Strycharz family tradition lives at Oak Ridge GC

AGAWAM - It used to be Feeding Hills farmland.
Corn, lots of corn, was grown on the South Westfield Street property. Tobacco, too.
Then in the early 1970s the tractors arrived and the fields were buried and grass was soon to be the new product.
Developers Julian Bretton of West Springfield and Ron Collins of Westfield had purchased the property and they were planning to build a golf course and a residential community.
Well, one out of two isn't bad.
Bretton and Collins got the golf course built but potential building lots had to be sold to keep the golf course project going.
Finally, on July 1 1974, Oak Ridge Golf Club was officially opened.
Plans drawn up by architects George Fazio and his nephew Tom Fazio were followed. George was a former pro who had turned to designing and Tom just kept digging until he was recognized as one of the world's top golf course architects.
Oak Ridge is not a true Fazio course, however.
For better or worse, Collins was the main man on the No. 1 bulldozer and there was a homemade approach to some of the holes.
But he got the job done and Oak Ridge was a strong addition to the Western Massachusetts golfing community.
Years later, when the Springfield Union-News offered its readers a chance to pick the best holes in WMass, Oak Ridge had five chosen.
But that was after Tony Strycharz, formerly a supermarket owner in Westfield, had bought out first Bretton in 1977, then a year later he became sole owner by purchasing Collins' share.
The course had gone though some ups and downs before Strycharz was in control.
Collins was a fair enough amateur golfer but some of his actions as an owner/operator were bizarre.
And you never knew what kind of conditions to expect, particularly on
the greens.
If you were to play Oak Ridge today you might decide that the builder of the course was a right thinking person.
Give the credit to Strycharz.
"Tony promoted it. It was a rags to riches story. He was a promoter
second to none," said Anthony Strycharz Jr.
Anthony, who would prefer to be called Mono, is now the owner.
He takes very little credit for the excellent golfing facility he presides over but it is clear that he's following a family legacy of striving for quality and always looking to improve and expand.
The club's 19th hole reopened in time for this season, almost doubling the former size. That's the kind of thing Tony Strycharz did.
In 1979 he had a new clubhouse built.
In 1983 a new pro shop was completed.
The 19th hole, which used to be a cart storage area, was created.
A pond was added to the third hole.
With Strycharz it was take charge.
Things were rolling.
Jim Modzelesky had things under control as the club's first and only pro. He had been an assistant pro at Suffield Country Club.
"I was just hunting in 1974. I came over and talked to Ronnie. I got the job," Jim Modzelesky said.
Ken Modzelesky, Jim's brother, also started when the club opened in 1974 and in 1989 he became head superintendent.
As Jim Modzelesky said in a newspaper interview in 1997, the year he was the honored guest of the annual Tee Party, "we all trust each other, and that's what we attribute a lot of our success to."
Lynn Modzelesky, Jim's wife, is another constant presence in the golf shop.
The cast has changed over the years but the solid core remains.
Tony Strycharz sought good fairways and good greens. He sought beauty, too.
There were two staffers whose duties were to keep the club's numerous floral displays in top shape.
The flowers helped provide backgrounds for the club's growing wedding business.
Banquets and outings were also numerous.
Mono easily recalls his early years as the owner's son.
"I washed floors, booked parties, did some cooking, booked outings," he said.
"We want to stay in the same direction. The clubhouse has had three additions. The remodeling of the 19th hole came out nice. We've got 120 outings a year. We've got 500 full and associate members. We don't have too many open days," Strycharz said.
Mono also said that another nine holes could happen down the road and across the road on land the club owns. Six-inch irrigation lines were put into place during the original construction but plans for 27 holes were abandoned.
An emotional period hit the operation when Tony Strycharz became ill in 1988 and his three sons took over the operation in 1989.
Mono, George and Billy Strycharz were the men at the top.
George left in 1992 as his interests changed.
Billy recently left for Colorado,
where skiing is his passion.
Tony passed away a few years ago and his always upbeat presence is missed. But now Mono is continuing what his father started, trying to maintain the popularity among good and not so good golfers on the layout near the Connecticut line.
Under Mono's rule, bunkers were recently upgraded with some 15,000 tons of sand used.
"We reconditioned the bunkers. It hadn't been done in 15 years," Strycharz said.
A switch to easy-to-care-for Providence bent grass greens and added drainage under the sandy soil have helped make Oak Ridge one of the first courses in the area to open each season and one of the most playable year round.
That's why the parking lot and golf course are almost always full.
Jim Modzelesky said Oak Ridge does 45,000 rounds of golf yearly.
Things couldn't be much better than they are today at Oak Ridge.
But it hasn't always been a bed of roses.
On Oct. 3, 1979 a tornado whacked Oak Ridge with a mighty blow.
Trees, large, mature Oaks, and pines, were uprooted and many wound up covering the greens.
"The tornado snapped them like matchsticks," Jim Modzelesy said. "You could see from one end of the course to the other."
"We lost 850 trees 12 inches in diameter or bigger," Ken Modzelesky said.
The course was closed for almost four days.
"We spent days hauling trees away to clear the greens. Many of the members came out and chipped in to help," Ken Modzelesky said.
Hundreds of trees were later planted.
The clubhouse was hardly damaged and soon enough everything was operating again.
Improvements kept coming.
Since the Strycarz family took control trees, flowers, some 20 bunkers and 12 tees have been added.
The course can play from about 6,700 yard (gold) to 6,300 (blue) and, of course, shorter to satisfy any golfer's needs.
The annual Warren Barker four-ball and Miller Eastern Amateur events are the kingpins on the club's busy schedule.
This summer the club will host the Miller Eastern Amateur for the 21st time.
"Tony initiated it. Now it has the largest field of any two-ball in the area," Jim Modzelesky said. The event draws many of the top amateurs from throughout New England with 100-plus teams every year.
"He was one of the first to include ladies and seniors. He had that foresight," Jim Modzelesky said.
The ladies division has faded away but, unlike most tournaments in the area, a female contestant is welcome to play along with a male partner in the Miller Eastern Amateur.
There have been some notable visitors to Oak Ridge over the years.
One of the biggest draws was in 1991 when Bob Hope, then 88 years old, played several holes in the Rocky Marciano Foundation charity event.
Hope, who had done a fund-raiser the day before in the Boston area, was too tired to play 18 holes but he hit a good shot every now and then and cracked a good joke every now and then.
On one hole, when told that he had a shot of about "cart distance" or some 200 yards, Hope said, "Well then I'll hit it with the cart."
He said he had traveled so much that his wife Dolores said he'd only been home three weeks in 57 years of marriage.
"On my birthday last week she gave me a card and wrote "but don't think those three weeks haven't been fun,' " Hope cracked.
Others played there without cracking jokes. They were serious.
An arrangement between Tony Strycharz and former PGA Tour pro Pat McGowan a decade or so ago brought dozens of PGA Tour regulars to the course for a couple of years to play in a charity event in which the pros' scores were counted.
The generally accepted course record of 65 was authored in those events by Keith Fergus and Jeff Lewis .
When McGowan and the pros showed up the first time for the event the tee markers were set back and there were high scores and many complaints. The pros were not happy that Oak Ridge was showing its teeth.
The course record(s) came in the following year, with the course playing considerably shorter.
The pros don't come anymore but it seems like everyone else does.
Oak Ridge GC offers a genuine golfing experience. It is enough course for anyone. Or, you can move up a few sets of tees and smell the flowers along the way.
And, the spirit of Tony Strycharz is ever present.
"He was the best. He could make something out of nothing," his proud
son Mono said.
Clearly, pride shows at Oak Ridge Golf Club.

