North Shore Golf Blog

By Gary Larrabee

Woburn native Noreen Friel Mohler, the captain of the Curtis Cup team, got a pleasant belated Christmas present with the announcement that Jennifer Song would not be turning professional until after the 36th biennial match June 11-13 at Essex County Club in Manchester By-the-Sea. The match pits the top women amateurs from the United States against the best that Greater Britain and Ireland can muster.

“I love that Song, I’ve been saying (no pun intended),” Mohler told North Shore Golf by phone from her Bethlehem, Pennsylvania home. “As our national champion (2009 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Public Links), it’s great that she’ll be able to compete on this international stage for her country. She certainly makes us a stronger team.”

Song announced she would turn professional before this summer’s U.S. Women’s Open, thus relinquishing her last two years of eligibility for her USC college team. The 20-year-old South Korean (she is also an American citizen) is considered the top women’s amateur player heading into the 2010 competitive season, which for her includes the NCAA spring season.

Song will without question be one of the eight players the USGA chooses for the team, which could be announced as early as this month, based on the whims of the selection committee, of which Mohler is not a member.

Among the other likely choices are Arizona State freshman Jennifer Johnson, runnerup to Song at the 2009 U.S. Amateur; University of Denver freshman Kimberly Kim, 2009 Rolex Girls Junior champion and 2006 U.S. Women’s Amateur winner; 15-year-old (on February 10) Alexis Thompson, the No. 1-ranked amateur and No. 1-ranked junior player in the country; Cydney Clanton, an Auburn University junior and the No. 2-ranked collegian; and Candace Shepperle, an Auburn senior and the No. 3-ranked amateur in the U.S.

They all have been invited to compete at the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship March 29 through April 4 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. That, too, is a sign they could be in line for Curtis Cup invites.

“I expect the selections will be made at the USGA annual meeting at Pinehurst February 6,” says Mohler, who was the special guest speaker at the WGAM annual meeting in January. “When the players and I will be informed is another question, but it should be soon after that.”

Mohler hopes to begin establishing connections with each of the players the minute she gets the word. “Most, if not all, of them are students, so there won’t be much time to form relationships,” she said.

Mohler has penciled in the weekend of May 22 and 23, or maybe the 24th and 25th, as team practice days at Essex, assuming the NCAA Division 1 championship concludes as scheduled on May 21 in Wilmington, N.C.

“That’ll give us a couple days to get together as a team, get a feel for the course and how they might take shape as teammates (since the format includes fourball and foursomes play),” Mohler said.

The team will then reconvene at Essex on June 6 in preparation for the Match starting on June 11. Currently Mohler is working on the team’s red, white and blue outfits, including rain gear and off-course attire.

Mohler will pay close attention to how her players perform at the Kraft Nabisco and most likely will attend the NCAAs in Wilmington.
Tickets on sale soon

General Chairman Bill Van Faasen reports that tickets will be on sale shortly at $75 for the three days or $30 for a single day pass. Children 17 and under accompanied by an adult will receive free admission. He added that the opening ceremonies most likely will be held in late afternoon on June 10. Spectator parking will be available at Cherry Hill Industrial Park in Danvers, one Route 62, and shuttle service will be provided back and forth to the club, a mere 10 minutes away. The schedule calls for foursome and fourball matches on both Friday and Saturday and eight singles matches on Sunday. Start times will be announced later, pending conclusive discussions between the USGA and The Golf Channel, which hopes to televise the action live all three days. The one hitch could be the network’s contractual obligations with the LPGA and Champions Tours.

Event chairwoman Annie Barton is captivated by the concept that American golf history (in the form of Essex and all it represents) will be meeting the future of golf (in the form of the youthful U.S. team, especially in the pair destined for LPGA stardom, Song and Thompson). “To have Jennifer and Alexis playing at Essex, where Harriot and Margaret Curtis developed their games into national champions, should be quite a sight,” Barton said. “In many ways Boston is the home of early American golf, in large part the home of the birth of American golf, thanks to The Country Club, Francis Ouimet, Myopia and Essex and the Curtis sisters,” she said. “That’s a nice transition from where the Curtis Cup was held in 2008 at the home of world golf, St. Andrews

A kind winter in Manchester

Course superintendent Eric Richardson says that Mother Nature has been good to the Essex turf this winter – so far. “Based on the turf samples we take on a regular basis,” Richardson said, “we’ve had no winter damage through January. But we’ve still got two months to go and March is crunch time when the weather can raise havoc.”

Richardson is in constant contact with the USGA agronomy staff, as well as with John Jennings, the super at Chicago Golf Club, which hosted the 2005 Walker Cup. “Historically, we have to keep close watch on the 8th, 12th and 13th greens the most,” Richardson pointed put. “They’ve got protective covers because they receive little the least amount of sunlight.

