HuntingtonCC_Single

Jack Ruppert was succeeded in 1963 by Texan Arthur (Sonny) Rhodes, Jr., sixteenth holes en route to a back nine 30. On September 3, 1988, Joyce
who was three years out of the University of Texas. Rhodes had been an as- shot a 61 that was capped off with a 29 on the back nine. His card read 4-3-
sistant pro at both Fairview and Wykagyl in Westchester County. Rhodes 3-4-3-3-4-4-4 = 32 going out, and 4-3-2-3-3-3-4-4-3 = 29 coming in. Both
retired after the 1968 season and took a position outside the golf world. rounds were marred by bogies on the ninth hole.
Sonny Rhodes was a friend of Bob Joyce, and hence Mike Joyce came to the
club as a second assistant to Sonny Rhodes for two years, his duties including Mike hosted a Met PGA demo team at the club on two or three occasions dur-
that of caddie master. Harvey Pennick’s son, Tinsley Pennick, was the first ing the late 1970s. The team included his brothers, Tom Joyce of Glen Oaks
assistant. and Bob Joyce of Southampton, as well as Jim Albus of Piping Rock, Larry
Laoretti of Pine Hollow, Gil McNally of Garden City Golf Club, and Roger
Michael J. (Mike) Joyce was named head golf professional in 1969. Mike Ginsberg of Muttontown. They performed synchronized trick shots at Mike’s
and his brothers Tom and Bob, both of whom served as head professionals command on the first tee. Mike Joyce acted as the announcer. Bill Johnson
at Long Island clubs, were born and raised in Bayside, New York. In 1984,
the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association honored the Joyce brothers and was the golf chairman at the
family as the Family of the Year. A fourth brother, Kevin, was a member time. The event went on suc-
of the American basketball team that lost the controversial USA-USSR gold cessfully with lots of needling
medal game at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics. He later played profes- among the players.
sionally in the American Basketball Association.
Mike Joyce Mike Joyce qualified for the
After military service in the Army, Mike served as an assistant at four met- Senior PGA Tour (now the
ropolitan area courses before coming to Huntington in 1967 as an assistant Champions Tour) in 1989.
pro. Joyce is remembered for mentoring the caddies and for his fleet of as- Since he planned to play in
sistant pros. Joyce’s brother Tom, later pro at Glen Oaks, was among them. twenty-five events in 1992,
Mike beat brother Tom in the finals of the 1983 LIPGA at Bethpage Black. the club required that he hire
He made the cut in both the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in 1973. a second assistant, preferably
a female pro, and so Connie
Through 1980 the record for the course as it is now plays was held by Mike Baker became the club’s first
Joyce, who shot a 63 on May 28, 1976. After carding a 33 on the front female assistant pro in April
nine, Mike shot 2-3-3 (birdie-eagle-birdie) on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and of 1992. Mike played regu-
larly on the Senior Tour un-

part ii: club golf | the golf professionals 141

til 1996. He won once, the 1992 to Huntington, he served three years as an associate golf professional under
GTE Northwest Classic in Se- Kevin Morris at Westchester Hills and for four years under Kevin Mitchell
attle. He retired as head profes- at Innis Arden. As a PGA of America Class A member, Jim is also a certified
sional in 1994 and was made pro custom club fitting professional for Titleist, Cobra, Ping, and Mizuno.
emeritus. The senior club cham-
pionship was named in his honor Jim’s work as a professional has been recognized by his peers as the 2004
in 1998. Metropolitan Section Merchandiser of the Year and with the 2009 Metro-
politan PGA Junior Golf Leader award.
Mike Joyce presenting trophy to One of the best players among
four-year-old Tim Finnegan, Jr. Huntington Country Club’s assis- Jim started a very active and successful junior program that is the envy of
after he and his father won the tant pros was Austin Straub, win- many other clubs. The program includes clinics; short tournaments of one,
two generations tournament. ner of the 1978 Metropolitan PGA three, six, nine, and eighteen holes; and six-hours-per-day golf schools in
Champion, 1977 Westchester July and August where his pupils learn playing, chipping, putting, golf eti-
PGA, 1974 Connecticut Open, quette, and the Rules of Golf that help to lead and prepare youngsters to
1973 Vermont Open, and the participate in Met PGA pro-junior events. He also initiated, developed and
Metropolitan PGA Senior Cham- coordinated the North Shore Junior Interclub League (now in its sixteenth
pionship on several occasions. season) that allows juniors at country clubs on Long Island’s north shore to
travel and compete against nearby clubs. Both Joe Saladino and Susannah
At Huntington Country Club, Austin Straub often played with Donald W. Aboff (mentioned in previous chapters) are products of this junior program,
Rose, a left-hander, and Austin would often play with his left-handed clubs which he runs with help from his two assistant pros.
and break par for nine holes. On another occasion, he asked his caddie Brian
Darby to run up to the sixth green and take the pin out, then holed a pitch Jim also conducts clinics and group lessons for men and women, weekly Play
shot from one hundred yards out. While at Huntington, Straub qualified for With Your Pro events, and participates with members in pro-amateur and
the U.S. Open. pro-lady tournaments. Jim does all this in addition to overseeing fourteen em-
ployees and a golf operation (with help from his two assistant professionals)
Jim Smoot was hired to succeed Mike Joyce in January of 1994. Following that includes, coordinating, developing and managing the club’s golf schedule
graduation from college, Jim served as an assistant golf professional at four and acquiring and managing equipment and merchandise for the golf shop.
clubs in the Northeast and Florida between 1984 and 1986. Prior to coming

