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2 >>> SPRING 2022 

A publication of Essex Media Group 

Publisher 

Edward M. Grant 

Chief Executive Officer 

Michael H. Shanahan 

Directors 

Edward L. Cahill 

John M. Gilberg 

Edward M. Grant 

Gordon R. Hall 

Monica Connell Healey 

J. Patrick Norton 

Michael H. Shanahan 

Chief Financial Officer 

William J. Kraft 

Editor 

Bill Brotherton 

Associate Editor 

Anne Marie Tobin 

Design and Layout 

Edwin Peralta Jr. 

Contributing Writers 

Mike Alongi 

Bob Green 

Steve Krause 

Gary Larrabee 

Photographer 

Spenser Hasak 

Julia Hopkins 

Jakob Menendez 

Advertising Sales 

Ernie Carpenter 

Ralph Mitchell 

Patricia Whalen 

Advertising Design 

Edwin Peralta Jr. 

Emilia Sun 

ESSEX MEDIA GROUP 

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northshoregolfmagazine.com 

04 Will boom continue? 

06 Masters degree 

09 Making the cut 

11 King Rail clubhouse 

12 Open season 

14 Ferncroft changes 

16 The Meadow’s birthday 

party 

17 Tedesco’s Train 

EDITOR'S LETTER 

INSIDE 

18 Gannon great 

20 Notebook 

24 Smokin’ cigar room 

25 Middleton movement? 

26 Phil’s failures 

28 Ouimet honorees 

29 Golf Lounge 18 

30 Course directory 

BILL BROTHERTON 

Salem makes the cut 

Tree-removal has been an increasingly important part of golf course maintenance since at least 

the early 1990s. Turf needs sun and air to thrive, and if tree branches get in the way the lush fairways 

and Augusta-like greens that members demand are all but impossible. 

Many of America’s greatest courses – Merion, Winged Foot, Medinah, Baltusrol – have 

undertaken huge tree removal projects. Before the U.S. Open was played at Oakmont in 2016, more 

than 12,600 trees had been cut down. 

Locally, Essex County Club in Manchester by the Sea benefited from removing thousands of 

trees. At first the change was jarring – standing on the first tee and looking toward the 18th tee 

above still looks like the moon’s surface to this ex-ECC caddie – but the tree work drew praise and 

also restored the course to the vision of its architect Donald Ross. 

Recently, a massive tree-removal project took place at Salem Country Club in Peabody. To say 

it’s been controversial is an understatement. The club is under fire from Peabody’s Conservation 

Commission for violating environmental rules and cutting down 685 trees without informing city 

officials, who are furious and talking about assessing hefty fines and revoking tax benefits. That was 

before club officials prohibited the public and media from participating in a site visit that had been 

posted as a public meeting. 

Read all about the controversy in our cover story. 

Also in this Spring issue of North Shore Golf, we meet Abby Zhu, a 14-year-old from Andover, 

who traveled to Augusta National GC in Georgia during Masters week to compete in the 2022 

Drive, Chip and Putt National Championship. “It is the biggest event I’ve ever played in,” said the 

eighth-grader. Yes, Abby, it is a big deal indeed. 

The U.S. Open comes to The Country Club in Brookline June 16-19, and many volunteers from 

local clubs will participate. Myopia Hunt Club might have received the greatest assignment of all: 

serving as marshals on a short par-3 hole that hasn’t been used in the last two Opens held here. In 

1913, the hole (the 11th for the championship; it’s usually the 12th hole on the club’s main course), 

played a major role in golf history when local amateur Francis Ouimet in a playoff shocked two 

British professionals. 

The past two years have been wildly successful for local courses. Tee times were hard to get. 

Courses were crowded. A National Golf Foundation research study shows golf participation 

increased by 600,000 players in 2021, and local pros and general managers are cautiously optimistic 

that the trend will continue.. 

This issue also includes lots of club news, Gary Larrabee’s column about two local golfers 

honored by the Ouimet Fund, Bob Green’s piece about “greedy” Phil Michelson and much more. 

See you on the course! 

Bill Brotherton is editor of North Shore Golf magazine. He grew up in Beverly, caddied and worked 

in the pro shop at Essex County Club, is a Ouimet Scholar who graduated from Suffolk University, has 

written about golf for the Beverly Times and Daily Item of Lynn. He’s retired from the Boston Herald, 

where he wrote about music and edited the Features section. Tell him what you think at bbrotherton@ 

essexmediagroup.com. 

COVER 

Salem Country Club 

is under fire from the 

Peabody Conservation 

Commission for 

removing 685 trees 

without informing city 

officials. 

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people from all over the world," she said. 

Zhu acknowledges the many challenges 

golfers face. She said the biggest "obstacle 

(she's) overcome is keeping a positive attitude 

on the golf course." Her favorite emoji 

is the smiley face. 

"I continue to work on staying positive, 

especially for the DCP final. There is so 

much pressure and a lot of nerves as the 

field gets smaller every round. That's why 

it's so important to, when you hit a shot 

that's not perfect, not to beat yourself up 

over it." 

She said that watching the 2021 final on 

television inspired her to come out in 2022 

with a more favorable outcome. The Golf 

Channel carried this year’s final live. 

