North Shore Golf Summer 2020 V2

28 >>> SUMMER 2020
My kid brother
got all the golf genes
Gary Larrabee
garylarrabee.com
I thought I would be the golfer in the family, the
way I maneuvered my way around my Wiffle ball
golf course at our 14 Glendale Drive homestead in
Danvers. I was 12 — and dreaming
I still felt that way a couple of years later when
I regularly shot in the 30s at the par-31, executive
Lakeview course in Wenham. I was still ignoring
reality.
The real golfing Larrabee emerged soon enough in
kid brother Mark, six years my junior, a natural in
any sport he played.
Our beloved pappy, Ol’ Russ Larrabee, laid it out
for me many years later. “Gary,” he explained rather
simply, “Mark was born to be a golf professional.
Your older brother, Bob, was meant to be an
accomplished teacher-coach. And you, blessed with
a gift for gab and words, were meant to be a writer,
mostly of golf.”
Thus, if I may be permitted to visit the shameless
family plug department, your proud agent is pleased
to recognize kid brother Mark Larrabee as he
celebrates his 35th year as a PGA professional. It’s
a mighty impressive achievement, since his father
and brothers were rarely able to break 90. (I’m still
trying, though.)
Mark, 64, former Danvers High and Springfield
College golf team captain, has been able to achieve
at every level in the club pro business, as teacher,
merchandiser, competitor, peer educator, you name it.
He’s now in his 15th year as head professional
at semi-private Eastman Golf Links in Grantham,
N.H., a four-season residential complex of 1400
homes for many North Shore natives.
Mark is one of the few Danvers natives to enjoy
a successful career as a PGA professional. Phil
Leiss, the longtime PGA pro and director of golf at
Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton who is carving
out an exemplary career of his own, is another
former Danvers High ace. John Theo and Don Cross
must be added to the select group from Danvers.
The king of all Danvers boys who made it as a
PGA pro, of course, is the legendary Bill Flynn, who
lived his entire life in town while excelling in all
facets of the game. His career was capped by the
creation of the Bill Flynn Golf Management firm
that at its height owned and managed Far Corner
GCin Boxford (27 holes), built and ran Windham CC
in New Hampshire and Lakeview in Wenham. The
late, great Flynn was a former New England PGA
president, PGA of America vice president, twotime
NEPGA Professional of the Year and a former
Massachusetts Open and NEPGA Section champion.
“Phil and I are happy to follow in Bill’s huge
footsteps,” said Mark, a member of the inaugural
STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE
caddie class at Topsfield/Ferncroft Country Club
1969-72. “Bill set a great example for all PGA pros.”
This career choice was not my younger brother’s
initial intention. Upon graduating from Springfield,
he ventured to southern California to spend three
years teaching physical education and coaching
basketball at the exclusive Harbor Day School in
Corona del Mar. One of his students was the son of
tennis legend Rod Laver.
He had worked for Cotton Dunn at Kernwood
summers while attending Springfield, then for three
summers at Concord (N.H.) CC under Peabody native
Brian Hamilton while on break from Harbor Day.
As Mark wrapped up his third year in California
in early 1981, Hamilton invited him to become his
assistant at Concord. Thus began his career as a golf
professional, with more teaching in his future on the
lesson tee rather than in the classroom.
Mark has been in the golf business ever since;
two years assisting Hamilton, two years assisting
Amesbury native Jeff Taylor at Derryfield CC in
Manchester, N.H., then gaining his first head pro
post spanning five years at nearby Valley View
in Goffstown, N.H., where he met future wife
Elizabeth Lafond. Then came a 10-year gig in charge
at Pine Ridge (the former Oxford CC) in central
Massachusetts, followed by five years teaching
Natural Golf as a freelance PGA pro before moving
north to Eastman GL.
“It’s been a rewarding career in a great game,
sharing with young and old, low handicappers and
beginners,” said Mark, who reached the semifinals
of the 1972 Massachusetts Junior at The Country
Club in his competitive debut. “I’ve learned about
the game and people every single day. ... And I could
not do a good job without a qualified staff. They
make all the difference in the world.”
He's always been a solid player. One year, he
was among the leaders after the first round of the
NEPGA championship at Ocean Edge on the Cape.
The Larrabee boys even won the NEPGA Pro-Press
one year at Ferncroft, Mark bailing out 18-handicap
Gary time and time again in the selected-drive,
alternate-shot format.
Mark served for many years on the NEPGA
Education Committee and was honored with the
section’s Horton Smith award in 1994 for his
“outstanding and continuing contributions to his
fellow PGA professionals’ education.”
“I love what I do,” Mark emphasized. “I’m
grateful for the guidance the NEPGA has provided
throughout my career, as well as to the support the
Eastman management and membership have given
me year after year.”