It takes a unique and dedicated family to

run and maintain a successful golf course

by Will Courtney • photos by Jim Vaiknoras

If it wasn't for a bolt of lightning, the Stavros family might still be getting up early to milk the cows.

In the 1920s, the Essex family ran a dairy farm on a scenic strip of land overlooking the salt marsh on the Essex coast, but when the barn caught fire in a storm in 1930, the livestock was lost and the farm destroyed. Left with a wide stretch of land, and not much to do with it, the family asked Eugene “Skip” Wogan, then the pro at the Essex County Club in Manchester, to design a golf course on the land. Wogan studied under the pre-eminent course designer of the time, Donald Ross.

"It was as if Donald Ross designed the course," said George Stavros, who began working at the course full-time in 1953.

From the ashes of the dairy farm, Jim Stavros, George's uncle, opened Cape Ann Golf Club in 1931, in the height of the Depression. And with that, a life of early mornings, long hours and little time off during the warm-weather months was set in motion for future generations. In many ways, a family’s life of running a golf course is not unlike farming, right down to the reliance on the weather. Instead of cows they now just rely on fairway mowers to help keep the grass short.

The Stavroses livelihood is not a unique one on the North Shore. Despite trying economic times, entire families still rise with the roosters and cut grass well into the evening hours. There’s the Kattars at Merrimack Golf Club in Methuen, the Koens at Evergreen Valley in Newburyport, the Broxes operate Hickory Hill in Methuen, the Murphy’s at Garrison Golf Center in Haverhill, the Mellons at Amesbury Golf Club, the Tarrs at Wenham CC, the Browns over at Middleton GC and the Trulls at Trull Brook in Tewksbury, and, of course, there’s Bill Flynn’s sprawling golf empire of three courses, just to name a few.

All Hands on Deck!

Cape Ann GC in Essex is typical of many family owned clubs in that every member of the family helps out. Clockwise from top left: Norrie Stavros runs the pro shop while her son, Jim Jr., serves as the club’s resident computer expert. Jim Stavros uses new and old machinery to keep the course in shape and his sister, Mary, tends bar at the club’s Fairway Pub.

Today at Cape Ann, it’s George’s son, Jim, who runs the course. George serves as the course’s patriarch after handing over the keys to the next generation and it’s safe to say that you can’t swing a 5-iron these days on the challenging nine without hitting a Stavros in your back swing.

Along with Jim, there’s his brother John who serves as the course’s assistant super. Stroll into the course’s Fairway Pub and you will likely find the smiling face of Mary Hickey, Jim’s sister, who bartends and cooks. Their brother George Jr. helps out too.

Jim’s wife Norrie manages the food and beverage operation. Sons Jimmy, 23, and Tyler, 21, work at the course and will one day take it over. Both have been around the course since they were old enough to walk and now typically work 7 to 3 in the summers, and get a day or two off each week. They might be in the restaurant one day, or on the course another day.

Each generation not only brings new music to the pro shop, but a new skill set as well. In the new computer age, both Tyler and Jimmy take care of the club’s online needs, much to the relief of their father.

“I don’t even know how to use the thing,” Jim Sr. says with a smile.

“It’s in their DNA”

In many ways, the biggest threat to family golf courses these days is not having another generation to take over. For 70 years, through the Depression, war and recession, Cape Ann Golf Club has survived. The business principles at family-owned golf courses are the same – good service at a good price. Operating the course has become part of the family’s DNA. That’s what happens when you inherit your career. Jim Stavros has never had another job, and he doesn’t want one.

“I like coming to work in the morning,” he said. “There’s nothing like getting out here early on summer mornings. The smell of the grass, you hear the birds, and watch the sun come up over the ocean. It’s not too tough to take.”

You will get no argument on that point from Mike Mellon, a member of the third generation of Mellons to run Amesbury’s only golf course, he grew up in a house a few hundred yards from the first tee.

“I always wonder what it would be like to do something else,” he said with a smile. The reality is, however, that he likely never will as he seems destined to follow in his father Butch’s footsteps.

“I don’t think he’ll ever retire from this place,” Mike said of his father, who has worked at the course since the 1950s.

Like the Stavroses, the Mellon family makes up much of the staff at Amesbury. Butch, son of Albion Mellon, who bought the member-owned course in 1960, still does the books and serves as the boss. Butch’s wife Roberta runs the kitchen at the clubhouse and Mike’s sister Maria works around the clubhouse too.

Over at Evergreen Valley in Newburyport, Ethel Vitale can still be found behind the counter in the pro shop most days, while her daughter Donna Koen and her husband Dan and their son Jeff all help to hold things together.

Brothers Kevin and George Kattar, whose father George took over Merrimack Golf Club in 1971, are also staples around the course.

Early risers

The superintendents, typically the owners’ sons who inherited the job whether they asked for it or not – Mike Mellon, Jim Stavros, Kevin Kattar, etc. – are up with the sun. The alarm clock goes off at 4:30 a.m. and waking up early simply becomes habit. Once they arrive at the course, the work starts right away.

“In the summer, you start mowing in the dark,” Mellon said.

Though they specialize in mowing and caring for their fairways and greens, each at some point has also been a mechanic, sprinkler repairman, ditch-digger or any other job that is required. The day isn’t necessarily intense, but it’s long. The summer season means 10 to 12 hour days, if not longer.

They all say with pride that working with family is one of the perks, but most quietly add that it isn’t always easy. Business and family don’t always mix well; especially when you’re working long hours seven days a week all summer long with no vacation in sight.

“It’s not like you can pack up the station wagon at noon on a Friday,” Jim Stavros noted.