"It seemed like so much fun and such 

an amazing opportunity to be able to 

compete at Augusta," she said, adding her 

favorite Masters memory was Tiger Woods 

winning in 2019. Like Woods, Zhu is a tad 

superstitious about her attire. She always 

wears a pink shirt to important matches 

and tournaments, but that's not an option 

at the DCP. 

"I definitely am very superstitious, but 

the shirt color for our regional is green. 

"I may have to accessorize to get some 

pink in," Zhu joked. 

Her favorite players are Collin Morikawa, 

"because he is always really calm and he 

finished school," and Rose Zhang, "because 

she’s extremely consistent and doesn’t get 

rattled." The "coolest" player in golf for Zhu 

is Justin Thomas "because he can shape all 

kinds of shots." 

Zhu's dream foursome? Playing 18 holes 

with Morikawa, Woods and Inbee Park. 

Zhu said her parents, Caroline and 

Tong, are her heroes. 

The best piece of advice she's ever 

received? 

"Don’t give up," she said. "That's from my 

parents and coaches." 

Zhu said she hopes to play college golf and 

has always wanted to be a fiction writer. After 

writing several personal essays for her high 

school applications, she is open to non-fiction 

as well. 

Regardless of what a future writing career 

holds for Zhu, it's a safe bet that she will be 

successful. Those personal essays opened the 

door to the next chapter in Zhu's life — high 

school. She applied to four top-notch prep 

schools (Andover, Exeter, Middlesex and Governors) 

and got into every one of them. 

"Right now, I'm still figuring it all out, but 

I definitely have some great opportunities in 

front of me," she said. 

Abby Zhu shows off her putting stroke during a practice session a week before competing in the Drive, Chip 

and Putt Championship in Augusta, Ga. 

Whats 

going on 

at Salem 

Country 

Club? 

BY STEVE KRAUSE 

An already-tense issue between the 

city of Peabody and Salem Country 

Club has taken another contentious 

downturn. 

The club, already under fire from 

the Conservation Commission for 

removing 685 trees without informing 

city officials, barred members of the 

public from attending a site visit 

conducted by the commission March 

28. 

“This will ultimately be resolved 

with fines but once they resolve the 

fines, they (Salem) will just go back 

to what they have been doing,” said 

Conservation Commission Chair 

Stewart Lazares. “I would have rather 

had taken the site visit with the media 

and public present. My takeaway on 

not allowing them to observe is they 

have something to hide.” 

The visit had been agreed to by the 

club and the commission during a 

March 23 public hearing in which the 

club admitted to taking down nearly 

700 trees during a restoration project 

in December and January without 

informing the city of its plans to clearcut 

trees. 

The March 28 site visit got off to 

a contentious start when the club 

made it clear that it had no intention 

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of allowing members of the public, 

including the media, onto the property to 

observe the walk-through. With a WCVB 

TV helicopter circling above, Salem’s 

attorney, Barry Fogel, commission Vice 

Chair Michael Rizzo, Conservation Agent 

Lucia DelNegro and WCVB reporter 

David Bienick sparred verbally in the 

club’s parking lot as to whether the site 

visit was a public hearing to which the 

public was entitled to attend. 

After she learned that media members 

had been barred from attending the 

site visit despite the fact that the notice 

was duly posted, City Councilor Anne 

Manning-Martin asked, “What are they 

trying to hide and who are they hiding it 

from? 

“It’s not a good look for the club as 

it’s just a continuation of their secrecy 

after they’ve already admitted that they 

want to work with the city to make the 

city whole. This is not the way to do this, 

with no transparency. Here is a private 

entity benefiting from a 75-percent break 

in public tax dollars as a publicly-funded 

open space.” 

Manning-Martin said the city is 

examining the club’s Chapter 61B 

real-estate tax abatement following 

a unanimous vote of the City Council 

at a March meeting. According to city 

Assessor’s Office records, the property’s 

assessed value for fiscal year 2021 is 

$9,978,700. The club paid real estate 

taxes of $217,800 for fiscal year 2021 on 

381 acres dedicated to the golf course. 

City assessor Susan Antonellis said the 

assessed value of the land ($4.13 million) 

is reflective of a 75 percent reduction in 

value under Ch. 61B. That results in a tax 

bill that’s less than half what it would be 

without the Ch. 61B assessment. 

The site visit was in response to a 

cease-and-desist order issued to the 

club for removal of living trees and 

the grinding of stumps in buffer zones 

or in close proximity to jurisdictional 

environmentally protected areas and 

depositing wood chips in buffer zones and 

along local riverfront woods. The notice 

of the site visit was posted on the city 

website and also at Peabody City Hall. 

“I’d like to know who is advising this 

club,” Manning-Martin said. “This is just 

a terrible look after they admitted they 

had done wrong and said they wanted to 

work with the city to make things right. 

Sounds pretty disingenuous and hollow 

to me.” 

Lazares said the magnitude of the 

A familiar sight in the Salem Country Club lower parking lot of late has been massive piles of trees that have 

been removed during a course renovation project that started last fall. 

COURTESY PHOTO 

actions taken by the club in cutting down 

so many healthy trees is obvious simply 

by driving along Forest Street, which cuts 

through the golf course. Lazares said the 

visit was what he expected. 

