HuntingtonCC_Single

chapter fourteen

The Centennial Yeart was serendipitous that the club’s one-hundredth anniversary

I arrived precisely when the finishing touches of the clubhouse reno-
through 2009 but it too was in need of updating and enhancement. This
would be accomplished in 2010, thanks to the tireless efforts of Allison

vation were being completed. That is to say, by 2010 the clubhouse was Mitchell and a small subcommittee of members and club staff.

in its finest condition in one hundred years, and it was indeed time

to celebrate. Elegant new window treatments were selected by the newly formed house

committee and warmed the grill room, main dining room and new trophy

The buildup to the centennial anniversary began in 2007 with the formation room. Beautifully framed antiques, aerial black & white photos of the club,

of the centennial committee. This eleven-person team was responsible for and wood-carved family crests of each of our founding fathers accent the

planning the anniversary related events, including a formal black-tie ball trophy room bar.

and the commemorative book you hold in your hands. Other anniversa-

ry related activities would include a hickory stick golf outing, a member The initial consensus among the committee members was that late 2010

group photo, various tennis and platform tennis events, and the creation was the obvious and most appropriate time to release this book. That is,

of a time capsule that would include memorabilia from today’s day and age until author Bill Quirin suggested capturing photography of the centennial

to be opened in fifty years by the next generation of members. Each event year’s events (and postpone the release) so these moments could be saved

was a grand success in its own way and the membership embraced its club’s and treasured in this book. This recommendation was approved and is the

hundredth birthday. reason why we now have the following collection of priceless photos cap-

turing our anniversary celebrations.

World-class British golf artist, Kenneth Reed, FRSA, was commissioned in

November 2009 to paint the sixteenth hole and by early 2010 the original The year 2010 was a shining star in the club’s history and it is safe to say that

painting was framed and hung in the entrance area of the clubhouse. The the membership came together like never before to raise a glass in honor of

club’s web site, which launched in 2007, had been functional at a basic level this historic centennial year.

91

July 4th Family Fun Day

92

9pa3rt i: the chronological history | the centennial year 93

Centennial Black Tie Ball

94



96



Halloween Costume Party

98

Christmas at the Club

part i: the chronological history | the centennial year 99

Platform Tennis Tournament

100

part i: the chronological history |the centennial year 101

local 1910 Historical Timeline • Penn Stations opens to LIRR via a new tunnel under
the East River.
• HCC incorporates January 27, 1910. national
• HCC bylaws enacted May 14, 1910. international
• Huntington Opera House burns down. • Boy Scouts of America incorporated.
• Huntington Town Hall opens. • Glacier National Park established by Congress. • British King Edward VII dies; George V succeeds.
• Huntington High School dedicated. • Women in WA gain the right to vote. • Portugal becomes a Republic; King Manuel flees.
• Heckscher Baseball Field opens. • NAACP founded in NY. • Uprising against Ottoman rulers in Albania.
• Local bob sled builder wins Winter Carnival. • First commercial air flight flown. • Vatican introduces Oath Against Modernism.
• NY driver license required (by law) to drive a car. • African-American Jack Johnson defeats “Great White • Halley’s Comet visible from Earth.
Hope” James Jeffries, sparking U.S. racial riots. • Boutros Ghali (Egypt’s PM) is assassinated.
real estate values • Bomb opposing labor unions explodes in LA Times • Australia issues its own currency.
building, leaving 21 dead.
• 2 acres & home near Greenlawn Station: $4,000. • New tunnel under East River opens, allowing train
• 6 acres & home near Huntington Village: $7,000. Interesting Tidbits travel between Huntington and Penn Station. Like
• 12 room house on East Neck: $500/ year (to rent). today, most LIRR trains stop at Jamaica Station.
• 7 room house in Huntington Village: $2,200. Goldstein Dry Goods department store, Palace Trains east of Jamaica run on steam engines; trains
• John Kane’s Huntington Bay estate: $75,000. Market, and Henry Borchers’ Central Market. west of Jamaica are electric. Cost: 13¢.
• Banking: Bank of Huntington and National Bank.
industry • Dairy farms (milk delivered by the milkman). entertainment
• Farming.
• J.T. Cantrell makes horse carriages. • Bijou Theatre (on Wall St.) features “Moving Pic-
• Atkin and Wheeler design and build boats. transportation tures and Illustrated Songs.” Adult: 10¢/ Child: 5¢.
• Lumber yards: A.S. Petit, Wilton Wood and
Huntington Lumber & Coal. • Horse & buggy still used around town but bicycles cost of items sold in huntington
• Undertaker: Everett Lockwood. and cars becoming more prevalent. A bicycle cost
• Utility: Suffolk Electric Company. approximately $18.50 and a new Maxwell Model AA • Men’s suit at Empire Clothing: $7.50.
• Merchants include: O.S. Sammis General car (30 MPG) cost $600. • Dining room table (with extensions):
Department Store, Brush Grocers, Max Abraham, • Trip from town dock (Halesite) to Pier 30 in $8.00/ Dining room chairs: 99¢ each.
Manhattan cost 50¢ on the Steamer Huntington. • Grocery: milk: 8¢ per/quart; butter: 35¢ per/lb.;
102 • Huntington Trolley (Cross Island Trolley) runs from coffee: 18¢ per/lb.; and rice: 5¢ per/lb.
Halesite to the new Huntington train station (opened
in 1909) and to points further south.

The club’s centennial painting of the sixteenth hole, as executed by internationally noted golf artist Kenneth Reed.

103

Member group photo taken on
“Championship Sunday” in September 2010



The centennial committee: front row (left to right) J.William Johnson, Danielle Faria, Katy Goodrich, Jean Latham, and John Service. |
back row (left to right) Andrew Staib, Robert Rogan, Jr., Stuart Irvine, Gerald Kessler, Duane Hayden. | (not pictured) Diane Galtieri.

106

Part IIclub golf

The club’s volunteers for the 2009 U.S. Open
at Bethpage Black gather for a group photo.

The caddies awaiting the tee shots.
108

chapter fifteen

Men’s Golf

The Early Years and played team matches. Huntington won the first year, Cold Spring Har-
bor the latter two years. These matches were revived again in 1940, with
Possibly the first formal golf competition at the Huntington Country Club the Huntington residents winning. The results of these matches, along with
was the following, as described in the Long Islander on May 24, 1912: the bee symbol, can be seen on the club’s grandfather clock. The clock dates
back to 1911 and was for many years located in the front hallway, but is now
“The Golf Committee of the Huntington Country Club announces that the links of placed just inside the entrance to the trophy room.
the club are now in good playing shape, and that the board of governors has autho-
rized a medal score handicap competition for Decoration Day and that the president, In 1922 the club hosted a match between members residing in Halesite
W.J. Matheson, has offered a cup for the winner. against those from Bay Crest. The prize was an elaborate dinner, with liquid
refreshments provided by the losing team. To no avail, the match ended in
“The competition is of a unique character, and each member will make his own a tie. The Bay Crest golfers won in 1923, led by a “miraculous 69” shot by
handicap, the bogey for the course being 77. A beginner must be careful not to take Charles Pray, and again in 1924, but there was no mention of the special
too much, because with a large handicap he might bring his score down to much less prize either year, just braggin’ rights.
than 77, and it is that score, or nearest it, that wins. No matter how poor a player is
he will have an equal chance.” The first caddie tournament was held in 1917 and won by assistant pro Roy
Wright (who was also a caddie) on the eighteenth hole over twelve-year-old
In the early years, and for many years thereafter, the members competed Percy Jarvis, who later became an assistant pro at the club.
for the President’s Cup, the Vice President’s Cup, the Jennings Cup, the
Jadwin Cup, and the Consistent Golfer prize. On November 9, 1917, a famous theatrical foursome played the course –
actor William Faversham and his wife Julie Opp (a theatrical performer)
During the years 1913-1915 the members divided themselves into two
teams, those living in Huntington versus those from Cold Spring Harbor, 109

played with Maxine Elliott and Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson, the leading hind, including 1922 Met Amateur champion Gardner White of Nassau,

Hamlet of the time. LIGA founder John M. Ward of Garden City Golf Club, and Huntington

members V.F. Morse, Jr. and Stephen J. Geoghegan.

