May 1983
Qotf

(Gourde Superintendents
OF

N E W

E N G L A N D ,

Sssociati on
I N C .

Sponsors and administrators of the Lawrence S.
Dickinson Scholarship Fund — A w a r d e d yearly
to deserving Turf Management Students.

G u y T desco's M e m o r y Lives
Dave Barber was asked to comment on the qualities of
the late Guy Tedesco.
"How much time do you have?" the Blue Hills superintendent returned the favor. "Two hours, two days? But I'll
make it easy for you. Gather all the superlatives you can
think of and they'll give you a start on the kind of person
Guy was."
Of course, no one is flawless. However, if anyone comes
clo*5e to such descriptive the man, who was known as "Mr.

Next Meeting
Monday, May 23, 1983
Pine Brook Country Club
Newton St., Weston, Mass.
Directors Meeting 9 a.m.
Membership Meeting 10:30 a.m.
Educational Program Lunch -11:45 a.m.
Golf -12:45 Shotgun
Host - Doug Johnson, CGCS
Doug is in his fourth year at
Pine Brook. Prior he was superintendent at the Alpine
Country Club in Cranston,
R.I. for one year and the
Framingham Country Club
for four years. He is a 1972
graduate of the Stockbridge
School of Agriculture at
UMass and he currently
serves GCSANE as newsletter chairman. Doug resides
in Weston with his wife
Cheryl and three children
Brendan, Kelly and Mara.
DIRECTIONS - From route 128 n or s, take Rt. 30,
Mass. Pike exit. From 128 heading north go up ramp
to Rt. 30. Take a left, take a right at third set of
lights (Newton St.). From 128 heading south, go to
Rt. 30, take a left then at second set of lights take a
right (Newton St.). Club will be approx. Vi mile on
right.
PLEASE CALL FOR RESERVATION AT 893-8264
no later than Friday, May 20, 1983.

Golf" in a wide circle which included every service station
of the grand old game, achieved that status.
"Oh, yes," Barber added. "Come to think of it, Guy did
have one weakness. He was too easy-going with people. I
know because I worked for him and prospered by every
minute of our association."
Barber is one of the legions of Guy Tedesco fellow-golf
course superintendents, golf professionals and friends delighted with the announcement of plans to stage the Guy
Tedesco Memorial Tournament. The event will be held
June 17 at New Seabury — the Cape Cod golfing resort
Guy helped develop and fashion into one of New England's
sporting showplaces.
The tournament, open to the first 144 players, is just exclusive as the man it honors. A gala presentation, it' will
feature a cocktail party, golf competition and dinner and
carries a $150 entry fee. Its proceeds will be funneled to
the Guy Tedesco Scholarship Fund which aids in the
education of golf-oriented recipients.
Golf Course Superintendents of New England Association president Brian Cowan is working on the tournament
committee, headed by Bill Clendennon. Other members include Bob Cotter, Mike Frucci, Paul Luizzo, Earl Wallace,
New Seabury pro Danny Coon and two members of the Tedesco family — Guy's son Jimmy and his brother John.
"This truly is a labor of love and friendship," Cowan described his involvement. "When you consider all the
things Guy did for the game and people connected with it,
you can understand why so many guys are hung up on this
thing. If We could only approach half of Guy's input into
everything he attempted, the tournament will be a riproaring success."
That comment isfittingsince the name, Guy Tedesco, is
synonomous with success.
"Every thing Guy did turned into gold," recalled dear
friend Norm Mucciarone who does quite all right, himself,
as the superintendent at Woodland. "He was an all-around
dynamo. He could do it all."
Tedesco, whose superintendent's career directed him
to stops at Wayland and Charles River, probably was the
best golfer the New England wing of the profession ever
has known.
"Heck, he held the course record at New Seabury,"
Mucciarone disclosed. "And he shot records at a couple of
other places. I used to play with him once and a while but
it was only for laughs. He was too good for me. But what a
great person. He tolerated me, so he had to be."
Tedesco was also good in so many other ways.
"I remember when he first went to New Seabury," Mucciarone continued. "They brought him down there to get
the course in shape when it was just starting out. He did
such a good job they offered him the superintendent's
position. That led to an appointment as director of golf. I
guess you could say he was on a roll everywhere his talent
and personality took him."
continued on page 2

