Jay Morelli, founder and head of The Original Golf School at Mount Snow, was at the peak of his game a little more than a year ago.
At 54, Morelli had done it all, from a schoolboy phenom and star at Florida State University to a long and distinguished career as PGA competitor and teaching pro, and was enjoying a game at Mount Snow’s Geoffrey Cornish designed course with his son, Michael.
Started perhaps the two millionth swing of his career, Morelli suddenly realized he was not breathing, and in fact, could not breathe.
His son, then 21, did all the right things and his father soon found himself at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vt. in critical condition.
He had suffered a stroke, a severe stroke, affecting not his limbs, but his throat.
For more than two weeks, Morelli took nourishment from a tube inserted in his stomach.
Finally, he was able to drink a glass of juice, but it took him all of 45 minutes. His recovery continued daily and after a month, Morelli was back on the job, directing operations not only at the Mount Snow school, but keeping track of the similar schools at the Beach Club Golf Links at Ocean City, Md., and planning for winter sessions at the Plantation Inn and Golf Resort at Crystal River and the Greenview Country Club at West Palm Beach, both in Florida. The Original Golf School is also featured at Sugarloaf in Maine, perhaps New England’s most challenging course.
By September, the mid-sized Morelli was driving the ball his usual prodigious distance.
In 1977, his second year at Mount Snow, Morelli finished second in regional qualifying rounds in a field of 90 pros seeking spots in the U.S. Open. He continued to rank tops among his peers at regional tourneys for years.
In 1978, Preston Leete Smith of Killington had acquired Mount Snow and told Morelli to open a golf school and call it the Accelerated Teaching Method, in line with the Killington Accelerated Ski School.
Things had been fairly quiet at the Mount Snow course, which opened in 1965, until the opening of the new school, which revitalized the usually quiet summer season in the area.
Morelli’s school was the first opening at a ski resort for adults, although Arnold Palmer inaugurated a children’s golf school at Stratton a couple of years earlier.
Now golf schools flourish at Stratton, Okemo, Killington and Sugarbush Resorts in Vermont, as well as Mount Snow.
The original Golf School’s entire philosophy is built around the goal of meeting the unique challenges of the golf course itself, not just those of the driving range. while there are elaborate practice and teaching areas at the Original Schools, all feature unlimited golf on the courses in the afternoons.
Morelli also starts beginners on the green, close to the hole, and then gradually moving on to complete swings at longer distances. For information on any of the Original Schools, call 1-800-414-7565.
Some 75,000 students have passed through the Original Golf Schools since 1978.
In the process, Morelli has been named New England PGA Teacher of the Year, Vermont PGA Pro of the Year, and has been New York PGA Sectional champion and multiple Vermont Pro-Pro Champion. He was head pro at clubs in Florida and New York, before coming to Mount Snow.
Things were quiet when I met Jay in 1976 and I was amazed at the quality of my shots after a few minutes under his guidance. Unfortunately, I am cursed with a short attention span.
Last month I had the pleasure of playing nine holes with the fully recovered pro and saw him drive the green on a dogleg Par 4, his ball soaring over a stand of tall trees and over a sizable pond. And he admitted to “winning a little money†in a couple of pro tourneys earlier this summer.
But Morelli ventured into a new sports arena this past winter, seriously taking up skiing with his girlfriend — at Mount Snow, of course.
There is more than golf at Mount Snow each summer and mountain biking is a nationwide draw.
Mount Snow claims the first mountain bike school in the country and offers lift-served riding, clinics, tours, rentals and repairs.
The Chevy Trucks NORBA National Championships Series will be at Mount Snow, Aug. 16 - 19, with more than 1,000 amateur and top international bikes in action. Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was among the competitors in 1999.
The resort also offers a full range of recreational and adventure activities for kids and adults, as well as a hiking center.
It should be noted that major golf schools are not limited to Vermont resorts and that individual golf pros are capable of providing the necessary help.
The Cranwell Golf School in Lenox is headed by Keith Lyford, who is annually listed in golf magazines as one of the top 100 teaching pros in the nation. He came to Cranwell a few years ago after 13 years as head of the Stratton Golf School and several millions were spent by Cranwell in building an entirely new school complex, across the Route 20 from the Cranwell 18-hole course. Call 632-8271.
Some people could care less about golf instruction and they are usually tennis players.
Veteran sanctioned competitors John Clarno and Vincent Zajac, both of Adams, failed to win titles at last month’s Chaffee/Hart Memorial Tourney in Williamstown.
But last weekend they won the Age 65 Doubles title at the annual Clem Easton Super Senior Sectional Tourney at the Holyoke Canoe Club, defeating Dave Lowry and Lowell Croll, both of New Hampshire, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3. Clarno is the Pittsfield High School tennis coach and Zajac heads the annual kids’ summer program in Adams.
This is the final month of jam-packed activities and competitions in numerous sports. Take advantage of it, although school kids (except possibly in cash-strapped Pittsfield) will have a full slate of interscholastic events.
John Hitchcock of Williamstown writes frequently about the area sports scene.
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Companion Corner: Weber at No Paws Left Behind
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — There's a young cat waiting for a family to play with him.
iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.
Weber is a 10-month-old domestic shorthair. He has been at No Paws Left Behind since November.
Volunteer Claire Morin introduced us to him.
"He came in with an abundance of cats that were in a crowded situation in the home," she said. "Most of his brothers and sisters are gone, but Weber is still here."
Weber loves the attention and if you aren't giving him enough he will let you know.
"Weber is very, very sweet. As you can see, he's very needy for attention. He loves his treats, and he can get a little overstimulated. He's very attention seeking. And if you don't give him attention right away, he nips at you a little bit, not a bite, more like a tender here I am — pay attention to me," Morin said. "But he's very engaging, and he's a very, very sweet boy."
The city has lifted a boil water order — with several exceptions — that was issued late Monday morning following several water line breaks over the weekend. click for more