On June 29 through July 1, 1923, the New

York Times reported on what it called the The players qualified into two flights of six-

“annual” Huntington Country Club invita- Aces teen and one additional member, George
tional. The invitational was a popular event Taylor, made the first flight and seven

at many clubs throughout the country, es- One of the first, if not the first, hole-in-ones at qualified into the second flight.
pecially so in the pre-Depression years, the club was so notable that it was described in the
and local golf associations helped coordi- New York Times. Douglas Conklin was the unwitting White lowered the course record with
nate their own schedule of championships hero while playing with Theron Sammis on July 19, a first-round 72 and then had to win the
with the many invitationals in their region. 1915. On the 150-yard eleventh hole Sammis’ ball last two holes in his second-round match
was found easily, but the two golfers and their

Huntington’s invitational drew a represen- caddies spent nearly an hour looking for Conklin’s to even matters with Morse, before win-
ball before one of the caddies looked in the hole. ning the match with a long putt on the first

tative field primarily from Long Island. A That same year Dr. Fred Burgess, who was just extra hole. Geoghegan won his first-round
field of sixty-eight attempted to qualify, an ordinary golfer, aced the third hole. When he match but lost to Knapp in the second
including twenty-eight from Huntington returned to the clubhouse, he told golf pro Tom round, while Taylor lost his first-round

Country Club. According to the New York Skipper of his feat. Skipper shook his hand and an- match.
Times: nounced, “That calls for a drink on me because I
believe it will be a long time before you make an- White defeated Knapp 2&1 in the semifi-
“R.C. Knapp of Cherry Valley led a select field other one.” nals and then beat Ward 3&2 in the finals.
of eighty or more golfers, including most of the G. O’Neill of Huntington lost in the finals
elite of Long Island, in the qualifying round of of the second flight.
the annual Huntington Country Club invitation

tournament which opened here today. Seldom has a medalist’s margin been wider There is no evidence suggesting that the Huntington invitational was more
than that of Knapp, who scored a 75, the best mark ever turned in by an amateur than a one year experiment. With two LIGA championships scheduled at the
since the course has been remodeled.”

club in 1924, perhaps there was no room on the calendar to stage another

Knapp’s margin was five strokes and six more players were at 81, six be- event that would take the course away from the membership for three days.

110

The men’s tournament schedule for 1924 included a flag tour- The Greatest Match in Club History?
nament on Decoration Day; a monthly bogey competition at
seventy-five percent handicaps with the best two players each It might not have been the greatest match ever held at the Huntington Coun-
month moving on to the finals; the Vice President’s Cup (end- try Club, but it certainly was one of the most colorful. Actually, it was a
ing July 5) and the President’s Cup (from late August into Sep- series of three matches, the first and last of which attracted coverage in
tember), both handicap tournaments with qualifying into flights the Long Islander. The story of round one appeared on November 4, 1921:
of sixteen; a midsummer seventy-two- hole medal competition,
again with the best two each month going to the finals; a father “One of the greatest nineteen-hole golf tournaments ever played on the golf course of the Huntington
& son tournament; and a mixed foursome at medal play in Sep- Country Club was that of Saturday afternoon last when Clarence A. Varnan and Tang Jorgensen
tember. were beaten by Dr. F. L. Burgess and James B. F. Thomson by one-up and the nineteenth hole to go.
There has been much talk as to the golf prowess of these gentlemen, and it is said that no little money
In July of 1925 the club began participating in annual interclub changed hands because of the match. Several referees followed the players over the course and a
matches, opposing the Huntington Bay Club that year on the ri- special professional accountant was on hand to keep builder Jorgensen’s score.
val’s links. The Long Islander covered the matches, reporting:
“Before the game, in one of his ecstasies of expectation, Mr. Varnan declared that if his opponents
“Some of the best players from Brooklyn and New York who summer in won, Dr. Burgess should have one of the swellest vehicles on his estate as a gift. Sure enough when
this section gave up all thought of business worries and gave their undi- the Doctor reached home late Saturday evening there awaited his coming a large well lighted horse-
vided attention to beating the other fellow.” drawn brougham of the vintage of some twenty years ago. It is needless to say that the Doctor greatly
appreciated the gift. A return match is suggested.”
The inaugural matches included sixteen foursomes, each four-
some playing in three-point Nassau style. Huntington Country The rematch did not attract newspaper attention, but the Long Islander did
Club won that day, twenty-five points to twenty-two. The first report the following week that Dr. Burgess won a one stick tournament
country club team consisted of Charles Pray and Raymond Bay- at the club, a competition in which each contestant carried just one club.
lis, who won 3 points. The teams met again in September at the
country club, and this time the Bay Club was victorious. A report of the rubber match was published on November 25:

In 1933 the process became more formalized. Three clubs par- “Now the worst is yet to come. According to the wager, the losers, the Messrs. Burgess and Thomson,
ticipated that year – Huntington Country Club, Huntington are to hitch a pair of mules to one of Varnan’s most ancient equipages and drive to Ward’s at Centre-
Crescent Club, and Huntington Bay Club. Northport Country port, the vanquished golfers also furnishing the dinners for the party. This is to come off Wednesday
next, the start being made early in the afternoon from Main Street for the benefit of the public.”
part ii: club golf | men’s golf
111

Marathon Golf I 1930 and 1933-1935). The former Lafayette College golfer played well in
the Long Island Open and Amateur in the 1920s and 1930s and qualified for
In 1928 two young members, John C. Ingersoll and W. Bur- the championship flight in the 1936 Travers Invitational. He and Thomas F.
roughs McGuire, set out as a twosome to play as many holes as Scholl tied for top honors in an MGA team tournament in 1933.
possible in one day. Starting at 8 in the morning, they played
36 holes before lunch, took an hour off, then went out again On July 15, 1927, McGuire took part in a match that highlighted the quality
at 1 and finished a second 36 holes by 6, then played one more of golf played at the club. We let the Long Islander tell the story:
nine before getting tired and going home for dinner – far from
the marathon record of the time. “There are comparatively few social events that will take place in Huntington during
the summer season that will create more interest than the match played last Saturday

Club joined the group in 1934. After the Bay Club closed in 1935, it was re- Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Jadwin, both among the club’s leading
placed by the Brookville Country Club and when Northport closed in 1940, golfers of the 1920s and 1930s. (USGA Photo Archives)
Southward Ho Country Club took its place. The interclub matches were
discontinued with America’s entry into World War II. Huntington Country
Club is known to have won the matches in 1935 and 1937.

Eight-man teams played monthly from June through September, compet-
ing in home and away matches on Sunday afternoons. A Nassau system was
used and at year’s end, the total number of points won by each club during
the season was calculated and the winning club announced. There was a cup
that the winning team held for one year. Often there was quite a gallery
watching the matches, and after play, the wives of the home club provided
refreshments.