ourSe Superintendents

^Association

The Discount Dilemma
In some circles, they call it cutback. Those are the wellrounded, executive suite-approved circles.
In other circles, they call it ripoff. Those are the slightlyoffset, sweat-of-the-lower echelon-dedicated circles.
The object of this controversial lead-in is the economic
status of the country club golf professional. And, if developments take their monmal course, it could affect the golf
course superintendent.
What's happening, according to reports, is a direct infringement on the rights of home pros to retain thenmeans toward financial stability. Those reports imply that
certain country clubs are importing golf equipment, offering it at drastic reductions, and entering into competition
with the guy who makes their golf-playing day hum.
Let's face it. The super and pro have a good, working
relationship. Each looks to the country club for support.
The super does it in expectation that his budget will be
accepted and members will free those nacessaiy dollars
for the good and betterment of the golf course. He needs
cooperation from the membership. It has to provide him
the funds commensurate with the course's conditioning
needs.
The home pro does it in anticipation that members will
support him in behind-the-counter sales of hard and soft
goods. In most cases, his base income of annual salary
hardly gets him off the ground. From there, he prospers
only if there is response to his salesmanship and teaching
ability. He has to peddle his wares or he doesn't know
where he's at, financially.
Now comes word that country clubs not only are deserting their home pros for the cheaper environs of the golf
equipment discount houses, a few have the audacity to invite cut-rate merchandisers to bring their bargains inside
the pro shop. Incredible? Sure ... but predictable.
It seems that the trend of members buying their golf
clubs, balls, clubs etc. outside the pro shop has escalated
into mass desertion of the home pro when those articles
are needed. Discount houses are springing up all over the
lot and golfers are rushing to them in hopes of softening
the financial blow of country club living.
Actually, support of the home pro always has been regarded as a mandatory segment of country club life. Because the pro relies on revenue from sales and golf lessons, he is at the mercy of the club treasurer regarding annual salary. He uses it as the foundation of his earning
power and builds on it to realize a working wage.
However, times and attitudes have changed. Members
go shopping for lower prices and the pro goes begging for
what used to be automatic sales. Should the incidence of
imported discount equipment whose sales are controlled
by the country club and the intruder continue, the practice could result in the gradual extinction of the home pro.
The spinoff effect is very likely to touch the superintendent because of the chintzy atmosphere outside discount buying will create within the economic structure of
the country club.
The handwriting is on the wall. Membership decides to
take over the purchasing duties of superintendents, resulting in the acquisition of cheap but inferior products
and a drain on the expertise of the man commissioned to
bring playing conditions to their fullest expectation.
"Irresponsible involvement could ruin everything that
we have built in the last 25 years or so," one veteran

PRESIDENT
Brian Cowan CGCS
Robins Way
Harwich. Mass 02645
Home Phone 432-9041
Office Phone 945-9230
Club Affiliation
Eastward Ho

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT
Donald Hearn CGCS
4TopekaRd.
Chelmsford, Mass 01824
Home Phone 256-8709
Office Phone 894-5906
Club Affiliation
Weston Golf Club

SECOND VICE PRESII
David Barber CGCS
145DedhamSt.
Canton, Mass 02021
Home Phone 828-7266
Office Phone 828-6540
Club Affiliation
Blue Hill C.C.