“They took us on a cold, freezing, twohour 

tour and we didn’t learn anything 

we didn’t already know,” he said. “But 

because of the nonsense they pulled in the 

beginning we were unable to deliberate 

because it was not a public hearing.” 

Lazares said the commission would 

deliberate at its April 13 meeting. He plans 

to insist that the club submit a written 

reconstruction plan, report at least once 

a month in writing to the commission 

and that on-site inspections be held 

every month until a permanent plan is 

drawn up to ensure the club does not run 

afoul of the rules in the future. He said 

that jurisdictional areas will be flagged 

using GPS to ensure that those areas are 

properly identified “in perpetuity.” 

The club's problems began when the 

commission started receiving complaints 

that the club was clear-cutting trees as a 

part of a $3.5 million course renovation 

project that began last fall. In January 

2022, a site inspection was conducted 

by DelNegro which revealed numerous 

jurisdictional and wetlands violations. A 

cease and desist order was issued to the 

club. 

At the March 23 meeting, the club 

admitted to taking down 685 trees. General 

Manager Peter Fischl expressed remorse, 

saying the club takes "full responsibility" 

and that the club has "become aware that 

the removal of some trees should not have 

been done without your (the Conservation 

Commission) approval.” 

Commission members were not 

mollified. One by one, they teed off on 

the club, chastising it severely for the 

violations and talked of fining the club 

$300 per day per tree. Manning-Martin 

said she was strongly considering having 

the city rescind the club's real estate tax 

abatement. 

"We've been here before," said Rizzo. 

"This is your MO, this is what you do. You 

go and do all this work knowing you're in 

resource areas. There's no excuse for what 

you did. …you folks should be ashamed." 

Commissioner Bruce Comak said that 

the club's actions were a mockery of the 

wetlands-protection laws, as was the 

club's attempt to mollify the commission. 

"Every time you come here and ask 

forgiveness; that's not right," he said. 

"If you had just come to us and asked 

us if you cut down the trees that are in 

maintained areas, we probably would 

have said, 'Go ahead, cut them.' You got 

the permits to do the work you said you 

were going to do. You somehow forgot to 

tell us about the rest. That's not right." 

Commission Secretary Michael Vivaldi 

said "It's completely shameful. There will 

be fines," adding this is the second time 

in three years that Salem has run afoul of 

environmental regulations. 

Alternate commissioner Amanda Green 

had strong words after DelNegro asked if 

Mayer Tree Services' Don Mayer wanted 

to speak. She said, "had he made one 

phone call, this wouldn't have happened. 

"He's going to get fined, Salem Country 

Club is going to get fined, everybody is 

going to get fined…to the max." Green 

said. "We could use some of that tax 

(money)." 

Mayer deflected culpability onto the 

club, saying he has been in business for 25 

years and this is the first time dealing with 

a conservation commission. "Usually it's 

the homeowner or customer that handles 

that," he said. 

It appears King Rail Reserve Golf 

Course in Lynnfield may finally get its 

clubhouse. 

The town has rejected the clubhouse 

project for years due to cost. 

“The problem all along is that the initial 

plans were so expensive and needlessly 

so,” said Select Board Chair Dick Dalton. 

A plan in 2017 would have cost nearly $3 

million, and Dalton said many proposals 

have included elaborate patios and decks 

that don’t seem warranted for a 9-hole 

course. 

“It’s not the Salem Country Club we’re 

talking about here,” he said. “Different 

people have different ideas of what the 

clubhouse should be. Mine is a modest 

idea, restrooms, golf supplies, a place to 

sit down.” 

When the course opened in 2016, 

a trailer and porta-potties were put in 

place to serve as a temporary clubhouse. 

In 2021, a larger trailer with indoor 

bathrooms was put on site. 

King Rail sits on the former 103- 

acre Colonial Golf Course, which was 

purchased by National Development 

in 2006 to build what is now the 

MarketStreet outdoor mall. The 

developers gave the town what was left 

of the old course. The town reconfigured 

the layout, reconstructed three holes and 

added a new 9th hole to create the course 

that exists today. 

Select Board Vice Chair Phil Crawford 

said National Development donated $1.8 

million to the town to update the course 

and build a clubhouse. After renovations 

to the course and roads, there was about 

$700,000 left in the account for further 

improvements, including clubhouse 

construction. 

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The Meadow at Peabody celebrates 20 years 

BY ANNE MARIE TOBIN 

The City of Peabody will celebrate the 

platinum anniversary of The Meadow 

at Peabody Golf Course in style with a 

20th Anniversary Golf Tournament on 

Monday, May 16. 

Golf professional Peter Cronan said 

the goal of the tournament is to give back 

to the community that has helped build 

and support the course during its first 

two decades. The club opened initially as 

a 9-hole course on September 20, 2001. 

The full 18-hole course opened for play 

on May 18, 2002. 

Peabody Mayor Edward A. 

Bettencourt Jr. said "The Meadow at 

Peabody consistently ranks among 

the best municipal golf courses in the 

region. We are forever grateful for Mayor 

(Peter) Torigian's vision in developing 

what would become such a beautiful and 

popular destination for local golfers." 

Cronan remembers the September day 

when Torigian launched a ceremonial 

first drive that split the fairway to the 

delight of the crowd. He said he still has 

the original ball and club the mayor used. 

