Vets and novices find golf tourneys rewarding

By John HitchcockPrint Story | Email Story
Jack Kelley Memorial winners at Waubeeka Golf Links earlier this month were, from left to right, Don Bourdon, Ronn Goss, Jim Kelly and Tom Gederina. They recorded a gross 61. (Photo By John Hitchcock)
Memorial or fund-raising golf tournaments will be available for ball strikers of any ability just about every week, into October. While winners are rewarded to some extent, participants all gain a sense of satisfaction in helping a worthy cause or remembering departed friends, while having a great time on the links. Experienced golfers usually win, but beginners have their place, as generally four-member teams are balanced based on ability. Already this up-and-down season, late longtime PGA Pro Rudy Goff was remembered by his former pupils and friends at the Taconic Golf Club, and, at Waubeeka Golf Links, former general manager Jack Kelley was honored by 88 participants raising $1,300 to benefit Drury High School. Waubeeka manager Mark Mills said about $1 million dollars has been raised in the past decade at various memorial tourneys, including the annual Northern Berkshire Health Systems Tournament, which raised $32,695 last year in the 10th annual event. Tourney committee member Nick Flynn was particularly rewarded when he aced the 126-yard 14th hole! This year’s NBHS tourney will take place at Waubeeka June 18, and full information is available by calling 664-5240. Upcoming memorials, all open to interested supporters, include the 10th annual Berkshire County American Red Cross Classic on May 27 at the Berkshire Hills Country Club (call Paul Gavrity at 499-4241, ext. 240) and the third annual Paul Mullet Sr. Memorial June 5 at the Bas Ridge Country Club, benefiting the Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) Loan Closet at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, N.Y. Call 684-921. Another major fundraiser is the Berkshire Law Enforcement Officers tournament June 3 at Waubeeka, with proceeds going to the Kids’ Place, operated by the Berkshire County district attorney’s office. The Jeff Lacosse Players Tournament will also be at Waubeeka, on June 12. Call 458-5869 for both events. The Great Barrington Rotary Club’s 21st annual Charles W. Agar Memorial Scholarship Tourney will take place June 24 at Wyantenuck Country Club. Call the club at 528-2395. Special parties and banquets usually follow each tourney, and in some cases awards go to participants playing their only golf of the year. Experienced golfers have their own high-intensity tourneys, ranging from Berkshire Allied Golf Association events such as the 18 Hole Four-Ball Open at Wahconah Country Club June 4-6 and the North Adams Country Club Member-Guest the same dates. Club pros are busy this time of year teaching aspiring and veterans golfers. Chris Tremblay, operator of the indoor golf Skydome in Pittsfield and assistant pro at Skyline in Lanesboro, was named PGA Teacher of the Year for 2004 by Northeastern New York section of the PGA of America. (Berkshire golf clubs are associated with the New York chapter.) Tremblay has also been a head instructor for the Nike Junior Golf Camps, which have sessions at Mount Snow in Vermont and at Waubeeka and Skyline. Kids are housed at Williams College. Mount Snow will mark its official opening May 22 with special sessions of the “Original Golf School,” founded in 1978 as the first adults golf school in the country by Jay Morelli. Morelli said special weekend camps will be offered May 22-23 and the following weekend. Morelli, named Vermont PGA Professional of the Year for 2003, offers two-to-five-day programs throughout the season, which continues through September. A large staff of veteran pros is on duty, and morning lessons are followed by a round on the 18-hole Geoffrey Cornish-designed course. Call 802-464-4254 for tee times and school details. Since Morelli’s first school, similar ventures open every year, and there are now operations at Killington, Okemo and Stratton (where Arnold Palmer opened a kids’ school in 1969). The Okemo Valley Golf Academy with its PowerLINK® 3-D System, operates year round with extensive indoor facilities as well as the 18-acre practice area and driving range. Rich Setter is director of the adults’ golf school at Stratton with a 22-acre expanded version of the original Palmer layout. Pupils play some of Stratton’s 27 holes, also designed by Cornish, who was in charge of building the short-lived Greylock Glen course in Adams back in the ’70s. Stratton hosted the LPGA Tour for several years in the ’80s and early ’90s and will be the site of a Futures Tour championship in July. The Mount Anthony Country Club in Bennington does not have a formal golf academy but offers lessons from Dave Soucy, the second ranked Vermont PGA Pro for the past four years. Home pros have also developed many outstanding golfers, including Dustin Cone, who has excelled on the Purdue Golf Team for three years and has won the Vermont championship as well as many other New England tourneys. Soucy and Cone won last year’s Vermont Pro-Am and will defend their title July 19 at the St. Johnsbury Country Club. The popular MACC Memorial Weekend Tournament will be May 28, 29 and 30, limited to 72 two-member teams, with the next major the June 12-13 Member Guest. Call 802-447-7079 for details. Ted Price, MACC owner for nearly 20 years and a strong skier at Stratton and Snow Basin, Utah, did not ski this past winter for the first time. He and wife Louise, the clubhouse manager, instead spent the winter in Florida. Price hurt his head badly a few winters ago, falling on the ice. But he was not skiing, and the mishap took place while working near the maintenance building. Steep slopes have made MACC a magnet for sliders of all ages and skiing was tried one winter. There’s more to life than golf for some people, and the second annual Motorcycle Run for William “Moose” Roberts of Adams will see the start of a 60-mile tour starting at 11 a.m. at Ronnie’s Cycles in Adams. Roberts died at 49 from cancer. Incidentally, motorcycles and moose (the real ones) don’t mix. The Windsor police chief, Robert Harris, was in collision with a 1,000-pound moose the evening of May 1 near the Windsor firehouse and suffered a broken leg. The moose suffered two broken legs and had to be put down. A few moose, many deer and some cows and horses are apt to be on the highways after nightfall, and their whereabouts cannot be predicted. Take care! John Hitchcock of Williamstown writes frequently about the area sports scene.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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