Perhaps the most talented golfer at the club up to World War II was Cor-
nelius A. McGuire, Jr., who won the club championship six times (1928-

112

afternoon between Stockwell Jadwin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley P. Jadwin, and Cor- In 1941 Charles F. Noyes presented the Wincoma Cup, which at first was
nelius A. McGuire representing the Huntington Country Club, and Ralph Edward, the used for a matchplay handicap tournament at the club. The format was
Bermuda champion, and Eddie Driggs, who only recently was crowned Metropolitan changed to a men’s team better ball at match play event in 1950. In 1966
champion, playing for Cherry Valley Club. There was quite a gallery of society people Noyes son-in-law, Duncan M. Findlay, presented a second Wincoma Cup,
at the clubhouse either during the morning or afternoon round, and it can truthfully there no longer being room for the names of winners on the original cup.
be said that they were very proud of the two Huntington boys when they came in on
the last nine holes with a victory for the Huntington Club, defeating the visitors by The Post-War Years
two-up. There was an enthusiastic round of applause when the game was over.
The member-guest best ball tournament at match play featuring a Calcutta
“The match was a thirty-six hole affair, and so expertly was the game played that pool started in 1946. A considerable amount of money was involved and
on ten different occasions the contestants did better than par. On the outgoing trip that event continued until the 1955 Deepdale Calcutta handicap hoax scan-
of the morning round, the visitors took Jadwin and McGuire into camp by a score of dal. After asking the USGA’s advice, the club discontinued the tournament.
four up, but the Huntington lads showed that they could come back in the second
half of the round, and by their excellent playing they were all even. They were ahead Starting times on weekends appeared for the first time in 1967 as the mem-
throughout the rest of the game.” bership grew and the number of rounds increased. By 1975 there were
15,360 rounds played at the club and that number increased each year,
Sticky Jadwin, as he was called, died a tragic death in 1929 at age twenty- reaching 26,600 in 1980 – more than any other club in the area except pos-
three the result of an automobile accident on the Manhattan Bridge. Upon sibly Huntington Crescent, which experienced similar growth. Greenkeep-
her death in 1964, his mother left Princeton a gift of $27 million in his er Charlie Ruppert did a great job keeping the course in excellent condition
memory. Part of that money was used to build the five-floor Jadwin Gym- with a modest work force and a minimum budget.
nasium on campus.
The Iron Curtain
Stephen Geoghegan lost to Jack Mackie, Jr. in the finals of the New York
State Amateur at Lido in 1925 and then was elected secretary of LIGA later The Iron Curtain, as Nevil Ford, Frank Brown, Roland Rasch,
that year. He was club champ in 1924 and 1925. and Richard Loomis were called, were off first at 7:45 a.m.
every Saturday and Sunday morning, pulling carts, and nobody
The President’s Cup was particularly interesting in 1930 when father met could get by them for fifteen years, from the early 1960s to
son in the third round. T. F. Scholl, Sr. (with a handicap of 18) beat son T. the mid-1970s.
F. Scholl, Jr. (with a handicap of 10) by 1-up. The match attracted headline
coverage in the Long Islander, before and after it was decided. The senior 113
Scholl won the tournament a week later.

part ii: club golf | men’s golf

The club’s caddies gather around caddie-master Jeep on caddies’ day.

The 1968 calendar of tournaments included the three day member-guest at A True Lefty
match play on the Memorial Day weekend, the strokeplay member-guest
on Columbus Day weekend. A Breakfast-Get Acquainted Sweepstakes with There once was a member named Donald W. Rose who played
a draw for partners, a Two Generations (by blood or marriage) tourna- the game left-handed, and lived his life in similar fashion. A
ment, the Old Grand Dad Tournament, 6:00 p.m. mixed foursomes, and Canadian fighter pilot during WWII flying Spitfires, Rose be-
a mixed member-guest. That year starting times were required, pull carts gan his career as a salesman, selling sewing machines on the
were available, caddie fees were $4.00 per bag plus tip, and greens fees back of a mule in South America. He was known to come to the
were $7 on weekdays, $10 on weekends. club at ten in the morning for a little scotch before play-
ing. He played by his own rules, giving himself good lies in
The Two Generation tournament has both a nine-hole Callaway net tourna- the rough and grounding his club in bunkers. He was married
ment and an eighteen-hole gross tournament. Tim Finnegan and son Tim Jr. to a woman he met on a cruise – she turned out to be the sis-
have won both, the former twice when young Tim was four and eight years ter of heiress Marie Hartford. Marie was the wife of member
old. Tim also won the nine-hole tournament three times with his daughter Charles Robertson and the mother of current members Wil-
liam S. Robertson and Anne Meier.

114

part ii: club golf | men’s golf Mary, who was eleven at the time of her first victory and later
won a fourth time with her mother Jo Ann.

Dick Holahan and Joseph Lettmann started the club’s Caddie
Scholarship Fund in 1971. For a few years, the beneficiaries of
the fund also included young people working in the clubhouse.
The fund has been supported by member donations and by entry
fees from the Caddie Scholarship Fund tournaments, now held on
the July Fourth weekend. The men’s tournament started in 1971,
and the two women’s groups followed soon thereafter. House and
tennis members also contributed. The event raises about $10,000-
$12,000 each year. Four boys were supported in 1971, the recipi-
ents being Jerry Wood, Joe Kearney, Dave Maloy, and Bill Muel-
ler. Subsequent awards went to Tim Finnegan, David McArdle,
Paul Pepe, and Tom Kennedy. All but two (Maloy and Mueller)
are current members, starting as caddies at the club and becoming
junior members a decade later.

The number of recipients grew to fifteen boys and one girl in 1980,
and in 2009 twelve caddies received $11,250 in awards ranging
from $500 to $1,500. Since its inception in 1971, the tournament
has raised more than half a million dollars to help caddies and club
workers attend college.

Dick Holahan, cofounder of the tournament and a member since
the mid-1960s, was an 11-handicapper at age seventy-one when

A letter informing Mr. and Mrs. RobertWood
that son Jerry won a caddie scholarship.

115

Top: Frank Messina,Tom Gilbert, Double Eagle I
George Gilbert, and Truman Rice
George Gilbert made a double-eagle at the fifteenth hole
(from left to right). in 1976, using a five-wood on his second shot. W.B. McGuire
Right: Dick Holahan (left), eagled the fifteenth in 1934 after hitting his drive out of
bounds (which carried a one-stroke penalty in those days).
winner of class A in 1975,
with runner-up JohnWells. Jack Ruppert thought he had double-eagled the hole in the
late 1950s, thinking he had holed out his second shot, only
116 to find out a few years later that a member of the grounds
crew (prankster Eddie Herman) had put his ball in the hole
just for kicks.

Ruppert once made a double eagle on the tenth hole when it
played as a par five. After driving into the right fairway bun-
ker, he found that he had a good lie and hit a beautiful fade
(around the trees at the corner of the hole) that wound up
in the hole.

he shot a 67 during a mixed member-guest. When he was in his early eight-
ies, Holahan frequently shot in the 70s. At age ninety, he broke 90 more
often than not. He won class A in the club championship many times and
broke his age more than two hundred times. Dick’s game improved dramat-
ically when he was able to give it his full attention following his retirement
from the publishing business (Time-Life, Fortune, and Scholastic magazines) in
1971. Dick Holahan passed away in 2003 at age ninety-two.