“Bottom line, we’ve got two months prep time to get the course ready for early June. Between now and then I’m meeting with local superintendents and others who have worked at USGA events in recent years to provide input. We’re confident we’ll hve the course in great shape for the Curtis Cup.”

Future of Georgetown CC and Beverly G&T still murky
The phrase “in limbo” continues to apply to both the management status of Beverly Golf and Tennis Club for 2010 and whether The Georgetown Club will even open for business this year. On the plus side, a new $25 million luxury townhouse development plan is a possibility for Turner Hill, the sparkling residential golf community that has been plagued by the sagging economy.

As of this writing  the city of Beverly is in the process of both trying to settle financial differences with Manny Barros of Bass River Golf Management, the firm that has run the club the last two years, and opening bids to secure a new management firm for 2010 and beyond. Barros, the successful owner/operator of the nearby Bass River Tennis Club, claims he has lost millions since taking over management of the city-owned facility in 2008. He owes the city $600,000 as his contractual obligation to the city for the 2009 season.

If the city and Barros can’t reach an amicable resolution that will settle the $600,000 issue and allow Barros to continue as the man in charge, which he wishes to pursue because “I’ve created such good will,” a new management firm will be hired. Most likely the new firm, possibly one of the former club managers, Friel Management, would pay considerably less than what Barros and Johnson Golf Management, the firm that ran the club prior to Barros’ arrival, forked over annually. The issue needs to be resolved rather quickly.

A letter sent to members January 28 from head professional Nick Crovetti said that Barros “is working on securing financing in order to pay the city what is owed. I am hoping this will be completed over the next few weeks, and everyone can move on and BRGM will continue to operate in a normal fashion.” The letter also stated that the RFP posted  by the city of Beverly has been postponed until the middle of February.

As for The Georgetown Club, it’s been in one nasty and messy financial dilemma since long-time owner Peter Wojtkun shut the place down last September and Sovereign Bank, the primary mortgage holder ($4.55 million), began proceedings that would lead to an auction; an auction that has yet to be held.

There are lots of issues here. The most recently assessed tax value for the property, including golf course and club house, is $6.6. Wojtkun owed his creditors $10 million at last review and it is believed the property will not bring even $6 million at auction, not with the current state of the economy and the real estate market.

At least two lifetime members have lawsuits pending against Wojtkun. The Andover dentist also owes the wife of major club shareholder Steve Guerrette more than $2 million for a loan made to him several years ago. Stay tuned.

New residential development on the tee at Turner Hill
Pending town approval for a change in permitting approved several years ago, Turner Hill, boasting a first-rate golf club, will finally get the additional residential presence it needs and in turn bolster its growing membership. The developer, Residences at the Hills LLC, proposes a $25 million development that would feature 51 townhouses priced between $500,000 and $700,000 each and built in a small town village style along the 15th and 16th fairways. The new plan also includes four units of affordable housing in the $300,000 range. Later additional housing might be located on the current site of the former chapel building which overlooks the 10th green.

North Shore native Johnson grabs PGA card

We told you last year about Beverly resident Ray Clark, brother of PGA Tour player Tim Clark. Well now you’ve got a second player with immediate North Shore roots to cheer for on the 2010 Tour. Kevin Johnson, after an eight-year stretch on the Nationwide Tour, returns to the big time this year at the ripe young age of 42 (turns 43 in April), and no one will be pulling for him harder than his uncle Art Johnson of Danvers and Wenham CC and his mom, Salem native Anne Clancy, now based in Florida. Her late husband, former Peabody High golf captain and prominent South Shore schools administrator Ken Johnson, had some game, but nothing like Kevin or Kevin’s brother Chip, former NEPGA champ and head pro at Hatherly on the South Shore.

“This year is totally different than 2001,” Johnson told North Shore Golf. “I know my way around the tour a lot better this time, I’m maturer, my game is much stronger than it was in 2001. I hadn’t played well in 2000 when I got through Q-School. Last year I had a lot of strong weeks (including two Nationwide wins), didn’t have to go through Q-School and I’ve got a lot more confidence in my game.”

Johnson opened the year with a T-39 at the SONY Open in Hawaii, good for $23,000, and that was with the wife and kids on board. “It was a great week to share with them,” Johnson, former Massachusetts Open, Amateur and Junior champion, said.

Johnson made a few adjustments in the off season with his swing guru in Jupiter, Fla., Jeff Leischman. “I’ve gone basically from what we call a hockey swing, where I drop inside, then swing outside with a big hook, to where I’m now using more of my body, less hand action, and the ball is going straighter without much curve. I started working with Jeff early last year and he’s been a key to my rejuvenation, you might say. He told me at first to work on my strong points and got me swinging more freely, to let it go.”