SECRETARY
Richard C. Zepp
21 Fowler Rd.
Northbridge, Mass 01534
Home Phone 234-8490
Office Phone 234-2533
Club Affiliation
Whitinsville G.C.

super commented.' 'If members are willing to bring in their
own golf club salespeople, they could dictate our grooming methods to the point where we'd be operating on a
cheap-as-possible basis.
"This jcould lead to substituting reliable and experienced labor for the fly-by-night type, using products
whose reputation is suspect and cutting back to the stage
where everything is boiled down to a catch-can situation.
If they do it in the pro shop, they can do it in the maintenance building."
Therefore, the golf course superintendent should be
concerned with the invasion of the pro shop by the discount house and ally himself with the pro in a joint effort
to stop such shenanigans before they become prevalent.
Some supers may claim this discomforting development
is none of their affairs. However, there is a definite relationship between the super and the pro is carrying out
each's responsibility.
Once the discount theory takes hold in the pro shop, supers must realize it's next stop will be their place of business. Cutback is one thing, ripoff another. Country clubs,
which promote cutting into the financial well-being of
their pros, will not stop there. Next comes a squeeze on
the supers and perhaps a ruthless tightening of the belts in
the clubhouse.
Cheapening the operation only can result in cheapening
of the product and the country club's main product is the
golf course. Think about it.
Gerry Finn

TREASURER
Pete Coste' CGCS
121 Granite St.
Medfield, Mass 02052
Home Phone 359-7247
Office Phone 566-0240
Club Affiliation
The Country Club

TRUSTEE
Tom Schofield CGCS
290 North Rd.
Sudbury, Mass 01776
Home Phone 443-3712
Office Phone 235-7333
Club Affiliation
Wellesley C.C.

TRUSTEE
Paul Miller
173 Salem St.
Swampscot. Mass01907
Home Phone 581 -2808
Office Phone 595-3107
Club Affiliation
Tedesco C.C.

TRUSTEE
Stephen A. Chiavaroli, Jr.
100 Airport Dr.
Worcester, Mass01602
Home Phone 752-0031
Office Phone 791-5373
Club Affiliation
Tatnuck C.C.

FINANCE CHAIRMAN
Robert Johnston CGCS
128Wilbraham Rd.
Hampden, Mass01036
Home Phone 566-3075
Office Phone 566-3096
Club Affiliation
Hampden C.C.

O F

N E W

April Meeting Results
Even with the inclement weather we had quite a turnout for the Guy Tedesco Invitational qualifying. Because
of rain the tournament was played on the front nine of the
Executive course and the hack nine of the Championship
layout. The five qualifying winners were:
Ken Mooridian - first gross 78
John Streeter - 81-10-71
Doug Johnson - 88-17-71
Steve Murphy - 83-12-71
Larry Bunn - First net commercial division 77-7-70
Our thanks to Mark Klimm and the staff at New Seabury
for treating us so warmly on a cold and blustery day. Also
our thanks to Bob Scott from Elanco for his presentation
on Rubigan.

Cold but happy to be playing - (L-R) Ron Kirkman, Steve
Butler, Tom SchoReld, Dave Barber.

What form — Mike Nagle of Worcester CC displaying a
swing that made numerous bogies.

GOLF CHAIRMAN
Stephen M. Murphy
75 Woodland Ave.
Lynn, Mass. 01904
Home Phone 592-2554
Office Phone 592-8238
Club Affiliation
The Gannon G.C.

EDUCATIONAL CHAIRMAN
Antone DeBettencourt
7 Country Club Ln.
Merrimack. N.H. 03054
Home Phone 603-424-5380
Office Phone 475-6638
Club Affiliation
Andover C.C.

NEWSLETTER CHAIRMAN
Douglas W. Johnson, CGCS
50 Newton St.
Weston, Mass 02193
Home Phone 894-7377
Office Phone 893-8264
Club Affiliation
Pine Brook C.C.

PAST PRESIDENT
Ronald Kirkman
25 Green St.
Needham, Mass 02192
Home Phone 444-8412
Office Phone 444-5548
Club Affiliation
Needham Gott Club

E N G L A N D ,

I N C .