They are displayed in a trophy case in the 

foyer of the clubhouse. 

"I don't know if had ever played 

golf before but he was an athlete, so I 

wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the 

first, if not the first, balls he ever hit," 

Cronan said. "Maybe he went to the 

range to prepare, that wouldn't surprise 

me either." 

Bettencourt said he will be hitting 

a ceremonial first drive to open the 

afternoon shotgun, adding he may have 

to follow Torigian's lead and do some 

rehearsing. 

"I hope to play with my dad, but I'm 

going to have to start practicing to make 

sure I don't embarrass myself on that 

first drive," he said. 

Proceeds from the event will benefit 

The ceremonial first golf ball hit by then-Mayor Peter Torigian and a portrait of Torigian rest in the trophy 

case at The Meadow at Peabody Golf Course. 

Jeff Meisser of Revere tees off on the first hole at The Meadow at Peabody Golf Course. 

PHOTOS: SPENSER HASAK 

the No Child Goes Hungry in Peabody 

and Citizens Inn charities. 

The event features a double shotgun 

scramble format with the morning group 

teeing off at 8 a.m. and the afternoon 

group teeing off at 1 p.m. 

The cost is $100 per player ($400 for 

foursome) which includes green fees, 

golf cart, complimentary gift bag and a 

boxed lunch. 

There will be prizes for the top team, 

longest drive, straightest drive and 

closest to the pin as well as a hole-in-one 

prize. 

To register or view sponsorship 

opportunities go to www. 

peabodyrecreation.com. You can also 

download the form and mail or drop it 

off at Peabody Rec headquarters, 

50 Farm Ave., Peabody, 01960. 

The Meadow was one of a handful of 

North Shore courses to start the 2022 

season early, opening on St. Patrick's 

Day. Business was light that day, but the 

following day’s tee times were nearly 

booked solid from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Seattle resident Kevin Harris, in 

Peabody on a business trip, got a full 

round in on opening day. He said he 

simply Googled "courses near me" and 

The Meadow popped up at the top of the 

list. 

"I'm always prepared to play on any 

day," he said. "I made sure to call first 

and make sure they had a rental set, so 

that's all I needed to hear." 

Ryan Train settles in at Tedesco 

BY MIKE ALONGI 

Ryan Train is settling into his new 

role as head golf professional at Tedesco 

Country Club as he looks back on his 16 

years in the golf industry. 

He says the journey to this point was 

fairly winding. 

"This will be my 17th year working 

in private country clubs, but to be 

honest I was never really a golfer," said 

Train, who is in his third year overall at 

Tedesco. "I came into this business in the 

food and beverage sector, and I worked 

there for 10 years. I probably played golf 

two times a year back then." 

Train got his start at Springfield 

Country Club, working food and 

beverage there for seven years before 

making the move to Brae Burn Country 

Club and working the same post there. 

But at Brae Burn something changed. 

Employees were allowed to play the 

nine-hole Highland Course on property 

as much as they liked. 

"I went from playing twice a year to 

six times a week just like that, and I 

absolutely fell in love with the game," 

said Train. "I got pretty good over time, 

took a player ability test on a whim and 

eventually told Brae Burn that I wasn't 

coming back the following season and I 

was going to pursue an assistant golf pro 

job." 

Train spent two years at Oakley 

Country Club under Peabody resident 

Scott Johnson and then another year 

at Belmont Country Club under John 

Fields. He arrived at Tedesco just before 

the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"It was a pretty big shock with that 

whole year in general, but to be honest 

it really got me involved with the entire 

membership because so many people 

were out here every day playing and 

spending time at the club," he said. 

Train really appreciated the 

community aspect of the club, which was 

a driving factor in his decision to move to 

Marblehead. 

He was named first assistant last 

season, and in September he was 

officially promoted to head golf 

professional. 

"Being named head pro at the end 

of the season like that was a really big 

help, because it gave me a taste of what 

to expect in this role now coming into 

Ryan Train has been named head PGA pro at 

Tedesco Country Club in Marblehead. 

PHOTO: SPENSER HASAK 

my first full season. This is a club with 

tremendous member camaraderie and 

member involvement, and a club with 

a very robust tournament and event 

schedule each year." 

He's not kidding. Tedesco boasts some 

680 members and marquee events like 

The Tedesco Cup, the Bob Green Tedesco 

Invitational Four-Ball, and the Tedesco 

Women's Invitational. A number of other 

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North Shore 

Golf 

NOTEBOOK 

By 

BILL BROTHERTON 

and ANNE MARIE TOBIN 

services ($50,000). Select Board Chair 

Richard Dalton said the money 

will be funded from the Golf Course 

Enterprise Fund. 

The Golf Club at Turner Hill in 

Ipswich has been sold for $11.6 million, 

according to the Essex County Registry of 

Deeds. The sale, which closed in February, 

includes the championship 18-hole 

private golf course and grand Elizabethan 

mansion. The buyer, GCTH Ipswich LLC, 

is listed as Dave Blundin and David 

Masse, managers of the corporation. The 

seller, The Golf Club at Turner Hill LLC, 

paid $10.4 million for the property in 

2007. The mansion was built in 1903 for 

industrialist Charles Rice and his wife 

Anne. In 1940, the property was sold to 

the Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette. 