So now Johnson figures it’s make or break time. “My wife Christa and children (Jordan 9, Jade 7) have been incredibly understanding all these years,” Johnson said. “I hope I can make it all worthwhile with a productive year.” He’ll need to win at least $600,000 to regain his card for 2011.

Kevin also has a blue chip sponsor on his side in southern Florida car dealer Jim Arrigo, who has been in Kevin’s corner since 1993. “Jim has supported me through thick and thin, an unbelievable supporter,” says Kevin, who’s been a member of the TaylorMade staff for a decade.
They will be missed

Sad times of late with the passing of some very special members of the North Shore golf family: Chuck Frithsen, Phil Wogan, Arthur Kiernan, Paul Munro,Dee Wemyss, Bill Anthony and Dr. Frank Barry.
Chuck Frithsen, former head professional at Rockport and Thomson, a fine tournament player and the taching pro and assistant manager at the Nekoroski family’s Golf Country facility in Middleton for the past 10 years, died January 20 at the age of 56, the victim of cancer. Son of another prominent North Shore golfer, his late father John, Chuck was a Cape Ann native who caddied at Bass Rocks, where his dad was a dominant club champion, and captained the Gloucester High golf team. He was a PGA professional for three decades whose best playing days seemed to come after he turned 50. After reaching that milestone he won the New England PGA Seniors, played in the 2006 PGA Senior Championship in Oklahoma and was the top player in 2004 in the NEPGA Eastern Mass. Chapter. Chuck was a credit to the game, his communities and his family.
Wogan, one of the two most important golf course architects with North Shore roots, along with Beverly native Ron Kirby, died on January 15 at 91. The long-time Topsfield resident was the son of Eugene “Skip” Wogan, who served as Donald Ross’ assistant at Essex County Club from 1910 to 1913, served as head professional and grounds superintendent from 1913 to 1957, and founded the New England PGA. Phil succeeded his father as superintendent in 1957, a post he held until his retirement in 1985, at which time he began his fulltime devotion to golf course architecture. Phil designed more than 40 courses, most in New England, including The Georgetown Club, Point Sebagao in Casco, Maine, Stonebridge in Goffstown, N.H., and River Bend in West Bridgewater. Phil’s love and commitment to the game was a fitting legacy for his famous father.
Arthur Kiernan, 77, was a long time Salem CC member and club champion, Gillette executive, former New England Senior Golf Association titlist and Massachusetts Golf Association executive committee member. Your day would always be brightened if you bumped into Arthur, a great friend to the game.
Edith “Dee” Wemyss, died at 94 in West Palm Beach, Fla., where her late husband, George, and she moved after George retired as the first executive director of the New England PGA. George was the ED, but Dee was called by many in the know the assistant ED for the prominent role she played in the organization’s running at their offices, first at Ferncroft, then at Colonial in Lynnfield, at tournament sites and at their Wakefield home. Her soft spoken approach was the perfect balance to her husband’s firm but friendly authoritative nature.
Beverly native Paul Munro, as dapper a dresser as you’ll ever find, died January 11 in Hollywood, Fla. His career started as an assistant professional at Salem and led to head professional jobs at Meadow Brook, Beverly and Unicorn. Paul was a respected teacher and an enchanting conversationalist who quietly devoted much of his free time to the St. Anne’s Home for Children in Methuen.
Dr. Frank “Bud” Barry, 87, was an avid golfer and long time Salem member who was most admired for his exceptional career as a obstetrician and gynecologist and his generosity to financially challenged patients.  His golf was so-so, his commitment to patients noble.
Before relocating to Cape Cod, Bill Anthony was a member at Salem. His life on the Cape included considerable time devoted to charitable work. He won the MGA Seniors and New England Seniors after settling in at Oyster Harbors Club

A ‘high-five” for Lynch
Congrats to long time Indian Ridge member Mike Lynch of Swampscott and Harvard football and WCVB-Channel 5 sports anchoring fame on his being honored by the “33” Touchdown Club for his 25 years of “High Five” high school athletics features on his Friday evening broadcasts. Mike was to be honored at the organization’s annual dinner at the Seaport Hotel on February 9…Odd policy that the Peabody Park, Recreation and Forestry Department refuses to bend so that parents might watch their kids compete for the Peabody High golf team on their home course, The Meadow. The policy is in place for safety concerns, understood. Solve the issue by having anyone who wishes to watch a high school match sign a waiver in the pro shop before stepping on the course which would remove the city of any culpability in case said spectator should get beaned, simple as that.