Keeper of the Greens
By Wynn Tredway
The keeper of the greens! a guy
Who works and slaves and frets;
He toils at morning, noon and night,
But little thanks he gets.
Bad weather, crab grass, bugs and worms,
They almost drive him nuts;
And one who lost a dime complains,
Because he missed some putts.
Now I'm keeper of the greens,
And I sometimes alibi,
When playing on some foreign course,
And get an awful lie.
But, best one that I yet have heard,
When one guy missed a putt,
"The greens are bad today" he said.
"Because they've not been cut."
The greens were cut that very morn,
The shape of them was fine,
He failed to see how nice they were
Because he took a nine.
Now when the greens had grown quite long,
This guy came back to play,
And after 18 lovely holes,
The gent had this to say:
"The greens are fine and smooth today,
My putter putted swell,
I'm sure you cut them all today,
That I can always tell."
Well, as a keeper of the greens,
I still have this to say,
My job is till a privilege,
Regardless of the pay.
So when they cry, and squawk and moan,
Although the greens are fine,
I just remember how I felt,
the day I took a nine.
continued from page 1
Actually, Guy was the strong, silent type. He liked to operate from the background but his performance was so
dazzling his reputation grew into a colossal state.
"You never could count the number of superintendents
and pros Guy helped along the way," Cowan interjected.
"I think his name was the first to be listed as a reference
on every job application a young candidate filled out. I
know Ms influence was a factor in the good fortune of getting my job at Eastward Ho. Just a remarkable person.
That fits the man perfectly.
So, the Guy Tedesco Memorial Golf Tournament is the
first step towards perpetuating the memory and accomplishments of one of the game's giants.
" W e want to make this opening shot a big one," Cowan
said of the kickoff event. "There's strong feelings to make
it an annual event with our group (GCSANE) picking up the
sponsoring ball after it gets off the ground and is established. This would complete our commitment to Guy and
Ms family."
Guy Tedesco. As Mucciarone noted, he did it all. Now,
comes the time when Ms peers and friends are doing it for
Mm. Applause, applause.
Gerry Finn

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PtccMe
B a c h e r Corporation
8 7 6 Boston Road
Billerica, Mass. 0 1 8 6 6
Tel. 6 1 7 - 2 7 3 - 0 3 9 8
Turf and S n o w Equipment
Baker Tractor Corp., Ford Tractors
Hariey Davidson Golf Cars
Swansea, Mass.
Y a m a h a Golf Cars
Bordens Spreader Service
Maynard, Mass.
Tel. 617-897-2571
Sales Rep. Jack Borden
Bulk Limestone Dealer
C &
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Eric
Tel.

*

I & E Supply, Inc.
6 6 Erna Ave.
B o x 9, Milford, C o n n . 0 6 4 6 0
203-878-0658

Old Fox Chemical Inc.
Fertilizers-Seeds-Turf-Chemicals
6 6 Valley St.
E. Providence, R.I. 0 2 9 1 4

T o m Irwin, Inc.
11B A St., Burlington, Mass.
J a c k Peterson
Dennis Friel
W a y n e Ripley

P r o - L a w n Products Inc.
18 Legate Hill Road
Leominster, Mass. 0 1 4 5 3
Sales Rep. Jerry Kolomick
Richey & Clapper, Inc.
28 Rutledge Rd., Natick, Mass. 0 1 7 6 0

Lakeshore Equipment & Supply Co.
Mike Hannigan, Rep.
Abington, Mass.
800-321-5325

J Lawnmover Service, Inc.
Main Street., Wilmington, Mass. 0 1 8 8 7
O m a n - Sales Representative
617-658-2022

The Clapper Co.
1121 Washington St.
Newton, Mass.
617-244-7929
*

FRIENDS OF THE ASSOCIATION

Sawtelle Bros.
5 6 5 Humphrey St., Swampscott, Mass.
617-599-4856

L a r c h m o n t Engineering and Irrig. Co.
L a r c h m o n t Lane, Lexington, Mass.
617-862-2550

Scott Associates, Inc.
6 0 Water Street, Clinton, Mass.
617-365-6341
Pumps-Sales, service
Installation-Vertical
Turbine pumps specialists

