Williams College holds or hosts summer sports camps ranging from basketball to volleyball, but its Nike Junior Golf Camp covers practice and play at three different sites, from Skyline Country Club in Lanesboro and the North Adams Country Club and north to the Mount Snow Golf Club in West Dover, Vt.
And when the camps end each Friday with a nine-hole tourney, the participants have encountered just about every challenge possible from hidden holes on steep ridges at Skyline to ledge-studded roughs and tiny greens at NACC and water-guarded greens and long demanding par 4s at Mount Snow.
The final session will begin Sunday, but Mount Snow will host two resident Nike camp sessions starting Aug. 11 and Aug. 18.
PGA Pro Chris Tremblay, operator of the Skydome Indoor Golf Center in Pittsfield and teaching pro at Skyline, is in charge each year of the first two Nike Williams sessions, with Dr. Robert Winters of Orlando, Fla., a sports psychologist and mental game consultant from NBC Sports, directing the final five sessions.
The boys and girls are quartered in Tyler House and have breakfast and most dinners at the Williams main dining room, with transportation provided by JT Bus Lines of North Adams, with a Williams van to haul gear.
Campers practice and play at Skyline on Sunday and Monday, with an 18-hole shotgun start Tuesday morning at NACC, followed by afternoon practice at Skyline and all day there Wednesday. Thursday includes instruction in the morning at Mount Snow, 18 holes of play, dinner at the base of the ski slopes and recreational activities in the Snow Barn.
The Friday schedule includes a nine-hole tourney at either NACC or Skyline.
With up to 60 pupils, as many as eight pros come up from Orlando, including a few top college competitors and a member of the LPGA Futures Tour.
Cost for the weeklong program is $995 and transportation is provided from the Albany Airport if required.
High school and tournament competitors will be coached at the first Mount Snow Nike Resident Camp, Aug. 11, ages 12 - 18. The Aug. 18 camp will be for all ability levels, ages 10 - 18. The weekly fee is $1,045. Commuters are accepted.
Full information is available from US Sports/Nike Golf Schools, 4470 Redwood Hwy., San Rafael, CA 94903. (800) 645-3226.
Nike holds numerous golf, tennis and other sports camps throughout the country.
The Williams Nike Junior Tennis Camp, directed by Eph head coach Dave Johnson, has been in operation for some 30 years.
For full information on the various Williams sports camps, contact the Williams Athletic Department at 597-2366.
Mount Snow is also the home of the oldest adult golf school in the country, started in 1978 by Pro Jay Morelli and now called The Original Golf School. Morelli now heads a chain including Mount Snow; Sugarloaf, USA, in Maine; Crystal River and West Palm Beach in Florida; and Ocean City in Maryland.
Scene of many regional tournaments, Mount Snow will host the Vermont Senior PGA Open Aug. 20 and 21.
The Geoffrey Cornish - designed course was ranked by Ski Magazine as one of the top 10 ski resort courses in the nation and is open to the public every day except during tournaments. Call (802) 464-4254 for tee times.
Competition for bragging rights is tough in Vermont with exceptional golf courses at Haystack, Stratton, Okemo, Killington, Sugarbush and Stowe.
Stratton, with three nine-hole layouts, opened in 1964 and became the home of the nation’s first ski area junior golf school, headed by none other than The King, Arnold Palmer.
After a few years the Palmer connection ended and Stratton shifted its emphasis to adult camps, now directed by Rich Setter.
Tremblay grew up playing for Pittsfield High School in the late 70s and was graduated from the University of Maryland in 1984, where he was coached by now PGA Touring Pro Fred Funk.
“It was a lot different then, with virtually no programs to introduce golf to youngsters,†Tremblay recalled. Individual lessons were available from club pros, but many were not too keen on teaching kids.
“Taking lessons from Dick Baxter (the late Scottish born pro at Taconic Golf Club) was no joy,†recalls a local adult. Tremblay, who won the 1984 Berkshire Allied title as his final amateur event, now coaches the PHS team, after five years as a club pro in New Jersey and seven years in Bristol, Conn.â€Now kids and adults can take lessons and be coached year-round,†said Tremblay.
Virtually every Berkshire and Southern Vermont golf club now offers junior lessons each summer and the Golf Digest Golf Camp at Cranwell Resort in Lenox claims to be the best in New England, directed by Keith Lyford, who headed the Stratton school for 17 years before coming to Cranwell four years ago.
Most clubs have one tourney each summer for club kids, while the Allied Golf Club of Berkshire County conducts a series of tourneys at different clubs throughout July and August.
There are three age categories: 13 and under, 14 and 15, and 16 and 17.
The next event will be Tuesday (Aug. 5) at NACC, with Forest Park in Adams Aug. 12 and the final event at the Greenock Country Club in Lee Aug. 19.
Donnie Troy of PHS and Jay Wilkinson of Taconic High have qualified for the Massachusetts Junior Championship Aug. 12 - 14 at the Country Club of New Bedford, with Mitch Boraski of Taconic an alternate.
Unfortunately, some junior golfers never have a chance to realize their dreams.
Such was the case of Scott Gliwski of North Adams, who at 16 was headed for a junior tourney at Waubeeka, where he was a part-time employee.
His motor bike was hit by a tourist‘s car on Route 7 and he lost his life.
Every year since his death, the Scott Gliwski Memorial Tournament is held and this year’s event will take place at Waubeeka Saturday. Call PGA Pro Erik Tiele for details at 458-8355.
John Hitchcock of Williamstown writes frequently about the area sports scene.
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Windsor Man Promoted to Major in National Guard
WINDSOR, Mass. — Corbin Lounsbury of Windsor was recently promoted to major in the New York Army National Guard.
Major Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general for the state of New York, announced the recent promotion of members of the New York Army National Guard in recognition of their capability for additional responsibility and leadership.
Lounsbury, assigned to Cyber Protection Team 173, received a promotion Sept. 5 to the rank of major.
Army National Guard promotions are based on a soldier's overall performance, demonstrated leadership abilities, professionalism, and future development potential. These promotions recognize the best-qualified soldiers for a career in the New York Army National Guard.
There are 20,000 members in New York's Army, Air National Guard, the Naval Militia, and the New York Guard. They are managed by the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, the state's executive agency responsible to the governor.
Guardsmen and women are eligible for monthly pay, educational benefits, international travel, technical and leadership training, health and dental insurance, and contributions towards retirement programs similar to a 401(k).
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
The bridge had been closed to all vehicle traffic since March 2023 after being deemed structurally deficient by the state Department of Transportation. click for more
The Water Department has been responding to multiple water line breaks throughout the city since Friday, causing temporary loss of water in some areas. click for more
Nearly a year of study and community input about the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge has resulted in one recommendation: Take it down. click for more
