem CC’s triumphant hosting
of the 2001 Senior Open.
Wait, there’s more! Anne Marie
Tobin, associate editor and a
member of the Massachusetts
Golf Hall of Fame, tells the
amazing story of Jay Monahan,
the kid who grew up in Bemont,
played at Winchester CC and is
now commissioner of the PGA
Tour. Tobin also writes about
the late Bill Flynn’s being
awarded the 2016 PGA of
America Deacon Palmer Award.
Bob Green, longtime head PGA
professional at Tedesco CC,
in his Shades of Green column
opines about a move to
manufacture golf balls that
don’t go as far! Huh?
We meet professional fitness
trainer David DuPriest who
says getting your body in shape
for golf season is as important
as having the swing itself in
good shape.
We show how you can play
Pebble Beach, St. Andrew’s and
other iconic courses without
leaving Massachusetts, thanks
to The Clubhouse in Middleton.
We report on changes in the
pro shops at Essex CC and
Myopia, plans for Lynnfield’s
town courses King Rail and
Reedy Meadow, and big
improvements at Nahant Golf
Club. We sample the chow at
Gannon’s 19th hole.
We hope you enjoy the new
North Shore Golf magazine.
Let us know what you like,
what you don’t like, what you’d
like to see in future editions.
This is your magazine; let us
know how we can improve.
Let’s make some history of
our own.
Please visit our website
(northshoregolfmagazine.com)
and Facebook page, which will
both be updated regularly and
serve as your go-to-place for all
things North Shore golf and
embracing the country club
lifestyle. l
Bill Brotherton is editor of North Shore Golf magazine. He grew up in Beverly, caddied and worked in the pro shop at Essex CC,
is a Ouimet Scholar who graduated from Suffolk University, has written about golf for the Beverly Times and Daily Item of Lynn.
He recently retired from the Boston Herald, where he wrote about music and edited the Features section. Like all of us, he can’t
wait for golf season to begin!
4 >>> spring 2017