No time for the beach

Dave Whipple has been around Candlewood Golf Club in Ipswich all his life, and has run it for the last 55 years. In all that time he says that he’s never really known an extended summer vacation.

“Maybe a day or two,” Whipple said. “In a business like this, you have to be around.”

Time off comes in winters. That’s a time to catch up on some maintenance to machinery and other odd jobs, but inevitably most end up back at the course most days for something. Jim Stavros figures he’s back at Cape Ann almost every day in the off-season.

“The first few weeks (of winter) you enjoy … then you are bored,” added George Stavros with a chuckle.

Whipple, for one, disagrees.

“I’m one of the few people who likes winter,” he said of the forced break to his daily routine. “It’s fine with me.”

As a rule, all of them seemed to have played a lot of golf when they were younger, but as adults, they’re lucky to get out once a week. Jim Stavros says he plays Thursday mornings, but that’s usually it.

“There’s just no time,” he said.

Family fundamentals do not change

While each family runs their specific course differently, when asked about the lessons that they have learned from the previous generation they all strike the same chord.

George Kattar Jr. of Merrimack Golf Course said his brothers and sisters learned it from his father, George Sr., at an early age.

“The Golden Rule,” Kattar said. “Treat others as you’d want to be treated.”

Bob Flynn, who runs Far Corner Golf Club in Boxford, learned the same lesson from his father, Bill, a local legend in the golf business who owns Far Corner, Windham Country Club in Windham, N.H., and Lakeview Golf Club in Wenham. His daughter Jo Anne runs Windham, and his son Mike runs Lakeview.

“We pride ourselves on everybody being very friendly,” Bob Flynn said. “We want you to have a good day and walk away with a smile.”

Customer relations is just one part of his father’s successful equation, however, as Bob Flynn is quick to point out.

“Hard work and a lot of long hours,” he said.“ My dad would work every day except Christmas.”

Tightening economy adds another burden

With very little wiggle room in most of their budgets, it’s that same rigorous work ethic that helps get these courses through the lean times. To stay afloat financially some family-owned courses are reinvesting in their future, while others are tightening their belts.

The Kattars have made sweeping changes to their 18-hole, Donald Ross layout, funded by the development of 74 homes around the course. The changes are ongoing, but when done, they will include a state-of-the-art clubhouse fit for weddings and other functions. The greens have been widened, the wet spots turned into ponds and swales added to the once flat fairways.

At Far Corner, Bob Flynn says the course is “holding steady.” He doesn’t think there are fewer golfers, “just a lot more golf courses. In the last 10 to 12 years, 20 different golf courses have opened up within 15 to 20 miles from here. I think that’s one of the biggest changes.”

The Flynns have also re-invested in the course, adding nine holes to make it a 27-hole layout and in the process opening up the popular track in West Boxford to even more golfers. Whereas before it was difficult to get a tee time, Flynn says now people can get on the course any time, and play any combination of two of the three nine-hole layouts.

“It makes us unique. Last year I couldn’t believe how many new faces we saw,” Flynn said.

At Cape Ann, business went up 20 percent last year due to some more simple changes. For the first time, the course offered tee times. And rather than charging $15 per driving cart, they began to charge $8 per rider, so single riders tcould afford to go out on their own. They also have added an early-bird special before 10 a.m. It’s another lesson Jim has learned from his father.

“You have to be accommodating,” George Stavros reminds.

Mike Mellon admits that memberships are down in Amesbury, and so is business to some extent. Home building companies have approached them, but so far the Mellons have resisted any temptation.

“It makes it tough, because we don’t have a big budget,” he said, “but what people like about this place is that there are basically no houses on the golf course. You’re out in the woods playing golf.”

That keeps people coming back, and if golf continues its apparent plateau in terms of interest, the Mellons will adjust. The term most families use when it comes to riding out the good times and bad is “tightening the belt” and they know how to do it with the best of them. After all, Cape Ann and Candlewood have ridden out the Depression, World War II and recessions.

“It couldn’t get any worse than World War II,” Whipple reminds. “No one was playing golf then.”

Whipple’s family returned to farming during that time. The Stavroses invested in their course, or more accurately, pulled out a little equity. By taking down a hill on the course, the family was able to sell the granite. Today, the hill that used to serve as the eighth fairway is now part of the foundation of a bridge on Route 128 in Gloucester.

But while Cape Ann seems prepared to make a living for another generation of Stavroses, Candlewood appears to be nearing its end, as Whipple, 72, has no heir apparent. “Property taxes have made it more and more difficult to make a profit at Candlewood,” Whipple says adding, “I’ve tightened my belt enough.”

Whipple says he will likely sell the course in the coming years, but he doesn’t want to see a series of homes sprout up on the 33 acres. His father Lester transformed the farmland when Dave was three-years-old and designed the course. Seven decades later, Dave thinks he might like to return it to its original purpose.

“Maybe a horse farm,” he says with a wry smile. Looking back at a lifetime on the course, he feels satisfied.

“It’s nice that we’ve been around all this time. We’ve never tried to be glamorous. We’re just a little nine-holer that’s good for a quick nine, good for beginners, good for ladies and juniors. John Updike started playing here. Charlie Volpone, the great professional, broke 40 for the first time playing here as a 12-year-old. Stuffy McInnis, the star major leaguer, still holds the course record – 27.

“I’ve met a lot of interesting people. You can’t replace that,” he added, leaning back in his chair in the tiny clubhouse as golfers come and go.

“It’s been a good life.

Dave Whipple is not sure if he can keep popular Candlewood GC in the family.