142

An excellent player in his own right – reaching the 2002 quarter-finals in
the national PGA Match Play and Long Island PGA Match Play champion-
ships plus the semi-finals in the Long Island event in 2009 – Jim has led
club teams to victory in several events. Among them are the 2000 and 2002
Hoffhine Memorial at Westchester Country Club, the 1997 Lobster Pot
Invitational in Bermuda, and the 1997, 2005, and 2009 Jack Mallon ProAm
at Wheatley Hills.

In 2002 Jim’s assistant pro Bob Rittberger won the Long Island Open and a
few years later, Bob became head professional at the Garden City Golf Club
and won the 2010 Met Open.

Jim Smoot working with youngsters on their short games at a Jim Smoot with son Jimmy.
junior clinic.
Who’s Teaching Whom?
part ii: club golf | the golf professionals
Jack Ruppert’s first loop at age eight was Albert G. Milbank,
chairman of the board of the Borden Company. Millbank care-
fully taught Jack the duties and etiquette of caddieing that
day. Twenty years later, their roles reversed when Millbank
took a lesson from Ruppert.

143



Part III
the golf course

146

hole one | par 4 | 390 yards

part iii: the golf course 147

148

hole two | par 4 | 377 yards

part iii: the golf course 149

150

hole three | par 3 | 192 yards

part iii: the golf course 151

152

hole four | par 4 | 336 yards

part iii: the golf course 153

154

hole five | par 4 | 379 yards

part iii: the golf course 155

156

hole six | par 4 | 420 yards

part iii: the golf course 157

158

hole seven | par 5 | 553 yards

part iii: the golf course 159

160

hole eight | par 4 | 332 yards

part iii: the golf course 161

162

hole nine | par 3 | 212 yards

part iii: the golf course 163

164

hole ten | par 4 | 444 yards

part iii: the golf course 165

166

hole eleven | par 4 | 333 yards

part iii: the golf course 167

168

hole twelve | par 3 | 140 yards

part iii: the golf course 169

170

hole thirteen | par 4 | 419 yards

part iii: the golf course 171

172

hole fourteen | par 3 | 186 yards

part iii: the golf course 173

174

hole fifteen | par 5 | 474 yards

part iii: the golf course 175

176

hole sixteen | par 4 | 406 yards

part iii: the golf course 177

178

hole seventeen | par 4 | 426 yards

part iii: the golf course 179

180

hole eighteen | par 4 | 413 yards

part iii: the golf course 181



Part IVthe country club activities

Sportsmanship has always been part
of the club’s sporting fabric.

Jay Leng.
184

chapter twenty

T Tennisennis probably was the first sport played at the club and has Cup player, tournament director, author, editor, cofounder of the National
enjoyed cyclical popularity thereafter. At the beginning, the clubJunior Tennis League in 1969, and founder of Tennis Week magazine in 1974.

had two red clay courts west of clubhouse on the site now

occupied by the skating rink. The courts were ready for play before the golf The club’s tennis facility was moved to the present location in 1957, when

course opened. The club’s minutes from November 3, 1915, reveal that the Huntington Winter Club was created. Two green clay courts were in-

the board approved the installation of proper posts and nets for the tennis

courts. The club’s first tennis chairman was W.A.W. Stewart, who also was

a club tennis champion.

Tennis became a popular adjunct to club life and continued to be well sup-
ported at the club into the early 1940s. The sport’s popularity waned over
the next several years, so much so that the tennis chairman in 1950 reported
to the board that “at least two members had used the courts” that year.

A revival began the next year, interest spurred in part by the presence of
young Gene Scott, who frequently played on the courts. Scott grew up in
St. James and later became a leading player nationally, United States Davis

The chalet after the awning and extension were added.

185

Sandra Birch Krusos, the “most accomplished female stalled in the area back of the caddie house now occupied by courts #2 and
tennis player in Stanford history.” #3. The new courts were ready for play on June 15, 1957. There was no
tennis house at that site until the warming hut was built for platform tennis
186 about ten years later. That hut grew stage by stage into the present racquets
chalet, the last extension (to the south) coming in 1979. An awning was
added in 1977, replacing the trees that once lined the outside of the chalet
facing the tennis courts.