The property was sold in 1997 for the 

creation of the golf course and homes. In 

2015, construction began on 120 homes 

on the 300-acre site. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

After one year as managing partner at 

Rowley CC, Toby Ahern is moving to 

Bear Hill GC in Stoneham as head PGA 

professional. “Rowley Country Club had 

The Golf Club at Turner Hill in Ipswich has been sold. 

a great year in 2021, the course was in 

great shape and membership doubled,” 

said Ahern. “I was excited for this season.” 

Then, he said he was approached by 

two members one day who said Bear 

Hill’s pro (Jeff Wirbal) left to focus on 

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teaching more and the club was searching 

for an experienced pro and asked if he 

might be interested. “I met with Tom 

MacKay, (Bear Hill) club president, and 

was very impressed. I got a good vibe 

too from Kevin Richardson, course 

superintendent, and head chef Paul 

Appleby and members of the board. 

Bear Hill is a club on the rise. There’s a 

membership waiting list and significant 

capital improvements have been made 

in recent years. The staff is positive. 

I look forward to helping to upgrade 

the golf operation.” Ahern was a key 

member of the golf staff at Ferncroft CC 

for more than 25 years. … Meanwhile at 

Rowley CC, longtime PGA pro Darin 

Chin-Aleong returns as Director of 

Golf and Bill Godek is back as course 

superintendent. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 


Don't be surprised to see improved 

conditions at Lynnfield's Reedy 

Meadow and King Rail Reserve 

golf courses this summer. The town has 

appropriated $263,636 in its fiscal year 

2023 capital budget to purchase new 

course maintenance equipment and King 

Rail Reserve clubhouse design services. 

The items to be purchased include a 

Groundmaster 4700 rough cut mower 

($94,864), two Reelmaster 505-H fairway 

mowers ($74,042), three Workman HDX 

four-wheel drive vehicles ($35,337), four 

debris blowers ($9,393) and the design 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

DiLisio Golf Range in Swampscott 

is celebrating its 50th anniversary this 

year. … Cape Ann GC will host the 

Massachusetts Junior Qualifier (kids 

up to 18) event in June. … Ongoing 

improvements are continuing this 

spring at Sagamore Spring GC in 

Lynnfield. The club's five-year course 

improvement plan began in 2021 and 

includes adding new sod to bare areas, 

bunker edging, and tree removal to 

allow for better light and air. General 

Manager Tim Doucette said new 

permanent cart paths have been 

added on the 5th hole and on the 2nd 

hole leading to the 3rd. The club has 

removed approximately 17 complete 

trees, six limbed trees and some areas 

of smaller brush encroaching some tee 

boxes on the 2nd and 3rd holes. The 

3rd and 5th tees have been renovated. 

"Each year of this plan we will be 

adding new permanent paths or making 

extensive repairs," Doucette said. "We 

expect ongoing tree removal to open 

up neglected areas and tee boxes where 

growth has resulted in limited access to 

light and air to certain greens and tees. 

Our plan is to bring back the old design, 

improve players' shotmaking ability and 

also help with pace of play.” Sagamore 

first opened as a 9-hole course in 1929. 

The full 18 hole course opened in 1932. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

The new clubhouse at Meadow 

Brook GC is on target to be ready 

by opening day, said head PGA 

professional Steve Sheridan. You 

may recall that the Reading country 

club lost its 72-year-old clubhouse to 

fire on April 17, 2020, then nearly a 

year to the day (April 13, 2021) just 

as it was ready to celebrate a grand 

re-opening, it burned to the ground 

again. … Sheridan, who is starting his 

20th season at Meadow Brook, was 

recently nominated for the NEPGA 

Teacher of the Year award. … Damon 

Lusk is looking to win his third 

consecutive Meadow Brook men’s club 

championship while Charlie Johnson 

is looking to win his sixth consecutive 

senior championship. … Meadow Brook 

takes part in the Mass Golf Women’s 

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NOTEBOOK, continued from page 20 

Spring & Fall teams tournament and will 

be hosting several events this season. The 

men are part of the Twi League and will 

host the League Field Day Tournament 

in September. … Avon Old Farms senior 

Anthony Picano has committed to play 

for St. Anselm's College golf team this fall. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Tedesco CC assistant professional 

Camden Morrison's quest for an 

LPGA Tour card came to an end at the 

2021 LPGA and Symetra Tour Qualifying 

Stage II tournament Oct. 21-24 at the 

Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice 

Fla. Morrison shot a 72-hole 294 (+6) to 

finish T-115, 9 shots short of advancing 

to the final stage. Forty-seven players 

made the cut at 285 and advanced to the 

LPGA Q-Series Nov. 29—Dec. 12 at the 

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. 

