PGA COVER STORY BEHIND THE SCENES HERSHEY COUNTRY CLUB PRESENTING A MEMORABLE GOLF EXPERIENCE FOR THE NATION’S BEST By Bob Denney hough milton hershey did not live to see a pga professional national championship visit his beloved central Pennsylvania town, his legacy and those who uphold his quest for the best in quality service and entertainment endure. The “Sweetest Place on Earth,” where Hershey Golf Collection offers a combined 63 holes of golf, would make any golfer salivate. T Thirty-six of those golf holes, across 400 acres, ment and Resort, governs a combined staff of 9,000, make up the East and West Courses at Hershey many of them seasonal employees who work at the Country Club. It is there that a field of 312 will com- 145-acre Hershey Park, a famed 103-year-old family pete on June 26-29, while greeted by a volunteer amusement locale that accommodates 2.5 million force of some 900 at the 44th PGA Professional annual visitors over a 130-day period. National Championship. Hershey Golf Collection “This Championship is a great opportunity for us,” encompasses four sites on the resort property and says Simpson. “Our top priority is doing everything employs a staff of 88, featuring six PGA Professionals we can to make this a memorable experience for all and one member of the Professional Golfers’ Associa- our guests. We are proud to have a staff that knows tion of Great Britain & Ireland. the needs of a golfer, and we hope that we project to The Hershey golf complex includes the 18-hole all the fellowship that we, who live here, enjoy.” Hershey Links and the nine-hole Spring Creek PGA Director of Golf Ned Graff, a 43-year-old Golf Course, which debuted in 1932 as the former native of Charleston, W.Va., and a 1991 graduate of Juvenile Country Club, the first in the nation to wel- Jacksonville (Fla.) University, oversees a staff that wel- come golfers under age 18. comes the first PGA Professional National Champi- Bill Simpson, president of Hershey Entertain- onship conducted in Pennsylvania. In his fourth Members of the leadership at Hershey Country Club gather near the Walter Hagen Cup, the prize piece of hardware for the 44th PGA Professional National Championship and a replica of the Wanamaker Trophy, signifying the club hosting the 1940 PGA Championship won by Byron Nelson. Staff members (from left) are: Sara Muldoon, PGA head professional, West Course; Simon Andres, PGA head professional, East Course; Bill Simpson, president, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts; Ned Graff, PGA director of golf; Shaun Feidt, superintendent, East and West Courses; and Mark Malasavage, director of golf course and grounds. COURTESY OF HERSHEY COUNTRY CLUB 2 | June 2011 | www.pgamagazine.com (password: PGAmag007) season at Hershey, Graff also oversees the Muldoon are reaching the end of more service for nearly 700 club members. than year’s worth of preparation. “Mr. Hershey was one of the service Andres, a 41-year-old native of Milwau- leaders in the world,” says Graff. “His kee, marks his ninth season at the helm of inspiration carries through today, and the East Course, which hosts the final two things remain exciting and I feel like I rounds of the National Championship. have evolved in my career by being here. Andres’ introduction to golf came as a 21- I am thankful that I had the opportunity. year-old at the University of Wisconsin- “We are using the East and West Milwaukee, when he joined his buddies in Courses at the same time for the first front of a TV on an August Sunday after- time at one event here, and we have a noon in 1991 to watch John Daly win an great staff to make it happen. They bring improbable PGA Championship. By a lot of experience, and we are ready for Monday morning, Andres declares, he was the National Championship.” buying a set of golf clubs. Graff’s predecessor, PGA Profession- “I studied to be a teacher, but after al Jim Reed, is PGA head professional at watching the PGA Championship, I Spring Creek Golf Course and serves as found myself hooked on golf,” recalls volunteer chairperson. Reed joined Her- Andres, the 2009 Philadelphia PGA shey’s staff in 1975 and immediately was Merchandiser of the Year. “It came out immersed into working for the LPGA of nowhere. I was enthralled by it. Lady Keystone Open, which was hosted “Speaking for all operations within the from 1978-1996 on the West Course. As resort, this is one of the most dynamic his expertise shined through to all, Reed golf facilities in the country. You have a handled a busy tournament schedule cov- thriving club with 600-plus full-time ering junior, amateur, collegiate and pro- members, resort guests, outside events fessional events on property. Today, Reed and charity functions. It’s almost like an is immersed in guiding the next genera- airport! The staffs we compiled have tion of players, with golf and physical filled their roles and it all comes together education programs at Milton Hershey at an event like this.” School and a summer-long area program Muldoon, 41, is a native of Cambridge, combining to serve 550 juniors. Ontario, Canada. She was hired at Her- “They are all big events to me,” says shey in 1995 and was named PGA head Reed, a native of Pittsburgh and a 1973 professional at the West Course in 2001. Penn State graduate. “I can remember Muldoon was a member of the 1992 coming here in 1959 to play as a junior, and Methodist College Division III women’s it remains one of my best moments in golf. national championship team. I never wanted to be a tour professional, “What makes us feel ready about this but I did welcome the chance to serve the Championship? Going over details, game in another way and found my niche.” details and details,” says Muldoon. “It is According to Graff, no two days are great to be working with those who alike in Hershey, a town of 13,000-plus. know what they’re doing, and I could He says he has the public and his club not think of a better place for an event members to thank for making history like this. It seems like the players who come to life on the job. we have heard from so far are excited “One of our club members, Mark and that makes us feel good.” Henry, was in the clubhouse a few years It can be said with certainty that no back and got into a conversation about our golf complex in the world contains the championships,” says Graff. “Mark was 80 same components as the Hershey Golf at the time, and said that when he was 14, Collection within a mile radius. Blend a he caddied for Gene Sarazen in the 1940 modern chocolate factory, the Hershey PGA Championship. He remembered Park with 11 rollercoasters, the Hershey Sarazen losing a quarterfinal match to Sam Lodge, the Hershey Hotel, Hershey Snead, 1-up. The most unique thing is that Country Club, Hershey Gardens, the every day here you learn a little bit more.” Giant Center, the Hershey Story, and the The field in the PGA Professional Hershey Museum, and competitors can’t National Championship will split the be blamed for losing their bearings. first two rounds at the East and West Especially near the sixth and seventh Courses, where respective PGA head holes on the West Course; they are bor- professionals Simon Andres and Sara dered by Chocolate Avenue. ■.