One Special Team

Danvers’ Larry O’Keefe and family have led the Essex County Special Olympics Golf Team to great heights

By Jeremy Gottlieb

The mist is beginning to rise at Lakeview Golf Club in Wenham on a chilly, early evening in May. As the sun creeps further below a few trees, the golfers out on this nine-hole expanse can clearly see their breath.

On the sixth tee, Corey O’Keefe, 20, steps up to the ball. He wags his driver a bit then steps back to take a look at what’s in front of him. Corey’s father and playing partner, Larry, offers up a couple of brief words of encouragement. Corey smiles and moves back into the tee box. After a couple of more wags, he sets himself, takes his swing, and rips the ball right down the middle of the fairway, easily sending it 150 yards.

“Not bad, Corey,” says Larry as his son walks proudly away from the tee and towards the rest of his group.

The players in the group are all members of the Essex County Special Olympics Golf Team. Larry O’Keefe, a plumbing contractor from Danvers, is the coach, a position he’s held since he and Corey started the team five years ago. Corey, who has Down syndrome, was already an experienced athlete at the time, having participated in several sports and activities both at North Shore Technical High School and with the Northeast chapter of Special Olympics Massachusetts.

“Corey had been hitting balls at Sun ’N Air in Danvers,” says Larry. “He showed interest in playing more often and in playing competitively so I talked to the Northeast chapter because I knew that golf was one of their sports. And we went from there.”

Where they went was from a two-man team five years ago to a squad with 10 players and two assistant coaches. Every week, starting in early May, O’Keefe’s charges get together on Mondays and Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m. at Lakeview to practice free of charge. In the early stages of the season on both nights, the team gets split into two groups, both of which play all nine holes.

By Special Olympics rules, each player must have a playing partner, so every twosome plays the course in alternate shot format. The team plays in multiple tournaments every year, including an invitational at Middleton Golf Course, a state games qualifier, a local Special Olympics tourney at Kernwood Country Club in Salem and the annual state games in Amherst.

The practices haven’t always been at Lakeview. Larry and Corey teed it up at New Meadows in Topsfield before arriving at Lakeview three years ago after Larry met head pro Mike Flynn.

“I know Larry through a mutual friend,” explains Flynn, the son of the legendary Bill Flynn.

“I’d say things have worked out very well and the whole experience has been nothing but positive. It was pretty easy to decide on having them practice here.”

Things have become slightly more challenging for Larry, as the team has grown, not that he’s complaining. At first, when the team was himself and Corey, all that he needed to worry about was the rules provided by Special Olympics of Massachusetts. By the second year, Larry and Corey had mastered their new program and spent some of their down time trying to get the word out to other local kids who might be interested in joining. In year three, there were a couple of new faces and the program was off and running.

“As the team has grown, it’s taken more time and meant more responsibility,” Larry says. “I have two assistant coaches now to help out. But we’re always looking and talking to other athletes and coaches who might be interested in participating.

“There have certainly been times when I’ve asked myself ‘What are you doing?’ But believe me, it’s well worth it. One weekend at the state games makes all the time and effort worthwhile. We leave on Friday and we come back Sunday and don’t stop smiling and laughing until we’re home.”

One of the assistant coaches is Bill Clemens, whose son Billy, 22, is a team member. Billy and Corey have been friends since childhood, having both grown up in Danvers, and Billy also has experience in other Special Olympics events, including track and field and bowling.

“Billy just loves to play and loves to be a part of the team,” said his dad, who just this year became a member of the Friends of Special Olympics committee.

“I think he enjoys it because we do it together. He’s very intent about it, too. He always is conscious about his set-up and his form. It helps him with concentration and hand-eye coordination. And seeing Corey and the other kids regularly makes him so happy.”

* * *

Larry is taking his time sizing up a rather nasty lie left for him by his partner for the evening, Libby MacQuarrie, 27. He’s finally getting ready to take his swing when Libby blurts out, “Hit it, Mary!”

The group, which in addition to Larry, Corey and Libby includes Mike Brusil, 24, of Beverly, and another of Larry’s sons, de facto assistant coach Mike, 23, gets a hearty laugh out of that one.

“We also try to teach them etiquette, but that doesn’t always work,” says Larry shaking his head with a smile.

Corey seems to get the biggest kick out of Libby’s commentary as evidenced by his wide smile, which he’s been flashing almost constantly. Likely the most athletic of the group, Corey has been a hockey player since the age of 8, and also is an experienced power lifter, a skill he hones a few times a week at Super Fitness gym in Danvers. When not playing sports, Corey is enrolled in the culinary program at North Shore Tech and works part time in the kitchen at Rosewood Nursing Home in Peabody.

“Basketball and hockey are cool and so is lifting weights,” said Corey. “But golf is my favorite. I shot the ball good last year and the year before that. I’m getting better and I have a lot of fun playing.”

Ask Larry anything about Corey and you’ll feel the pride emanating from him. Not knowing much about Down syndrome when Corey was born, Larry wasn’t sure what direction his third and youngest son’s life would take. One thing Larry knew from the beginning was that he, his wife Gail and his two other sons, Mike and Adam, would view Corey no differently than anyone else.

“Corey has always been a source of tremendous pride for all of us, especially as he’s grown up,” Larry says fondly. “He doesn’t know he has a handicap and we’ve never treated him as such. My family deserves a lot of credit for that. He’s a good athlete, he’s always earned first and second honors at school and he’s never had any slack cut. There’s no special treatment. And because of that, it’s been an even greater feeling to see him succeed. As we started to learn more about Down’s, all that concerned me was that he could at some point reach a level where he’d be self-sufficient. That was my ultimate goal. And he’s well on his way.”

Not only that, Corey is a ray of sunshine to boot. One can’t help but feel cheerful and pleasant when around him, a fact not lost on his dad. “The kid has a knack for brightening up people’s days,” said Larry. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a tough day and he’ll show up at my office and just brighten everything up.”

* * *

The Essex County Special Olympics Golf Team has recently scheduled its first tournament of the season. On July 23, at Middleton, the team will participate in an invitational put together by teaching pro Cathy MacPherson. MacPherson will run a clinic followed by playing nine holes. Afterwards, everyone will convene for a barbecue and an awards ceremony on the deck by the pro shop. “The kids love it,” said Larry.

The kids, in addition to Corey O’Keefe, Billy Clemens, Libby MacQuarrie and Mike Brusil, are Gary Bates, Albert Giello, Dennis Wilson, Corey Cahill, Gabriella Foley and Annette Pettipas, whose mother, Carol Lach, pitches in as an assistant coach. Flynn isn’t surprised everyone has such a great time.

“The credit goes to all of the players,” he says. “And Larry is the organizer, the instrumental figure. It’s an impressive body of work, no question about it.”

In the meantime, Larry plans on changing things up a bit, having the players spend practice time doing skill work around the greens instead of the standard nine-hole alternate shot practice. Either way, they’ll keep smiling, laughing and having the time of their lives.

“I’ll bring someone to an event and they’re hooked,” says Larry. “It’s all because of the kids. They’re so appreciative of what’s done for them. We’re used to crying and moaning about not having this or that. Not these kids. They just love to be doing what they’re doing.”