60 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, October 12, 2018
OUR TOWN
Fresh Meadow club is ‘world class’ This is no small cided to indulge myself task for a club pro who and go enjoy some golf spends most of his with them. I always look time running events at forward to seeing Chuck his club, teaching and Stogel and his band of making sure his pro merry pranksters from shop is presentable. the world of print jourMatt is not in the least nalism, television and bit physically imposradio. ing. He is not remarkTrue, traveling up ably tall or lean or fit Lakeville Road at 9 a.m. and even admits that on a weekday is no picDR. TOM FERRARO he’s not a gym rat. nic but when you turn Our Town I asked him what into the club all that he thought was the sepain is fast forgotten. You wind your way up a hill along a cret to his accomplishments and he said tree-lined road and you look out over the two things. front nine holes with all those huge oak The first was that he had very good trees and emerald green fairways and balance and the second was that he you know you have arrived in the land knew how to manage his expectations of plenty. while playing. One of his closest friends The clubhouse is a sprawling Colo- on tour is the South African Brandon nial-style stucco building which affords Grace who I have always felt has the views of the entire golf course. As you best swing and the finest balance on head to the men’s locker room you notice tour. pictures of Babe Ruth and Ben Hogan hitHe then mentioned that his dad ting shots at Fresh Meadow. was a child psychiatrist and my guess is One of my goals for the day was to that’s where he learned about realistic chat with their head pro Matt Dobyns. He expectations and character. is two-time PGA Professional National After our morning chat, I got to play Champion and has qualified for the PGA golf on this gem of a course along with Championship five times. an attorney, a TV guy and a Daily News editor. The news editor and I commiserated on the fall of print journalism and the rise of the electronic media. I also A FREE COMMUNITY HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM got to express my disgust for Brett Kavanaugh et al as I spoke to the attorney. ANCER WARENESS DUCATION AY The glory of golf is that it affords you the time to be in a spectacular setMULTI-DIAGNOSIS/MULTIDISCIPLINARY SEMINAR ting among the huge oak trees, the man-
Fresh Meadow Country Club, founded in 1923, is located along Lakeville Road in Lake Success and is one of those classic old-school courses that have history, class, exclusivity and beauty. It was designed by the famed British golf course architect Charles Alison who also designed Century Country Club, Milwaukee Country Club, the last three holes at Pine Valley and Hirono which is widely considered to be the best course in Japan. The Charles Alison bunkers have that restrained and clean cut look of the bunkers at Augusta and Royal Melbourne and that’s because Alison learned his craft from Alister Mackenzie who was his mentor. Fresh Meadow Country Club has long had a history of attracting worldclass players. Gene Sarazen was a club pro there and so was Al Ciuci. They now have Matt Dobyns who is considered to be one of the best club pros in the nation and Johnny Doppelt is a long time member at Fresh Meadow who is a nationally ranked amateur and a guy who’s won their club championship many times. I was delighted to learn that the Met Golf Writers Association planned an outing of the year at Fresh Meadow so I de-
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icured grass, the babbling brooks and the rolling hills all of which are doing a very fine job of shielding you from the stress of life as we know it. Then you get to go inside a wonderful clubhouse and take a long shower in a stall made of fine marble, dry off with the largest and softest towels imaginable and feel renewed once again. Indeed I am a man who has been spoiled his whole life thanks to parents who were kind and good and generous to me. And that is why I feel so comfortable in a place like Fresh Meadow. The world of golf has been wringing its hands and gnashing its teeth about things like “falling membership” and how the millennials don’t have the time or patience to play golf and how country club life may be in danger. I find all that laughable. Fresh Meadow Country Club is a perfect example of why country club life will always grow. This club and others like it will continue to thrive no matter what the state of the economy is in because everyone on earth loves beauty and elegance and safety and shelter and fine food and wonderful service and a place to relax and a place that welcomes you and makes you feel that you are at home. Country club life is a place where successful adults go to relax and luxuriate and play golf and swim and where their children learn about breeding and manners and etiquette. All that and more is what Fresh Meadow offers its lucky members. As Jackie Gleason once said “how sweet it is!”
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