Metgolferthe the OFFICIAL PUBLICATION of the METROPOLITAN GOLF ASSOCIATION MGAGOLF.ORG VOL
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PLUS: MGA Championship Recap l Club Champions l Distinguished Service Award MetGolferThe THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE METROPOLITAN GOLF ASSOCIATION MGAGOLF.ORG VOL. 32, NO. 5 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 Start Spreading The News: Ferry Point Is Ready for its Close-up A legendary course isn’t measured by yards, but rather by the players who’ve walked it. You don’t have to compete in a national championship to walk the same fairways that have been challenging the greatest in the game for more than a century. Play Pinehurst No. 2 – site of the recent back-to-back U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open Championships – and leave some footprints of your own this spring. Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina • 855.318.7638 • pinehurst.com %, .%* $ + #%' ()$ ,)%*) ('/ $ $. %'+$(( $, '+'( ' )'*() . ) ,%'" ( () &".'( $ #)*'( +'.,' $ ($ )% "+' #-#*# ()$ %$ $)' )( $ #%' ()$ %$ %1 $)' )( * )% ) "%,' (&$ $ ' (& '%# ) )+ %" $$"0 $ ()"). '%# ) ($ ( "%$ ,) %*' *') %*'0 %(" %' $*()'. "$ *()"). ') "%%!( (%*$ $ " #! %' ) #%() %#&") '+' &'%'#$ $ ) # )%. () ))"()%# )% "'$ #%' $"*$ ,' .%* $ -&'$ ) *$%#&'%#($ ()$ % '+'( "" ! # * $' ! ( # ( ©2014 Acushnet Company. % " $ ! $!! ! $ ! ! ! " %" ' !" " " " " " !! ! * " "! % ! $ ! !" ' "$' ) & " " " # " * " %" ! % ! TABLE OF CONTENTS MetThe Golfer VOLUMEMet 32, NUMBER 5 Golfer NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 36 VOLUME 32, NUMBER X NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 Above: Jack Nicklaus stands atop one of the many mounds at Ferry Point with a million- Features Plus… dollar view of the Empire State Building. 36 A Star is Born 26 Up Close: Man With a Plan Below: Members of the MGA/WMGA French- The long-delayed golf course by the Outgoing MGA President Jeff Holzschuh American Challenge Team had the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx is ready used his strategic planning expertise to opportunity to play a round at le Golf for play and worth the wait. chart a steady course for the Association’s By Jeff Neuman future. By Jeff Day National, which will host the 2018 Ryder Cup. 48 Never Too Soon, Never Too Late 72 Travel: Breaking Par This year’s roundup of MGA club New Mexico has it all – great golf, Native champions reminds us golf is a game for American culture, green and red chiles, the young and old and in between. and breathtaking scenery. 62 By Jeff Neuman By Dan Vukelich 60 In the Winner’s Circle 78 Club Focus: Whippoorwill Calls Comebacks and clutch performances A newly restored classic golf course defined the MGA’s Championship slate. reaffirms the Whippoorwill Club’s status By Christopher Powers as a quiet gem. By David Barrett 66 Putting It All Together 84 Met Methods: Get In Sync! With two major victories, David Pastore One simple backswing drill will help get fulfilled his potential and earned the MGA your arms and body working together. Player of the Year title. By David Polchinski By Christopher Powers 86 In the Bag: See the Light 68 Live Wire It’s got to be the shoes: lighter, less Don Hendler’s track record of giving back structured, more comfortable. to the game makes him a standout choice By Ken Van Vechten for the MGA Distinguished Service Award. 88 Body & Mind: By Jeanne McCooey There Goes the Sun Coping with the end-of-season blues. By Kevin Prise 90 Taste of the Met: Latour de Force On the Cover: The eighteenth green of Trump One of the world’s finest wine cellars is in Golf Links at Ferry Point is framed against the northwestern New Jersey. backdrop of the Whitestone Bridge. By Lana Bortolot LEFT: KATE KELLER; ABOVE: KATE JIM MANDEVILLE/NICKLAUS DESIGN LEFT: 4 THE MET GOLFER • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG OYSTER PERPETUAL SKY-DWELLER rolex oyster perpetual and sky-dweller are trademarks. TABLE OF CONTENTS MetThe Golfer THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE METROPOLITAN GOLF ASSOCIATION Volume 32, Number 5 Editor: Jeff Neuman Met Golfer Editorial Committee: Gene M. Bernstein, Leslie A. Schupak, Co-Chairmen; C.A. Wimpfheimer, Chairman Emeritus; Donald Hendler, Jeanne McCooey, Jay Mottola, Dr. William Quirin, Allan Small, Roger Tulcin Metropolitan Golf Association 49 Knollwood Road, Elmsford, NY 10523 • 914-347-4653 www.mgagolf.org • [email protected] MGA Executive Committee: Jeffrey R. Holzschuh, President; Stephen F. Boyd, Vice President; Michael J. Sullivan, Treasurer; Tod D. Pike, Secretary Committee Members: Gregg M. Angelillo, Joseph D. Bardon, Robert J. Bluestone, Patrick L. Donnelly, Philip T. Fabrizio, Norman A. Feinstein, Steven J. Green, Phillip M. Halpern, Dennis Lynch, Michael X. McBride, Beth Z. Post, H. Craig Treiber, Stephen Worth, Jordan Ziegler Past Presidents: Leslie A. Schupak, Allan W. Small, Gene M. Bernstein President, LIGA: Alan Finkelstein President, NJSGA: Frank O’Brien President, WGA: Michael McCarthy President, WMGA: Amy Hyman General Counsel: Mario Ponce MGA Staff: Jay Mottola, Executive Director; Barbara