Driving into the season - Westfair Communications

From equipment to grounds-keeping, a lot has changed since John Reid introduced golf to America at a Yonkers cow pasture in February 1888 with a novel set of “gowf” sticks he had procured.

“I doubt there would have been any support organization,” said Charlie Hicks, the head golf professional at St. Andrew”™s Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, reflecting on that original outing. St Andrew”™s is the oldest golf club in America and a direct descendant of that frosty day when Reid and his friends hung their whisky flasks in an apple tree and headed across the pasture with a couple of boys in tow to carry the sticks.

A grainy photo of the outing graces St. Andrew”™s pro shop, harking more to Matthew Brady than to the latest Golf Digest cover shot. The black-and-white scene stands in sharp contrast to the thrum of the pro shop today as green carts whisper past and pastel-clad golfers clickety-click in their cleated golf shoes to and from the links in a scene repeated from New Canaan to New Rochelle and from Westport to North Salem.

By May 13, the golf arm of St. Andrew”™s is in full swing, employing 14 people to keep things running smoothly from first tee to 18^th green. The first big day at St. Andrew”™s was April 21, the club”™s Apple Tree Day.

The golf course at St. Andrews is closed January to March. By the time golfers took to the greensward in earnest April 19, Hicks”™ crews have been grooming, trimming, mowing and all the other chores of golf course management for three weeks.

Just up the Sprain Brook Parkway in White Plains, Elmwood Country Club runs in the winter months with a complete club staff of 20. That number has swelled to 100 by June, according to club manager Jerry Schurhammer.

“This winter ”“ whether it was from global warming or El Nino ”“ we saw more winter play,” Schurhammer said. He said past Januaries typically witnessed no rounds, but this year 200 guests snuck in 18 holes while their skis gathered dust. “It”™s still very slow comparatively,” he noted of January”™s total on the fairways, which equals about a single weekend in “the season.” He said deep-winter golf has “zero impact revenue-wise.”

As with St. Andrew”™s, Elmwood does not wait for Memorial Day to fire on all cylinders. “We start gearing up on March 15 and by April 15 we”™re in full gear,” Schurhammer said. The club”™s May 18 Lobster Kickoff Dinner is the official start of the season. When things slow down in the winter, that”™s when the 75-year-old club sees maintenance like paint and plaster, hammer and nails.

While it can take six weeks to have every blade of grass in place at Elmwood ”“ as the club looked recently ”“ this year”™s wet weather reduced the time frame to four weeks.

In neighboring Fairfield County, the Rolling Hills Country Club in Wilton never stops preparing for what could be one of its most frequented weekends during the year: Memorial Day, said Mike Catanzaro, the club”™s general manager.

“The planning really never ends,” Catanzaro said. “Last year was a beautiful weekend and it was unseasonably warm. If the weather is good, it could be our busiest weekend of the year because around the Fourth of July people tend to go away. If it rains, the weekend could be a bomb.”

One of the major preparations for Rolling Hill”™s summer kickoff is a significant increase in the number of staff members, some of which make their way to Wilton from overseas.

“It”™s an ongoing process,” Catanzaro said. “The hiring, for instance, doesn”™t stop. We”™re bringing students over from hospitality schools in England, which is really common in clubs nowadays. The need for staff that is interested in the business is hard to find in Fairfield County. Staff-wise I guess, in general, during the off-season, we probably run about 40-50 full-time employees and during the summer months that number will jump up to about 110-120.”

Unlike Rolling Hills Country Club, the Country Club of Darien doesn”™t see a spike in attendance or staff during the summer because the club is visited by its guests steadily throughout the year, said Bill Boulay, general manager.

“Darien is busy straight through, so our food and beverage operation is pretty consistent straight through the year,” Boulay said.