Morrison opened with a 74 on the Bobcat 

Course, then followed with a 73 on the 

Panther Course. The final 36 holes were 

more of the same - 74 on the Bobcat and a 

closing 73 on the Panther. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

The maddening first green at Beverly 

Visit the 

FAIRWAY PUB 

Open 11 a.m. daily 

Pub menu 

Daily specials 

directions | rates | history | course layout 

G&TC has been rebuilt, which will please 

any golfer who’s faced a downhill putt 

on the long par 4 starting hole … If you 

play Trull Brook GC in Tewksbury 

before noon on weekends and holidays 

this season, it’ll be cart-only. The goal is 

to speed up the pace of play. When you 

book your tee times online, the cart fee 

will be included in the greens fee. … The 

spring rate at Four Oaks CC in Dracut 

will continue until May 1. Four Oaks 

has added an additional ballroom for 

functions and is working with Mass Golf 

to add a Red/White hybrid tee as part of 

the "tee it forward" initiative designed to 

make the game enjoyable for all. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Allan Belden, former Worcester 

CC PGA professional, and his daughter, 

Maddy Belden, former assistant at 

Brae Burn CC, have joined head pro 

Kevin Wood’s staff at Salem CC as 

Director of Instruction and PGA assistant 

professional respectively. Todd Cook 

will serve as Salem's Lead Assistant 

PGA pro. Cook started as an assistant 

at Salem back in 1998, then handled 

the first assistant role at Thomson CC, 

Vesper CC, Tedesco CC and was head 

Welcome 

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Call for a Tee Time 

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99 John Wise Avenue, Essex, MA 01929 

pro at The Milton Hoosic Club for 13 

years. … Mike Andre, who grew up in 

Peabody, was the player of the year in 

2021 at Four Oaks CC, having won 

both the men’s club championship and 

senior club championship. Jane Jie Cai 

won the ladies championship. That club’s 

Al Burnham, a Lynnfield resident in 

his 70s, continues to compete at a high 

level, finishing second in the senior club 

championship, winning the senior net 

club championship, and finishing top 3 in 

the club championship. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Mike Bemis, head PGA professional 

at Myopia Hunt Club is delighted that 

his entire staff will return this season: 

Greg Kelly, Alex Buckley and Nic 

Stafferi. … Over the winter, Myopia 

added a 30,000-square-foot teeing area 

to its practice facility with the help of 

renowned course architect Gil Hanse, 

who in the past few years has helped bring 

Myopia closer to its early-1900s U.S. 

Open glory. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Aidan Emmerich, a Swampscott 

resident who was part of three straight 

state golf championships at St. Mary’s 

High in Lynn, has signed a National 

Letter of Intent to play golf at Michigan 

State in the fall. "My family is from East 

Lansing so it’s almost like a second 

home," said Emmerich, the youngest of 

three brothers to excel as a St. Mary’s 

golfer. Brother Christian plays at Holy 

Cross and older brother Max plays at 

Salem State. All three qualified for the 

Golf range 

and practice facility 

Open 7 days - 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

• 40 Hitting stalls • Grass Tees 

• Covered heated tees • Value cards available 

• Fully lighted range • We take credit cards 

Massachusetts Open last year. In the 

Catholic Central League tournament 

last October, Aidan shot a course record 

8-under 61 at Hillview GC in North 

Reading. Kernwood CC in Salem is the 

Emmerichs’ home course and where their 

father, David, is a 19 handicap. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Swampscott’s Steven DiLisio 

made his Korn Ferry Tour debut at the 

$750,000 LECOM Suncoast Classic in 

Lakewood Ranch, Fla. Feb.17-20. The 

Salem CC member and former Duke 

University player had gotten the day off 

to a spectacular start by completing his 

suspended first round (due to darkness) 

with birdies on his final two holes early 

in the morning to return a one-over-par 

72. The 2019 Massachusetts Amateur 

champion followed that with a six-over 

77, leaving him 13 shots above the 

6-under cutoff number. Salem native and 

Andover High grad Rob Oppenheim 

finished tied for 38th at 9-under. The 

week before he tied for 5th in a Bogota, 

Colombia, tourney earning $27,118. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Former Lynnfield resident Abby 

Tobin has been featured in the new 

Ouimet Fund's Alumni Spotlight series. 

Tobin is the daughter of Patriot GC 

teaching professional Jim Tobin and 

seven-time Massachusetts women's 

amateur champion, Massachusetts Golf 

Hall of Fame member and Thomson 

CC honorary member, Anne Marie 

Tobin. A 2014 graduate of Wheaton 

College, Tobin is in her second year 

working for the USGA Foundation. 

The article, written by MaryKate 

Forte, traces Tobin's roots in the game, 

from swinging her first club at age 2 to 

being the only female on the pro shop 

staff at Bellevue GC to earning a 

Ouimet scholarship and to entering the 

business world following college. Tobin 

also talks about the state of the women's 

game as well as her excitement about the 

U.S. Open coming to The Country Club in 

Brookline this summer. 

Forte shares Tobin's thoughts on her 

current role at the USGA focusing on 

fundraising and development, which 

Tobin says gives her the opportunity 

to help grow the impact that golf has 

on people of all ages, skill levels and 

backgrounds across the United States. 

“My job is to share why golf matters 

and connect people with the game,” said 

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Tobin. “It’s rewarding getting out there 

and hearing people’s stories about why 

they love golf and how they can help 

improve it, so I feel very lucky.” 