A flier promoting the 1998 Memorial Day member-guest. More Recent Times

Prominent among the club’s golfers in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s were Today the course witnesses 14,000 to 15,000 rounds per
Frank Messina, a four-time club champion (1955, 1956, 1961, and 1967) year, a number down 1,000 per year since reaching a high
and George J. Gilbert, who won the club championship five times in an of 20,000 to 21,000 per year in the early 2000s. An influx
eleven-year span (1965, 1968, 1971, 1973, and 1975). A former tight end of younger members working and attending to the varied
at Columbia and platform tennis champion at the club, Gilbert was the phy- interests of their children explains the decrease in play.
sician for the New York Islanders during the team’s championship years.
Coach Al Arbour was a club member as well. Gilbert beat his son Brian in The tournament calendar includes the opening day and
the finals of the club championship in 1971. closing day men’s and mixed tournaments, starting with a
buffet breakfast, then a shotgun in three flights. Both are
handicap tournaments now utilizing a unique point scoring
system based on handicaps.

Memorial Day has a long tradition as the occasion of the
three-day member-guest now named in memory of Tom
Gilbert, who loved the tournament and was a staunch sup-
porter of the 54-hole format used until 1993. In those days,
there was golf on all three days of the weekend – flights of
eight and consolation flights for first-round losers. Since 1993, the tourna-
ment has been a round-robin, featuring flights of six playing five nine-hole
matches, each match going the full nine holes utilizing a point system (one
point for a hole halved, two for a hole won). The practice, approved in 1990,
of allowing member-member teams to fill out the flights is no longer al-
lowed.

The men also enjoy four weekday member-guests (in June, July, August,
and October). The three summertime member-guests were originally

part ii: club golf | men’s golf 117

called the Men’s Beefsteak member-guests and included sit-down steak din- Marathon Golf II
ners, at which jackets and ties were required. That was relaxed to jackets
and no ties and eventually, the dinner was dropped sometime in the late A modern version of marathon golf has taken place four times
1990s and replaced by hors d’oeuvres and no dress requirement at all. The over the last five years, pitting teams from Huntington Coun-
October member-guest was added in the last ten to twelve years due to the try Club against Garden City Golf Club as part of a fund-raiser
popularity of the event and the superb course conditions in the fall. for the Metropolitan PGA’s junior golf program. In 2005 Jerry
Wood, a member at both clubs, teamed with Bob Rittberger, by
For the last ten-plus years, the club championship has concluded on the Sun- then an assistant pro at Garden City, against two Huntington
day of Labor Day weekend. The tournament includes four or five flights of assistants, Pat McCarthy, and Brian Vaisnoras. Playing alter-
sixteen. The first two rounds are played the weekend before, with qualify- nate shots and using four carts, the teams played 212 holes
ing rounds over two weekends in early August. All trophies are awarded on over eleven-plus hours (with a short break), with Garden City
the final day of the tournament. winning 2-up. During the course of their journey they went
through one group five times!
For many years the Wincoma Cup tournament was held in the summer.
The tournament’s format was changed somewhat in 2002 when it was In both 2006 and 2007 Wood and Rittberger defeated the new
decided that only the top sixteen teams would qualify (rather than thir- Huntington team of McCarthy and Mike Wanser. Willie Ben-
ty-two), thereby allowing the tournament to be run over two weekends enati, an Argentinean golf pro who caddies at the club for
(rather than three) and hopefully increase the number of members six weeks each summer, filled in for Wood in 2007 after Jerry
attempting to qualify. pulled a muscle in his back during the fourth round.

Starting in 2005 the board considered the possibility of swapping the times In 2009 McCarthy became an assistant pro at Garden City, so
for the President’s Cup and Wincoma Cup, the former to July and the latter Wood and Huntington assistant Greg Pace played against him
to October, to make late-season play more meaningful. The proposal was and fellow Garden City assistant Alex Smith, their match cov-
approved in 2006. The President’s Cup is also for teams of two but is played ering 234 holes (thirteen rounds) in ten hours, with the Hun-
at stroke play, better ball of two. tington team winning for the first time by the margin of 17-up.
The foursome played each of their first three rounds in forty
In 2004 the annual shootout at the end of the season, which was started minutes before encountering traffic on the course.
in 1990, was named the John Wallice Shootout to honor the memory of

118

the only club member lost during the September 11 attacks. Wallice was a time in 2004), more than any other
previous winner of the shootout. The ten best golfers available at the time member has achieved. He lost his
each year compete in the shootout, which is played the weekend before the quarterfinals match in the 1985 Long
club championship. In 2009, Joe Saladino became the first to win both the Island Amateur at Huntington on the
shootout and club championship in the same year. twenty-first hole and played well in
MGA tournaments. He qualified for
For many years, Dick Hanington had the most impressive record of any the U.S. Amateur in 1985 and 1986.
member outside the club. He was good enough to have played in the USGA
Senior Amateur (qualifying for match play in 1999 and 2001 and winning The McArdles, father and son, ac- Brian Darby.
one match in 1999) and the British Senior Open Amateur. He has played in counted for five club championships
the senior division at several local tournaments, winning at the Travis Senior – father Dave won three times and
Legends in 2001, Nassau Invitational in 1999 and 2000, and the Havemeyer son Brian twice. Dave beat Brian in
Invitational in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, and 2002. He reached the finals of the finals of the 2001 club champi-
the 1978 Long Island Amateur (losing to Gene Francis), was second in the onship and Brian turned the tables
New York City Senior Amateur in 2005, and second in the New York State in 2003, both winning their matches
Super Senior Amateur in 2007 and 2008. Dick also won the club champion- 2&1. Details of their exploits in re-
ship on four occasions (1985, 1991, 1992, and 1996) and the senior club gional championships can be found in chapter 17.
championship seven times.
Probably the best player never to win a club championship was Truman
Head professional Jim Smoot once described Dick Hanington as follows: Rice, a solid player who never broke through to win.

“Dick is a grinder with a great simple golf swing. And he has a real player’s mental- St. John’s alumni have won ten of last thirteen club championships. Among
ity. They call him ‘the Iceman’ because he seems to play with no emotion. Whether them are 2008 and 2010 MGA Player of the Year and 2006, 2008, and
he makes a birdie or a bogey, he just plays. No peaks and valleys, which can hurt a 2010 LIGA Player of the Year Joe Saladino; David Boccia, who has reached
player. He’s very patient and hits a lot of fairways and greens.” the finals in twelve of his fourteen years as a member (starting in 1996);
and Brian McArdle. Boccia’s top accomplishments outside the club include
Brian Darby won the club championship nine times over four decades (three reaching the quarterfinals of the 2007 Long Island Amateur and finishing
times in the 1970s, three times in the 1980s, twice in the 1990s, and one more tied for sixth in the 2008 Ike Championship. In the qualifying rounds for

part ii: club golf | men’s golf 119

the club championship in 1997, Boccia shot rounds of 64–66=130. Nobody Over the last decade Saladino has won the 2007 Long Island Amateur, the
could remember a previous score less than 141 and his 64 is believed to be 2007 Long Island Stroke Play Championship, the 2008 and 2010 Havemey-
the competitive course record. er Invitational at Southward Ho, the 2007 and 2010 Mittelmark Invitational
at Fenway, the 2010 Nassau Invitational, and the 2008 Hochster Memo-
In 2008, David Boccia and Joe Saladino teamed up to win the Ike Team rial at Quaker Ridge, the latter being the most prestigious of his collection
Championship and in 2007, 2009 and 2010, they reached the semifinals of trophies. In addition to qualifying for the U.S. Amateur several times
of the prestigious Anderson Memorial at Winged Foot. They also won the (reaching match play in 2010), he finished tied for second in the 2006 Ike
2007 LIGA George Sands Memorial Team Championship. Championship, placed fifth in the 2008 Long Island Open, tied for fifth as