The sport sagged again in the 1960s, so much so that the club did not have a
tennis committee chairman during the years 1964-1965. Activity increased
again in 1969, and the courts were resurfaced in 1970. A backboard for
practice was erected that year, east of the #2 court, and the adjoining ter-
race area located near the entrance to the courts was renovated in 1971.
The tennis committee began to conduct tournaments, and soon two courts
were not enough. During the winter months of 1976-1977 the facility was
completely rebuilt, the old courts plowed under, and four new Har-Tru
courts were built adjacent to the third tee. An underground sprinkling sys-
tem was installed (with water flowing from an old golf course pump), a
half-ton motorized roller was obtained, the landscaping was improved, the
patio was relocated, and the parking area enlarged. Member C. William
Jones was the tennis chairman who oversaw the project very closely after
making a superb presentation to the board of directors as to why it should
be done and how. The project cost $40,000.

Richie Rottkamp served as the club’s teaching professional for the two years
1977-1978 and gave club tennis a real boost. Bob Schmidt, an older pro and
Huntington resident, served from 1984 to 2000. In 1985 a net was placed
between courts #3 and #4 and court #4 was used as the pro’s teaching court.

Throughout the 1980s tennis was extremely
popular and there was a long waiting list for
tennis membership at the club. Each year the
tennis chairman would ask the board to increase
the allowable number of tennis memberships
until, in the mid-1980s, the membership limit
was capped at 105 families. Thereafter tennis
membership slowly declined. Today the tennis
membership category has about twenty fami-
lies. That doesn’t mean that tennis activity has
ceased, because all regular members have ten-
nis (and platform tennis) privileges and many
former tennis members are now regular mem-
bers who still use the courts.

During the 1980s the club staged eleven ma-

jor tournaments, women’s team play, and

mixed doubles interclub play on Wednes-

day evenings. The tournaments included la-

Bob Schmidt (left) awarding trophies to men’s doubles champions Jim Peeler and Jack Keese (right). dies member-guests, men’s member-guests,
mixed member-guests, ladies doubles and

singles club championships, men’s doubles

When first installed, the underground sprinkling system was operated and singles club championships, mixed doubles club championships, and

manually in six zones. The facility suffered with uneven watering problems mixed scrambles. The most popular tournaments were the Blue/Gold

throughout the 1980s and in 1990, an automatic sprinkler system was in- team tournaments introduced in 1980, mixed intraclub tournaments that

stalled. This system was updated frequently and today has fifteen computer- sometimes drew up to sixty participants and followed by cocktail parties

controlled zones, each of which can be turned on as needed during the day. on the clubhouse patio.

At night, all the courts are watered and then rolled each morning.

part iv: the country club activities | tennis 187

Top photo: A group in the outfits of an earlier generation at the 75th
anniversary party: (from left to right) Ellie Gearhart, Pam Robbins, Mary
Keane, John Keane, Daphne Hoffen, and Chery Maniello. | Bottom photo:
John Harwood’s vintage 1930s Bentley parked on the patio during the
club’s 75th anniversary celebration. | Right photo: At the club’s
75th anniversary celebration are Pam Robbins (left) and Daphne Hoffen.

188

A special tournament was held on July 4, 1985, as part of the club’s sev- Mary Peeler at the Statue of Liberty birthday celebration.
enty-fifth anniversary celebration. The players wore the clothing of the
old days and an exhibit of antique tennis artifacts was on display in the In 2003 the club began discussing the possibility of hiring a director of rac-
chalet. One member parked his 1930s vintage Bentley on the clubhouse quet sports professional that would run both tennis and platform tennis
patio to allow dressed up tennis players to pose for pictures. The next programs. This movement reached fruition early in 2004 when Brad East-
year, a similar affair was held to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary
of the Statue of Liberty. Perennial tournament winners during this period
who are still active club members include Jack Keese, Anne Mariani, and
Jim Peeler.

Tennis began falling off nationally during the early to mid-1990s, and Hun-
tington Country Club was no exception. Club tournaments and club cham-
pionships were often cancelled due to lack of interest. Nonetheless, the club
regularly ran a charity tournament for the benefit of the American Cancer
Society and the ladies team won the North Shore League (A division) tour-
nament in 1999.

In November 1991 the club formed a committee to address the shortage
of tennis members and soon thereafter, the club’s membership committee
approved a new under 40 tennis membership with dues of $990 plus a $500
initiation fee for applicants up to age 40, subject to all club assessments and
minimums by age category.

Tennis activity picked up again in 2002 when the club fielded two women’s
teams, the better one playing in the women’s North Shore League, the sec-
ond team in the South Shore League. There was a men’s doubles tourna-
ment for the first time in several years.

part iv: the country club activities | tennis 189

Tuesday morning action in the ladies round robin-competition.

erbrook was hired in that capacity, starting in April. From 2004 through the hand, have no such organized tennis but played in their first singles tourna-
2009-2010 season, Easterbrook served as tennis professional in the summer ment in several years in 2004. The club has very few competitive tennis
(with a staff of assistant pros) and as platform professional in the winter. players among the men, and therefore has difficulty attracting others to en-
able the men to form a team.
Tennis’ comeback coincided with Easterbrook’s arrival at the club. He and
his staff ran clinics for the women. The ladies play interclub matches and The women added a third team in 2005 and use of the courts was definitely
compete in round-robin play on Tuesday mornings. The men, on the other up from the previous year. One of the ladies tennis teams won their league

190