Bradley, Millie Burt, Louis Cutolo, Jeff Day, John DeTemple Jr., Nick Fischer, Beth Francese, Chris Gaffney, Kate Keller, David Klenk, Kevin Kline, Holly Kotiadis, Jim Landers, Zachary Long, Brian Mahoney, Jeanne McCooey, Susan O’Dowd, Jeff Pepe, Helen Stock, Rose Tomassetti, Lynn Turnesa, Gene Westmoreland 72 Published for the Metropolitan Golf Association by: Great Golf Resorts of the World, Inc. 2600 Philmont Avenue, Suite 325 Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006 Departments Phone: (215) 914-2071 • Fax: (215) 914-2076 CEO & Publisher: Richard K. Summers 8 Met Observations by Jeff Neuman COO & Art Director: Peter J. Sansone Executive Vice President: Brian Folino 10 Opening Shot by John Feinstein General Manager, Operations: Patrick Cherry 12 Perfect Drive: Knollwood Country Club Production/Pre-Press: Frederick Yantz Design: Jim Gerhard, Matt Hulnick, Steve Higgins, Marina Kohls by Jay Mottola 14 Executive Desk Advertising Production Manager: Julie Yuen 14 Around the Met Internet Manager: Matt Frey, PGA Operations: Tom Gauss, Mike DiMeglio 94 Inside the Rules: Golf is Not a Game of Gotcha Accounting: George Kotlyar 99 Readers Service Advertising: For information, please contact: Zack Long at 914-347-4653, ext. 321, or Brian Folino at 623-337-5802 (office) or 661-312-6412 (cell) 100 Last Word by Jimmy Roberts National Sales Manager: Jim Kahn Regional Advertising Managers: Howard Derkay, Scott Miller Audit Bureau of Circulations Member THE MET GOLFER is published by the Metropolitan Golf Association, 49 Knollwood Rd., Elmsford, NY 10523. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY 10199 and additional mailing offices. THE MET GOLFER (ISSN 1042-7678) is published five times yearly ©2014 by Above: A trail ride at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort north of Metropolitan Golf Association. Published in the United States. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. POSTMASTER: Albuquerque may run alongside Twin Warriors Golf Club and feature send address changes to THE MET GOLFER, 49 Knollwood Rd., Elmsford, NY 10523. SUB- views of the Sandia Mountains. SCRIBERS: if the post office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within two years. PRINTED IN U.S.A 6 THE MET GOLFER • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MGAGOLF.ORG Fueled by patented Turbulator Technology and a new face material, the G30 ® adjustable driver is PING’s longest, most forgiving driver ever. In wind tunnel testing, crown turbulators are proven to reduce aerodynamic drag and increase clubhead speed. The T9S titanium face is thinner for higher ball speeds, and it’s lighter to keep the CG low and back for optimal launch and spin. The low/back CG – a proven PING innovation – also increases MOI for unmatched consistency. With 5 loft New T9S settings and high-balance-point shaft technology, the G30 is the fastest way to longer, face material more accurate drives. Visit a PING Fitting Specialist or ping.com. You’ll be better for it. 5 loft adjustments ©2014 PING P.O. BOX 82000 PHOENIX, AZ 85071 MG914 Wheatley Agency, Inc. MET OBSERVATIONS 377 Oak Street, Suite 205 Garden City, NY 11530 Out in the Open 516-745-0072 his summer, I attended the final round of the 99th Met Open at Trump National www.wheatleyagency.com Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. It’s an experience I recommend highly T to anybody who can take the time on a weekday. To begin with, the Trump Bedminster course is an excellent one, with a great deal Is your club paying of variety to its landscape, and it was a pleasure to walk and watch our area’s best pro- fessionals and amateurs take it on. The players were in threesomes, with a standard- too much for group life? bearer following each trio to display their scores. The MyMGA app provided continual updates, placing a leaderboard in the pocket or purse of everyone who attended. Best of all was the intimacy of the experience. There was nothing separating the As an MGA Club, handful of spectators from the golfers and their caddies except one’s own sense of deco- rum. I followed the final threesome for most of the round; when the tournament leader buy group life at a misplayed an attempted recovery shot from the trees, I could hear the mix of self- encouragement and self-recrimination in his voice. I could hardly miss it, since I was DISCOUNT about ten discreet yards away, carefully out of his line of sight. There were too few of us to ring the putting surfaces; we dotted them, avoiding the direct through-line, but as if your club had standing close enough to read the break ourselves. 10,000 employees! It was truly one of the special spectator experiences of my life. When the 100th Met Open is played next August at Winged Foot, or the Ike at Friar’s Head, or the Met Ama- teur at Baltusrol, I strongly suggest taking advantage of the chance to see our local majors played on some of the country’s greatest courses. Bene"ts include: As unobtrusive as we tried to be, one of the eight or nine observers was probably w hard for the competitors not to notice. Guaranteed issue up to $300,000 Donald Trump is usually the center of attention wherever he goes.