Here's hoping for another
senior moment at Salem CC

By Gary Larrabee

Gary Larrabee

Chilly-dipping and shanking my way around the North Shore golf scene as we conclude our eighth season of publishing. Pinch me. Can it really be that long? And reminding one and all to keep abreast of all the golf news year-round on our website blog at www.northshoremassgolf.com.
It’s been several months since we reported that Salem Country Club was extending a formal invitation to the United States Golf Association to host the 2016 U.S. Senior Open at its storied Donald Ross jewel in Peabody. We were a tad overzealous in our dispatch, which was picked up by Golf World magazine. Though Salem officials and the USGA have not completed negotiations, nothing will be finalized regardless until the USGA finds a site for the 2015 Open. Salem prefers to hold fast to its desired 2016 plans, which would make its return 15 years after the spectacularly successful 2001 Open won by Bruce Fleisher, but which starred Jack Nicklaus. Jack, you may recall, was one of four players tied for the lead with four holes remaining before he bogeyed the 15th (No. 6 on the members’ scorecard) and the 16th before finishing two back. It was Jack’s last major bid for one last senior major. The USGA wants to hold a second Senior Open at Salem. It has not held a Senior Open on the East Coast since Salem and Caves Valley (2002) outside Baltimore and there isn’t one scheduled in the region through 2014. The importance of landing this championship a second time (the club’s sixth USGA event) cannot be overstated. The economic impact on the North Shore might eclipse $25 million.

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Myopia members are rightly basking in the afterglow of hosting the 102nd Massachusetts Amateur in mid-July. Its Herbert Leeds masterpiece of a design defined another five-star champion in John Hadges, the 2008 titlist, who joins an elite honor roll of Mass-Am winners crowned at South Hamilton — Arthur Lockwood (the very first in 1903), Ed Connell (1955), Steve Tasho (1985) and current PGA Tourist James Driscoll (1996). “It was a special week on a special course,” Joe Sprague, executive director of the Mass. Golf Association, said. “The club could not have been more accommodating. Myopia had a terrific group of volunteer members who took care of every imaginable request. And the golf course could not have played any fairer, nor been in better condition, while providing an exciting week of stroke play, qualifying and match play. Next year we go to a wonderful course in the western part of the state, Wyantenuck, but I’m already thinking about the next time we might be able to bring the Amateur back to Myopia – when it’s right for the membership.”

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A tip of the bucket cap to Peabody’s Kyle Page, now in his 14th year as the head pro at York (Maine) Golf and Tennis Club, but possibly better know around these parts as father of former Peabody High links ace and Greater Boston League champ Joshua Page. Josh is making a bid to play a key role on the Salem State squad this fall as a transfer from Bryant. Kyle has quietly been making the 50-minute reverse commute to York after growing up at Bear Hill, where he served 12 years as a caddy, bag room attendant, and assistant pro before succeeding Rich Rivers as head man, a post he held for 11 years. The Wakefield native is a 25-year resident of Peabody with wife Debra and their three children (Jacqueline, 25, Jillian, 22, round out the family). A newly-inducted member of the New England PGA Quarter Century Club, Page has been an ideal successor at York to Maine Golf Hall of Famer Dick McLeod, who held the job for 35 years. “This job, which any professional can tell you, is all about serving your golfers, whether they’re members, guests or outsiders with an outing,” says Page. “This is their escape from the rest of the world, a time for fun, a time to improve their game. That’s why my staff and I are here at York – a beautiful part of the world where I get to enjoy my profession.” Known for running one of the best junior programs in the region, Page is also a first-rate merchandiser. He was named NEPGA Merchandiser of the Year (private club) in 2005.

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Several notable passings in recent weeks of beloved members of the North Shore golf family, starting with Salem CC’s Lionel “Beaver” Pelletier, the “Duke” of Dube’s, the south Salem restaurant that’s a Witch City institution, and, on a personal note, a dear friend and supporter who was one of the first to join my “Angel Club” to make The Green and Gold Coast volume possible. Others who have now joined heaven’s Cypress Point Club are Tedesco’s Bob Jauron and Tom Snowden, Bass Rocks’ Michael Burke, Beverly Golf & Tennis’ Chet Mielcarz and Richard “Dickie” Costello and the legendary Dick Haskell of Essex (see page 6). They will all be missed.

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Gary Larrabee, the author of The Green and Gold Coast: The History of Golf on Boston's North Shore, 1893-2001, has been covering the North Shore/Greater Boston golf scene for 40 years. He has written centennial histories for Salem, Winchester and Wenham Country Clubs. Catch his golf segment every Saturday morning on the North Shore Sports Desk (104.9 FM) from 8 to 9 a.m.