To read the full article, go to https:// 

www.ouimet.org/news/from-lynnfield-tofar-hills/. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Peter Hood, general manager and 

director of golf at Bass Rocks GC, said 

the Gloucester club is replacing the green 

on the par 3 2nd hole and will start a 

$1,500,000 irrigation drainage system 

project in September. … At Bass Rocks 

Jenny Ceppi won the 2021 ladies club 

championship, adding to the Salem title 

she won earlier that same day. Michael 

Gillis is the men’s club champ; Gillis’ 

dad John won the club championship 30 

years ago. Steve Salah won the senior 

club championship for the umpteenth 

year in a row; his son Josh Salah is a 

former PGA Tour player. The junior club 

champ is Jack Delaney, also a member 

of Gloucester High School’s champion 

hockey team. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Bass Rocks held the Fall Fitzgerald 

Holy 

smoke! 

George Dhionis, a longtime 

prominent member of Tedesco Country 

Club, had just bought a home in 

Marblehead and hired Steve Hayes, 

owner of Donald T. Hayes Construction, 

to remodel the property. 

Hayes wanted to show his 

appreciation and give Dhionis 

something that no one else had in their 

home. 

Fellow Tedesco member Tim 

McDonough, a Marblehead-based 

award-winning art director/print 

and website designer, knew that 

Dhionis was a big fan of the club’s 

short but challenging par 4 11th hole. 

McDonough arranged to have a drone 

fly over the 11th hole to capture the 

image, and turned it into a vinyl canvas 

that now adorns the floor of Dhionis’ 

downstairs cigar room. 

As you can see, it came out great. 

tourney in September 2021. Champs 

were Dylan and Lauren McSheffrey; 

gross winners were Jan Collins and 

Claudia Hayes; Pumpkin flight winners 

were Charles and Stella Nahatis; and 

Apple Cider Flight winners were Joe and 

Phyllis Cronin. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Nick Maccario of Bradford CC shot 

a pair of sub-70 rounds to finish T7 in the 

Gasparilla Invitational at Palma Ceia Golf 

& Country Club, Tampa, Fla. Feb. 17-19. 

Maccario, a semifinalist in the 2021 U.S. 

Mid-Amateur Championship, made three 

consecutive birdies en route to a 4-under 

67 in the second round. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Fresh off winning the Mass Golf Girls’ 

Junior Player of the Year Award, Molly 

Smith of Vesper CC chalked up her first 

American Junior Golf Association victory. 

Smith shot a tournament-low final round 

(72) and finished with 12 total birdies en 

route to a 1-over-par 207 and a five-stroke 

victory. “I’ve always wanted to win an 

AJGA tournament,” Smith said. “I’ve 

played in a lot of them before and haven’t 

really played my best golf, so it feels good 

to come out here, play pretty good, and 

get the W.” The tourney was Jan. 14-17 at 

World Golf Village – Slammer & Squire in 

St. Augustine, Fla. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

Ongoing improvements continue this 

spring at Sagamore Spring GC in 

Lynnfield. The club's five-year course 

improvement plan began in 2021 and 

includes adding sod to bare areas, bunker 

edging and tree removal to allow for 

better light and air. General Manager 

Tim Doucette said new permanent cart 

paths have been added on the 5th hole. 

and on the 2nd hole leading to the 3rd. 

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

PGA REACH New England is 

partnering with the Women’s Business 

League for its first Women's Networking 

Summit on May 16. 

The summit will be held at Nashawtuc 

CC in Concord. The program will run 

from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will provide 

opportunities to network and the chance 

to get out on the course or take part in a 

health & wellness session. 

For details:https://nepga.com/ 

womens-networking-summit/ 

Marblehead's George Dhionis has installed a replica of the 11th hole of Tedesco Country Club on the floor 

of a room in his home. 


NORTH SHORE GOLF


NORTH SHORE GOLF > 

By 

SHADES OF GREEN 

Everyone – not only golf fans – 

knows Phil Mickelson. 

He’s been a top player on the 

PGA Tour for 22 years. In 1991, he was the 

first amateur to win a PGA Tour event in 

30 years when he won the Phoenix Open 

as a student at Arizona State University. 

No amateur has won a tour event since. 

The talented lefty has won 45 PGA 

Tour events, including six majors and four 

international tournaments. He has career 

winnings of more than $100 million. With 

his quick smile and thumbs-up gesture, 

he also has sponsor and endorsement 

agreements that pay him more than 

$50 million annually. His net worth is 

estimated to be more than $400 million. 

Last May, at age 51, Phil became the 

oldest player in history to win a major 

championship: the PGA Championship 

on the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, 

SC. It was a wildly improbable and 

popular win with golf fans the world over. 

Phil came out on top in a field where a fair 

amount of the players were half his age or 

younger. 

The fall of Phil 

Phil Michelson was on top of the golf 

world. 

Most players would have been content 

to play a few selected tournaments on the 

tour, a fair number of ChampionsTour 

events and gracefully ride off into the 

sunset. 

But that’s not in Phil’s DNA. 

His greed and his egotistical pursuit 

to become the King of Golf has led to 

a precipitous fall that no one could’ve 

envisioned a few short months ago. 

Phil decided as far back as 2020 to 

align himself with a competitor of the 

PGA Tour – the Super Golf League 

– sponsored by the Saudi Arabian 

government. 

Phil went all in, despite knowing of the 

atrocities, assassinations and human/ 

women’s rights violations by one of the 

most despicable governments in the 

world. 