Dave Boccia (left) and Joe Saladino.
120

The sixteen players who competed in the second
Huntington Cup match on July 23, 1983. Sitting:
Paul McManus [Crescent]. Kneeling: (from left
to right) John Wallice [then playing from
Crescent], Jerry Wood, Peter Murray [Crescent],
Bob Rufalo [Crescent], and Paul Wallice [Crescent].
Standing:(from left to right) Brian Darby, Chris
Brown, Brian Gilbert, Dave McArdle, John Robbins,
Clark Gillies [Crescent], Jim McManus [Crescent],
Doug Horn, Scott Paterson, Joe Kearney, Russ
Amendola [Crescent],Will Cheshire, and
Tim Finnegan.

low amateur in the 2002 New York State Open, was runner-up in the 2008 Indeed, the Huntington Cup started in 1983 as a reunion for young men,
Met Amateur, and reached the quarterfinals in the 2000 New York State all of whom knew each other in high school locally or caddied or worked
Amateur and the 2007 Travis Invitational at the Garden City Golf Club. together and later joined either Huntington Country Club or Huntington
In 2010, Saladino reached the round of sixteen in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Crescent. The matches are played at scratch, originally with eight players
Championship played at Atlantic Golf Club. Saladino has won the club per team in four foursomes (the number has varied between eight, ten, and
championship five times (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010), each time twelve players in any given year) and three points at stake in each foursome
defeating Boccia in the finals. (two individual matches and a team match). To date the country club has
won the matches fifteen times and Crescent nine times, with the matches
Another school that has influenced the membership is St. Anthony’s High ending in draws on three occasions. The players arrange the matches them-
School (formerly Holy Family) in South Huntington. The school’s alumni in- selves, they are not on either club’s golf calendar. Today the club allows
clude Jerry Wood, Tim Finnegan, Dave and Brian McArdle, Brian Darby, teams from Cold Spring Harbor High School and St. Anthony’s to use the
John Wallice, Tom Kennedy, Andy Daly, Bill Krause, Joe Kearney, Chris course for their matches and practice rounds.
Brown, and John and Rich Robbins. That list contains several club champions.

part ii: club golf | men’s golf 121

Double Eagle II

Dave McArdle was playing in the Two Generations Tourna-
ment with his daughter Alyson, who hit a good drive on the
fifteenth. Dave hit a great second shot and his wife, who was
standing at the top of the hill, gestured that it went in. Dave
thought she meant “in a bunker” and was pleasantly surprised
to learn that he and his daughter had combined to make a dou-
ble eagle deuce.

While still an amateur, Gil McNally, for many years the head
pro at the Garden City Golf Club, made a double eagle on the
seventh hole using a driver and 4-wood.

Interclub play has long been a club tradition among the men, women, and Jerry Wood (left) and Tim Finnegan.
more recently the seniors. Senior interclub play at Huntington Country
Club began in 1992. Initiated by Dick Darby, a group of 28 seniors played Club teams have won the Hoffhine Memorial at Westchester Country Club
the first home and away interclub match with Southward Ho. Members twice in recent years. The first victory came in 2000, the team comprised
from both clubs with similar handicaps were matched, and this provided of Bob McTammany, Dave Boccia, Joe Saladino, and pro Jim Smoot. The
for keen competition. This led to the gradual expansion of the program second win was in 2005, the players this time being Boccia, Saladino, Brian
that over the years has grown to include home and away matches with McArdle, and Smoot. The 2005 team set the record for the lowest score
Huntington Crescent, North Fork, Brookville, Wheatley Hills, as well as ever (285) in the Hoffhine. To put their accomplishment in better perspec-
Southward Ho. tive, Quaker Ridge won the event in 2004 and Winged Foot in 2006.

The club’s junior team plays in a league of eight clubs. The league’s cham- Huntington Country Club won the Devereux Emmet Cup Tournament in 2002
pionship was played at Huntington Country Club in August of 1994 and the (the tournament was first played in 1998 at Pelham) and was awarded a large
club’s team finished second of eight. trophy and the picture of Devereux Emmet now hanging in Ray’s Room.

122

The club hosted the tournament on July 30, March and early April. When the greens were closed for the
2003, and won again. The tournament is cur- season, the winter golfers use temporary greens with eight-
rently suspended. inch holes.

In 2004 the Metropolitan PGA requested The club’s winter golf champions were listed on a plaque, once
that the club host the Jack Mallon ProAm for located outside the men’s locker room. Among the champions are
club pros and club champions in October of Dr. Jim Boyd, Ray Schroed-
2005. Jim Smoot and Dave Boccia won the er, Joe Mauer, Chick Hen-
tournament in 1997, and did so again in 2005 drickes, Bob Softy, Dick
over their home course. Smoot and Joe Sala- Butler, Bob McTammany,
Victor, the long-serving men’s dino won in 2009 at Meadow Brook. Dee Aiken, Dan Stanton,
locker room attendant. and Roc Mango.
At a Metropolitan PGA ProAm at the Me-
tropolis Country Club in 2005, the team of Jim Smoot, David Boccia, Joe The only member who
Saladino, and Dick Hanington won low gross honors and the team of Brian played during the 1975
Vaisnoras, Mike Madden, Dan Martin, and Marc Goodrich won low net. season and still playing
in 2010 is Ken Latham.
Winter Golf His wife Jean remem-
bers that when he first
The club’s men started playing “serious” winter golf in 1975, played winter golf, she
with a season that lasted just eight weeks during January and dipped Ken’s golf balls
February. Over the years, the season was extended to begin in a pan of blue dye so
in late October and end with the championship rounds in late that he would be able to
find them in the snow.
Unfortunately, the dye
came off when the balls
hit the snow.

Neither rain, nor sleet,
nor snow … not even

freezing temperatures …
will keep Ken Latham from

his appointed rounds.

part ii: club golf | men’s golf 123

Pat Foster (left) and Jean Latham at Babe Zaharias Play For Pink day.
124

chapter sixteen

T Women’s Golfhe ladies have always played a prominent role in club life and
on the golf course. The eighteen-
both groups. The nine-hole group proved ideal for new members, those
new to the game, older members who no longer

holers have played on Tuesdays could play eighteen holes, and those with limited

for many years. Membership in the group time to play. Membership in the group numbers

peaked at 110 players and there are now about about fifty.

85 members. The eighteen-hole ladies now have

two member-guests (at one time there were Madeline Ford had multiple sclerosis, but played

three) and now host a Friendly Fun Day where nonetheless, at times held up by her husband so

each member invites a friend for golf and lunch. that she could swing her club. She made the nine-

holers feel important within the club’s social com-

Two of the eighteen-hole ladies, Lee Klaffky munity and mentored Jean Latham, her co-chair

and Bess Rasweiler, had quite a bit of fun on for twelve years and ultimate successor — Jean

July 10, 1979. Both aced the same hole – the co-chaired with Pat Foster from 1975 to 2008.

twelfth – that morning, although they were not Both Madeline and Jean encouraged younger and

playing together. Lois Darby (left) with Madeline Ford. newer member involvement.