David Loker
9 Crestview Drive
Millis, Mass. 0 2 0 5 4
The Magovern Co. Inc.
27 Lawnacre Road
Windsor Locks, Conn. 0 6 0 9 6
Tel. 1 - 8 0 0 - 2 4 3 - 7 7 1 8 or 1 - 2 0 3 - 6 2 3 - 2 5 0 8
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Geoffrey S. Cornish & Brian Silva
Golf Course Architects - Fiddlers Green, Amherst, Mass. 0 1 0 0 2
C o u n t r y Club Enterprises
C l u b Car Golf Cars
Tennis & Leisure Equipment
P.O. Box 400, W. Falmouth, Mass. 0 2 5 7 4
617-563-2284
C.S. Curran
T.R.C. Products Oils and Greases
7 Linden St., Framingham, Mass.

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1 -800-556-6985
Largest Producer of Penncross in New England
Alan Anderson, Sam Mitchell

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Box 127, C o n c o r d St.
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R.F. Morse & Son, Inc.
W. Wareham, Mass. 0 2 5 7 6
Tel. 6 1 7 - 2 9 5 - 1 5 5 3
J. Willen Roell, Rep.
Larry Bunn, Rep.
N a r d o n e Sand a n d Gravel Co. Inc.
37 Power Rd.
Westford, Mass, 0 1 8 8 6
Boston Area 6 4 8 - 6 2 2 2 ,
Lowell Area 6 9 2 - 8 2 2 1
Robert D. Nardone, Gen. Mgr.

Chester Drake & Sons, Inc.
2 2 2 Walnut St.
Framingham, Mass. 01701
Golf Course Construction
617-875-7929

Scoffs Pro-Turf Div.
Rep! Ed Wiacek 1 -401 - 2 5 3 - 4 2 8 4
Rep. Kevin Lyons 1 - 6 1 7 - 3 6 6 - 4 8 2 5

T u c o Products Corp.
Div. of the Upjohn Co.
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David Sylvester, 2 0 3 - 8 2 8 - 3 7 9 0
Turf Products Corp.
36 S w o r d St.
A u b u r n , Mass. 01501
617-791-2091
Charles Allen, Sales Rep.
*

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Contractors of A m e r i c a
Professional Conservation of Soil
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617-877-5323

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Canterbury, N. H. 6 0 3 - 7 8 3 - 4 7 1 7
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The Charles C. Hart Seed Co.
Weathersfield, C o n n .
B o b Kennedy, Rep.
Roy Sibley, Rep.

White Turf Engineering
5 Summer Dr., W i n c h e n d o n , Mass. 0 1 4 7 5
617-297-0941
Philip W o g a n
Golf C o u r s e Architect
31 Budleigh Ave., Beverly, Mass.

N e w England Sealcoating Co., Inc.
Tennis Court Const, and Maintenance
Sealcoating Hingham Inc. Center
Hingham, Mass. 7 4 9 - 6 8 0 0

Holliston Sand Co., Inc.
L o w l a n d St., Holliston, Mass. 0 1 7 4 6
Sand for topdressing and b u n k e r s

Turf Specialty, Inc.
84 Merrimac St., Hooksett, N.H. 0 3 1 0 6
Turf & Ornamental Supplies
Ken Turner 6 1 7 - 2 6 3 - 7 5 2 6

*

Contributors to the L a w r e n c e S. Dickinson
Scholarship Fund

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DOUGLAS JOHNSON
5 0 N e w t o n St.
Weston, MA 02193

FIRST CLASS
CjU if

(bourse

Superintendents

DOUGLASJOHNSON
Newsletter C h a i r m a n
5 0 N e w t o n St.
W e s t o n , MA 0 2 1 9 3
Home Phone 894-7377
Office P h o n e 8 9 3 - 8 2 6 4
C l u b Affiliation
P i n e B r o o k C.C.
PETE C O S T E '
5 Manager
GERRY FINN
C o n t r i b u t i n g Editor

slssociaiton

F i r s t Class
U . S. P o s t a g e

PAID
Framingham, MA
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