Phil was so involved he co-wrote the 

SGL operating procedures, using his own 

lawyers. 

Then he quietly set about trying to 

BOB GREEN 

Even though the PGA Tour has provided a venue for Phil Mickelson to amass an incredible fortune, he is all too happy to criticize the organization. 

PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

recruit PGA Tour players. Justin Thomas 

said Phil approached him back in 2020. 

Then Phil sat down for an interview with 

Adam Shipnuck, who was writing Phil’s 

biography. Phil revealed his association 

with the SGL and admitted the Saudi 

government was guilty of human rights 

violations. 

Phil was going to be paid a boatload of 

money for his efforts in getting the SGL 

off the ground. 

Then Phil’s involvement became an 

international media story. He was cast in 

a very negative light – rightfully so – from 

all corners of the globe, but especially 

from the PGA Tour and golf fans. 

He issued a statement that was 

anything but an apology. But it’s very rare 

for people with egos as huge as Phil’s to 

apologize for anything. 

He blamed Shupnik for releasing “off 

the record” statements that were “taken 

out of context.” Shupnik vehemently 

denied the accusations. Phil’s statement 

was simply spin and damage control.” 

The Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee, 

who calls things as he sees them, said it 

was “one of the worst apologies I’ve ever 

seen written.” 

The damage was done. Phil’s many 

sponsors – including Callaway Golf, 

KPMG, Workday, and Heineken/ 

Amstel – immediately terminated their 

sponsorships with Phil. So much for 

millions a year in endorsement income. 

One of the methods Phil used to 

promote the SGL was to rip the PGA 

Tour. He said the Tour was guilty of 

“obnoxious greed.” Have you ever looked 

in a mirror Phil? 

His criticism of the tour was that the 

players didn’t control their own media 

rights. Broadcast networks pay huge 

amounts of money for the exclusive 

rights to show a sport on television. 

Those contracts are among the largest 

revenue streams any sport generates. The 

networks are the “sole owner” of those 

media rights and provide the revenue that 

contributes to the incredible prize money 

they play for every week. 

Players sign away their media rights 

at the beginning of every season. Phil 

believes the players should own their own 

media rights. Thus, the tour is greedy. 

But not Phil who has amassed a fortune. 

He also ripped PGA Tour 

Commissioner Jay Monahan. He said of 

Monahan: “He comes across as a nice guy, 

but unless you have leverage he won’t do 

what’s right.” 

It’s not surprising that Greg Norman, 

whose huge ego equals Phil’s, is also 

fronting the SGL. In 1994, Norman was 

heading up a competing tour, The World 

Golf Tour. That led to then- PGA Tour 

Commissioner Tim Finchem creating 

the World Golf Championships, events 

played by the top 50 players according to 

the current world golf rankings. Norman 

accused Finchem of stealing his idea. 

How can Greg Norman and Phil 

Mickelson have an ax to grind with the 

PGA Tour, the organization that has 

provided a venue for them to amass 

incredible fortunes? Norman’s net worth 

is also estimated at $400M. 

We shouldn’t be surprised. Phil’s 

dubious past includes his public 

belittlement of Capt. Tom Watson at the 

2014 Ryder Cup presser after the U.S. 

squad lost. It was an embarrassment 

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beyond description. It was the wrong 

thing to say at absolutely the wrong time. 

Do you recall his “temper tantrum” at 

the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock when 

he hit a ball he putted before it came to 

rest. It was an act of total disrespect to the 

game of golf and the USGA. 

When will we see Phil playing a tour 

event again? He said he’s “taking a break.” 

My guess is he’s been suspended. The 

PGA Tour never publicly announces when 

a player has been suspended, but I’d be 

surprised if Phil wasn’t sent to The Time 

Out Chair for a pretty long break. And 

deservedly so. 

Needless to say, no PGA Tour players 

have committed to the SGL. 

Justin Thomas said that tour was “dead 

in the water.” Rory McElroy called Phil’s 

involvement with the Saudis’ Super Golf 

League “naive, selfish, egotistical and 

ignorant.” 

The only word Rory left out was 

“greedy.” 

Bob Green is enjoying his retirement 

after 41 years as head PGA professional 

at Tedesco Country Club in Marblehead. 

Write to him at bgreen49@aol.com. 

OUR COURSES ARE LOCATED IN LYNN, NORTH READING AND BEVERLY


NORTH SHORE GOLF


NORTH SHORE GOLF


Your Hole-In-One 

Real Estate Team. 

From the City to the Suburbs 

Philip J. Vita 

Phil@VitaRealtyGroup.com 

781-729-HOME(4663) 

Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject 

to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. No statement is made as to the accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit 

property already listed. Nothing herein shall be construed as legal, accounting or other professional advice outside the realm of real estate brokerage.

Gregory J. Lee 

Managing Director - Investment Officer 

NMLS # 258142 

978-524-1642 direct 

978-524-4105 fax 

800-272-7300 toll-free 

138 Conant St, 4th Floor 

Beverly, MA 01915 

https://fa.wellsfargoadvisors.com/lee-wealth-management-group 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregleewellsfargo 

CAR #0322-05249

North Shore Golf Spring 2022

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