Madeline Ford and Gloria Miller formed the When the club awarded Jean Latham an honorary
women’s nine-hole group in 1972. Madeline was chairlady of the eigh- membership in 2006, club president Bob McTammany cited her many con-
teen-holers when she formed the nine-holers, and served as chairlady for tributions to the club asking, “How many women would never have taken

125

up golf if not for Jean? How many couples have benefited by her nine-holer with handicap at match play. The tournament once featured a beaten eight
tutoring to be able to enjoy Twilight Golf on Fridays?” He also noted Jean’s flight to keep players involved longer.
contributions such as “handling the communications and clerical duties for The Queen Bee tournament is one of the season’s highlights. It was origi-
numerous committees and club officers … being the backbone of the mem- nally held in the fall but is now played in July and supplemented with a
bership committee as the invaluable, perennial assistant to the chairman … Honey Bee tournament for the nine-holers. The eighteen-holers have six-
and updating and rewriting the club’s membership book.” teen teams of two players each, competing at match play. Mary Kaestner,
longtime chair of the Queen Bee, was a character – very enthusiastic and a
The nine-holers have always played on Thursday and now play in twosomes, great cheerleader.
followed by a luncheon and distribution of prizes. They have one member- The club championship for the eighteen-hole ladies, which has finished on
guest each season. Both the nine-holers and eighteen-holers have a tourna- the same day as the men’s tournament since 2003, starts on the Tuesday
ment honoring the memory of Madeline Ford.
Mary Kaestner ready for the Queen Bee.
In the club’s early years, the women played for the Ladies’ Cup and in a
mixed foursomes tournament. Today’s calendar of tournaments is far more
extensive. For the eighteen-holers, the season’s opening day and closing day
tournaments are played as best ball of foursome over eighteen holes.

The nine-holers play a scramble called Captain’s Choice, in which each
foursome has a captain – usually the lady with the lowest handicap – who
decides which ball to play. Opening day features raffles, closing day the
awarding of the season’s prizes. Longtime member Pam Holahan wrote
poems about opening and closing days (and Christmas), one of which is
included on the next page.

The President’s Cup, once called the Alma Roberts, is typically held in
June. Alma’s son, George Roberts III, a longtime member and former club
president donated its trophy in 1972, after Alma and her husband died in
a fire. The members qualify into one flight of sixteen and play individually

126

A Pam Holahan Poem Pam Holahan reading a poem at a club luncheon.

At last there is no snow or ice, holes, all other matches at eighteen holes. The nine-holers’ championship is
The weather’s almost warm and nice. played as two nine-hole rounds at medal play in August.
The grass is green, the sky is blue,
The daffodils are peeking through. Babe Zaharias Cancer Day has been an ongoing charitable event for about
The sun is shining bright today. thirty years. It involves the eighteen- and nine-holers, the card players, the
But stop, before we can begin our play men, and at one time the tennis players, all gathering together for a lun-
Alas, we must go back to school cheon after the competition. Money is raised for cancer from entry fees and
To learn the handicapping rule. raffles; the ladies can buy forgiveness, such as a mulligan or free throw from
Remember now to toe the line, a bunker, for example. The event typically raises $6,000-$8,000 per year
For some must post an eight or nine. for cancer research.
And as we always miss the cup
Our handicaps will sure go up.
But after all is said and done
Just think of golf as lots of fun.
A game for friends to play together
And celebrate the spring-like weather.

– Pam Holahan, April 1993.

before Labor Day. It is played in flights of eight, the championship flight
and as many others as are needed, at match play (stroke play was tried for a
couple of years). The final of the championship flight is played at thirty-six

part ii: club golf | women’s golf 127

At one time the winners in the club’s competitions formed a team that ad- a weekend, when four separate nine-hole matches are played using four dif-
vanced to regional tournaments and, if successful, to the national finals in ferent formats, a Pinehurst, a best ball, alternate shots and a Stableford. The
Florida. A team of Huntington Country Club women, including Pat Foster, scores from the first three tournaments are added up and subtracted from
Gerri Schmitz, Jo Alfenito, and Edie Staib, made it to Florida and finished the points earned in the Stableford. Couples make their own foursomes on
fifth in their class. In another year, the team of Gerri Schmitz, Tea Stackler, the first day, then on the second day are matched up based on their scores.
Bonnie Williamson, and Chrissie Boccia represented the club in Florida. The format is friendly, a great way for couples to get to know each other.
The ladies get the chance to play with their husbands in friendly competi-
tion in the club’s husband & wife championship, which was revived in 1983 Huntington Country Club ladies also play in the Women’s Long Island Golf
using a Pinehurst format, and in the McCormack Cup. The latter runs over Association and the Cross County Golf Association tournaments. Both as-
sociations restrict membership to low handicap players.
The Babe Zaharias team that finished fifth in their class in Florida:
(from left to right) Pat Foster, Jo Alfenito, Edie Staib and Gerri Schmitz. According to Mike Joyce, the ladies worked hard at their game. During the
Note the team hat—purchased in DisneyWorld, with ears that stood 1980s they played a game called Snake. Whoever three-putted had to carry
straight up when the ladies took off in their golf carts. a plastic snake until someone else three-putted. That was ample reason for
the ladies to work hard on their putting.

In 2007, after considerable discussion, a motion was passed allowing the
ladies to tee off at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Previously, the ladies
were allowed to play on Saturdays only after 1 p.m., a difficult time should
a member have a social commitment in the afternoon or wish to finish a late
fall round in daylight.

Likely the best player among the club’s ladies in the early years was Mrs.
Stanley Jadwin, who finished eighth behind Georgiana Bishop (winner of
the 1904 U.S. Women’s Amateur) in the United States Senior Women’s
Golf Association’s championship at the Westchester-Biltmore in 1925.
Mrs. Jadwin also won low net honors on that occasion and represented the
club well in local competition.

128

Only one Huntington Country Club lady has ever won the WMGA’s match Country Club and finished the tournament at nine under par. Her resume

play championship (none has won the stroke also includes victories in the 2006 Trans Na-

play). She was Gwen Straub, wife of assistant tional Amateur and the 2007 Women’s Met

pro (under Mike Joyce) Austin Straub, who Open, in the latter shooting rounds of 72-68

won in 1972 at The Creek. She defeated Mrs. to win by six strokes as an amateur. She also

Gordon McGrath of Piping Rock 5&4 in steady competed in the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur

rain in the quarterfinals, then Mrs. Walter Championship, although she did not qualify for

Cooperstein of Glen Oaks, the 1962 winner, match play. Susannah became a member in her

4&3 in the semifinals, which was played in rain, own right in 2009.

cold, and wind, and finally Mrs. A. Sherburne Teams
Hart of Baltusrol, the 1970 champion, 5&3 in

the finals. Gwen Straub also won the Women’s The ladies have played in the WMGA’s team

Long Island Medal Play trophy at Piping Rock tournament each spring for many years. They

that year with rounds of 80-75-79=234. were best on Long Island in class B in both 1934

and 1936, the winning team in 1934 included

Judy Gilbert was the most prolific winner of Mrs. Earle, Mrs. Jadwin, Mrs. de Forest, Mrs.

the ladies club championship, doing so eight Payne, and Mrs. Pierson.

times over four decades, the first in 1976 and

the most recent one in 2003. Also strong play- Today the ladies field two teams in the match-

ers were Pat Frey, winner in 1963, 1966, es, the A team plays in series 2 or 3 while the B

1970, 1972, and 1974 and Bernice Cotter, team in series 6 (of the nine series). The team

who dominated the 1980s, winning in 1979, has never played in series 1. Each series has six

1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988. teams and the top-ranked team in each series

Susannah Aboff, whose family became mem- Judy Gilbert at a closing luncheon after one of her does not host the matches that year. A recent
bers in 1998, won the 2007 Ivy League Cham- championship years. team including Katy Goodrich, T.D. Partilla,
Judy Gilbert, Tori Meagher, Gerri Schmitz,

pionship by eleven strokes while a junior at Eileen Murray, and Carole Niddrie (at times

Princeton. She shot an Ivy-record 65 in the first round at the Atlantic City borrowing players from the B team) has won series 3 on two occasions

part ii: club golf | women’s golf 129

Susannah Aboff holding theWomen’s Met Open trophy in 2007. Helen, the attendant in the ladies’ locker room for many years.

(2006 and 2007) and then challenged Piping Rock, the last place team The ladies also have a long history with interclub matches. In 1936, the
in series 2, to move up for the following season. They were successful team of Mrs. F.M. Weld, Mrs. W.J. Calder, Mrs. John T. Cole, Mrs. G.N.
on their second try. Lindsay, Mrs. G.T. Roberts, and Mrs. R.N. Pierson defeated Huntington
Crescent and Northport in a pair of interclub matches in late August. In
To date, one lady representing the Huntington Country Club has 1968 the team played home and away matches with The Creek and Indian
served a term as president of the WMGA. She was Mary Jane Ma- Hills. The team included twenty players who played in three classes, best
comber, who served from 1993 to 1994. Mary Jane had a very famous ball of partners.
godfather … Gene Sarazen.

130

In 1985 the club celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary
with a special tournament on the Sunday of the July 4th
weekend. Contestants, both men and women, wore the
clothing of the old times (1910) and used the old wooden
clubs on some holes. Each person built his or her own
sand tee on the seventh hole. Anniversary poems were
read and a historical quiz tested the members’ knowledge
of the club’s roots.

Marshals

The club provided 117 volunteers who mar-
shaled the eighth and sixteenth holes at the
2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, then repeat-
ed at Shinnecock Hills (eighth hole) in 2004,
and at Bethpage Black again (sixth hole) in 2009.
The most notable moment happened on the six-
teenth hole in 2002 when Gerri Schmitz found
Tiger Wood’s ball in the rough. She was seen by
millions on the back cover of Newsday the fol-
lowing day, crouching in front of the gallery as
Woods hit that shot from the rough.

The back cover of Newsday featuring Gerri Schmitz (sitting)
and Tiger Woods.

131

Joe Saladino, MGA Player of theYear in 2008
and 2010, shown here playing on the MGA
team in the French-American Challenge at
Metropolis Country Club. (MGA Photo Archives)

132

chapter seventeen

Regional Championshipsver the years, Huntington Country Club has been a generous host

O to championships conducted by the local golf associations, pri-
In July of 1924 the club hosted the first LIGA father & son championship
and the LIGA junior championship, the former preceding the latter by one

marily the Long Island Golf Association. day. The New York Times reported on both events, starting on July 16:

One of the strongest fields ever to gather at the club came on May 21, 1974, “The call of the mountains and seashore drowned out the call of golf today when the
for a sectional qualifying round for the U.S. Open, later to be known as the first father and son golf tournament of the Long Island Golf Association was played
Massacre at Winged Foot. A field of eighty-one professionals and sixteen ama- over the course of the Huntington Country Club as a forerunner of the district junior
teurs played eighteen holes in the morning at Huntington Crescent, then a championship, which starts tomorrow. Only 21 father and son combinations handed in
second eighteen in the afternoon at Huntington, hoping to become one of their names as contestants for the handsome Ward trophy presented by John M. Ward,
thirteen players who would advance to the Northeast qualifying two weeks the ‘father’ of the Long Island organization and one-time star of the New York Giants.
later. Jimmy Wright of Inwood (67-72) and Jerry Pittman of The Creek
(69-70) tied at 139 for the low score of the day. Rick Meissner of Wood- “The honor of gaining possession of the Ward trophy for the first time went to H.B.
crest (71-69) finished third, his 69 being the low score at Huntington, which Hollins and H.B. Hollins, Jr., of Westbrook, father and brother respectively of Miss
played the tougher of the two courses. Also qualifying were Tom Nieporte of Marion Hollins, former women’s national champion. The Hollins registered an 82
Piping Rock, George Burns of Meadow Brook, and Huntington’s own Mike against the par of 71. It was not their gross total, however, that gained them their
Joyce, who parlayed his local knowledge to qualify with rounds of 75-70. title, but their handicap of sixteen strokes that gave them a low net of 66. This was
three strokes less than the low net score of the nearest rivals, E. Eldredge and A.E.
Sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open has been held at the club on several Eldredge of the home club.”
occasions. Among the highlights were Roger Ginsburg (aided by his caddie,
Jerry Wood) emerging as the only one under par in 1971 and in 1997, when To fill in some details, the Long Island Golf Association was founded in
only eight of 147 players broke par, the low score being 67. 1922, with John Ward the driving force and first president. Ward was a

133

The Winners member of Baseball’s Hall of Fame as a combination pitcher/shortstop/base
stealer in the late 1800s. Hollins was one of the founders of the Metropoli-
The winners of regional championships held at tan Golf Association in 1897, and that organization’s first president. And
Huntington Country Club are listed below: A.E. Eldredge was Ashton G. Eldredge, author of the club’s 1980 book.

1983 LIGA Open Don Reese Finishing third in the championship were the Jadwins, Stanley and son L.S.
of Huntington, while the McGuires, E.A. Sr. and Jr., were fifth and the
1985 LIGA Amateur Malcolm Smith Townsends, H.R. Sr. and Jr., tied for seventh.
2007 LIGA Amateur Joe Saladino
The second annual LIGA junior championship began the next day (the sev-
1924 LIGA Junior Jack Mackie, Jr. enteenth) with an eighteen-hole qualifying round won with a 73 by Jack
1975 LIGA Junior Robert Lacey Mackie, Jr. of Inwood, son of that club’s professional and host pro for the
1997 LIGA Junior Dan MacDonald historic 1923 U.S. Open won by Bobby Jones. C.S. Sheldon of Hunting-
2002 LIGA Junior Brian McArdle ton, with an 84, managed to get into the championship flight (of eight) but
lost in the first round. Ten other Huntington lads attempted to qualify on
1975 LIGA Boys Chris Dote their home course and Jadwin, McGuire, and T.S. Hall, Jr. all qualified into
the second flight and William Faversham, P. Cortelyou, J. McCleary, H.
1997 LIGA Boys & Girls Adam Fuchs & Kristen Joyce Wright, and Phillip Faversham all made it into the third (and final) flight.
2002 LIGA Boys & Girls Jason Pearl & Danni Mullin Mackie went on to win the title easily, while McGuire defeated Jadwin 2-up
to win the second flight and McCleary defeated William Faversham 3&2 to
1924 LIGA Father & Son H.B. Hollings, Sr. and Jr. capture third-flight honors. Mackie was a long driver and during one round,
1999 LIGA Father & Son Bob & Dan MacDonald hit his tee ball on the fourth hole into the bunker fronting the green. His
average score for four rounds was just slightly over 74.
1987 MGA Senior Mike Mattwell
The McArdles have had success in LIGA events. David McArdle was runner-
2009 Women’s Met Open Jean Bartholomew up to Malcolm Smith in the 1985 Long Island Amateur at the club, while
son Brian won the LIGA boys twice (1999 and 2000) and the LIGA junior
twice (2000 and 2002, the latter at Huntington). Together they won three
consecutive LIGA father & son championships (2001, 2002, and 2003) but
have never won the club’s father & son championship). Brian was a semifi-

134

nalist in the 2002 MGA junior and finished tied for fourth place in the 2003 After Susannah Aboff won the 2007 Women’s Met Open the club actively
LIGA strokeplay championship. strived to bring that tournament to Huntington to give Susannah the op-
portunity to display her talents in front of the home audience. That wish
In the 2007 Long Island Amateur at the club, Joe Saladino and Andres Ben- came true in 2009, but as luck would have it, Susannah hurt her elbow and
enati (brother of visiting professional Willie Benenati) tied for the qualify- couldn’t play. The tournament was played in late August and Jean Bar-
ing medal with 67s, while David Boccia and Bill Krause tied for fifth, with tholomew, once a star for the boys’ golf team at Garden City High School
Dick Hanington, Tim Finnegan, and Jerry Wood all qualifying for match and a veteran on the LPGA Tour, fired rounds of 74-68, two under par, to
play. Saladino, Benenati, and Boccia all won their first- and second-round win by three strokes over June Staton of Cedar Brook and Cristy Grzymala
matches and advanced to the quarterfinals, where Benenati eliminated Boc- of Spring Lake. Staton aced the twelfth hole in the first round then holed a
cia on the last hole. On the last hole in the semifinals, Saladino eliminated bunker shot there in the final round. Bartholomew came into the tourna-
Benenati and then defeated Andreas Huber of Garden City Golf Club 4&3 ment without having played in months. She toured the final nine of the
in the finals to claim the title. tournament in six under par, including birdies on the last three holes.

The McArdles walking off the fifth tee during their finals match in the Jean Bartholomew after winning the 2009Women’s Met Open.
2003 club championship.
135
part ii: club golf | regional championships

The two British golfers who played at Huntington
Country Club in 1922: George Duncan (left) and
Abe Mitchell. (USGA Photo Archives)

Gene Sarazen in 1922, showing his U.S. Open trophy to his caddie,
Tony Dominick. (MGA Photo Archives)

136

chapter eighteen

The Great Exhibition Matchuntington Country Club’s premier moment in the na-

Htional spotlight came on September 3, 1922, when the touring
in a thirty-nine-hole medal play-off match with Leo Diegel shortly before
they departed on October 22. The match was controversial because the two

British professionals George Duncan and Abe Mitchell golfers agreed to stage a three-hole playoff, without the official authority of

visited to play a 36-hole exhibition match against American professionals the Southern Golf Association.

Gene Sarazen and Tom Kerrigan. The players used hickory shafted clubs,

and stymies were part of the game. As the Long Islander commented on the match on September 7, 1922:

Duncan was a Scot who won the 1920 Open Championship in Deal and “It has been a long time since golf enthusiasts of this and neighboring villages have had
was known as the fastest player of his time. Mitchell was an Englishman the opportunity of witnessing a professional golf match between four such good players ...”
who won British match play championship in both 1919 and 1920 and was
runner-up in the 1912 Amateur Championship at Royal North Devon. He The morning eighteen began at 10 a.m., the afternoon round at 2:30 p.m..
was the longest hitter of the day and held his driver like a baseball bat. Each member family was given two additional tickets for guests. Approxi-
mately 1,000 spectators were on hand to witness the match, which was
Twenty-year-old Gene Sarazen had burst on the scene that year, winning all even after the first round. The Americans gained their advantage after
both the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship at the beginning of his Hall lunch, taking a 2-up lead after twenty-seven holes, and eventually won the
of Fame career. Kerrigan was the long serving professional at the Siwanoy match 4&3, a margin they had established after the twelfth hole.
Country Club in Westchester County, and one of the driving forces behind
the formation of the PGA of America. Sarazen shot rounds of 73-74=147 to beat Kerrigan (76-72) by one stroke,
with Duncan (73-76) and Mitchell (75-77) trailing. Kerrigan’s second-
The Brits arrived in America on July 5, 1922, in time to play in the U.S. round 72 equaled the course record, but a fan shouted when he was at-
Open at Chicago’s Skokie Country Club, which Sarazen won. They then tempting a short putt on final green and he missed the putt, a new course
embarked on their second tour of the United States (having also done so record, and a tie with Sarazen. The latter is said to have requested an un-
in 1921) that included fifty-two matches, of which they won forty, lost derprivileged Italian caddie for the match and paid him $10, rather than the
ten, and halved two. Mitchell unofficially won the 1922 Southern Open customary 90¢.

137

Top: Jim Smoot’s PGA insignia.
Right: Jim Smoot on the tee.

138

chapter nineteen

The Golf Professionalseuben Wakerley, the club’s first golf professional, was born in London and,

Rwhen not enjoying the company of James Braid, Harry Vardon, and Ted Ray on
the links, learned club-making there. He and his wife came to the United
States in 1908 and he took a position at the then public Salisbury Links (to become the
Cherry Valley Club in 1916) in 1908, working under that club’s professional Jim Law mostly
as a club maker and helping with the caddies.

The Chief, as he came to be known, was engaged as Huntington’s pro on October 1, 1911,
and began work the following spring after spending the winter in London. Wakerley re-
mained with the club through the 1936 season, although he did take a one-year leave in 1915
to take a position in Chattanooga, Tennessee that paid $3,600, shedding some light on what
his salary might have been at Huntington Country Club. Mrs. Wakerley remained at Hun-
tington in 1915, staying occupied with her clubhouse duties, while Thomas Skipper filled
the role of golf professional for that one year. The Wakerleys retired late in 1936, Wakerley
with a disabled back (he could no longer play golf) and Mrs. Wakerley feeling the toll of
twenty-five years service to the club.

ReubenWakerley (left), with Harry Ellis, professional at Oheka [Otto Kahn’s
private course in Cold Spring Harbor] and Friend Parker (right), Reuben’s assistant.

139

Wakerley’s skill as a golfer is unknown. The only championship locally that Early in 1943, Scott was terminated due to war cutbacks. During the 1943,
he might have competed in was the Met Open, a major on the professionals’ 1944, and part of the 1945 seasons, the club had no golf professional.
calendar of that time, but his name never appeared as a contestant.
In the summer of 1945, Jack Ruppert was released from service and en-
In 1920, member Roland Conklin arranged for Wakerley to be appointed gaged as head professional on August 15. Ruppert had started caddieing at
professional at the Belleair Country Club in Florida for the winter season, the club (in 1922) at age 8 and had served as an assistant under Wakerley
succeeding two-time U.S. Open winner Alex Smith in that capacity. The from 1931 to 1937. In 1938, he was the first to become an accredited assis-
Wakerleys wintered at the Belleair for a number of years thereafter. tant professional and served in that capacity through 1942, when he entered
the service. Two brothers, Dick and Charlie, also were listed as Huntington
Wakerley’s first assistant pro, for just one year, was his brother-in-law professionals when they played in the 1941 Long Island Open. Jack Ruppert
Jack Wicks; Jack was followed by Friend Parker, Mrs. Wakerley’s cous- served at the club through the 1962 season and is remembered for teaching
in. Among Wakerley’s assistants in the mid-1920s was Stuart Sanderson, everyone the hook grip. It is said that Charlie and Jack were equals as golf-
brother of Harold and Archie Sanderson, professionals at Canoe Brook and ers, and reportedly flipped a coin to determine which would become golf
Sleepy Hollow, respectively. Sanderson represented the club well in the professional, and which superintendent at the club.
Long Island Open during the mid-1920s.
Lumber Jane
George Kelley became the golf professional in 1937 after serving under
Mike Brady at Winged Foot, but stayed at the club for just one year. One evening at twilight, Jack Ruppert noticed a car at the third
green and went down to investigate. He found a female mem-
Edward Scott started as golf professional in 1938. He and his wife lived on ber bent over next to the cedar tree at the south side of the
the grounds in the Mahan house. He was a Scot from Glasgow, taught by green, saw in hand. Seeing Jack, she spoke in a voice strongly
the likes of Harry Vardon and James Braid (two-thirds of the Great Trium- suggesting intoxication, saying “this tree will never stymie me
virate). His older brother, Robert Scott, was a Walker Cup player in the again.” Jack reprimanded her and gave her a lecture on sports-
1924 matches at Garden City Golf Club where he and Michael Scott (no manship, pointing out that the tree was an important feature
relation) teamed up to beat Bobby Jones and William Fownes in a four-ball of the course. Reluctantly, the woman left the scene of the
match, Jones’ only defeat ever in international competition. happily-averted crime.

140