The Strycharz Legacy

Fran Johnson's to offer merchandise online

WThe Country Club of Greenfield offered a two-person scramble on Saturday, May 12th. With golf continuing all day, a large entry played the 6,317-yard, par 72 layout. The course is in close-to-prime condition this early in the season and the tournament did catch a bit of windy weather during the afternoon. 

At 60, Jack Varner and Dave Kennedy won the event. In with a 63 were Irv Sanders and Harley Savage to capture second. Terry Killeen and Bill Conant took the third slot with a 65, and, the fourth place team of Jim Worden and Dan O'Brien shot a 65. The netters: Mike Duclos and Paul French came in with a 52, and Rob Spencer and Tim Gertes had a 54.

The Cherry Hill Golf Course in Amherst is undergoing some major renovations regarding the course and its structures. Last year the golf course was fully irrigated and some drainage was added. New tees for the third, fifth, sixth and eighth holes add to the playability of "The Hill." The old third hole has been totally re-designed along with the sixth and eighth holes. The continuing efforts of Course Manager & Superintendent, Dan Engstrom and is capable crew are beginning to show some paydirt. 
 
A new clubhouse has been added in the area where the 100 + year old barn, ( old clubhouse,) once stood. A large deck is being constructed, facing the first tee area and the opening is scheduled for the end of May.
 
Could this be the course you've been waiting to play? The Hilltop Golf Course in Goshen, MA is open, and waits to challenge you golfing skills.
That is all nine holes are accessible. Ray Liimatainen, owner, designer and builder, is literally a one-man construction company. After 5-five years of dedicated and hard work, Ray's 2,450 yard, par 68 course is 98% complete. It's a tight track with small, well kept greens and fairways.
Ray's clever design philosophy has added a mountain top course to the area that puts a premium on shot placement and a deft putting touch. Call HillTop at 413.268.7633
The card reads :
1st 475 yds - par 5, 2nd 320 - par 4, 3rd 260 - par 4, 4th 165 - par 3, 5th 280 - par 4 6th 120 - par 3, 7th 340 - par 4, 8th 340 - par 4, 9th 150 - par 3
Don't let the distances influence your egos. Play HillTop and see how you score.
 
The 5th Annual Brian Bogusz Memorial Tournament was played at the Thomas
Memorial Golf & C.C. in Turners Falls. The format is a four person scramble.This popular event had to be played in two flights. The first beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 12th. With ideal weather and course conditions, the leaders after the first flight, with a 9-under par 61, were Mike Griffin, Diane (Hamer) Griffin, Mark Rau and Mike Letourneau.
The afternoon flight, which began at 12:30p.m. saw the weather deteriorate somewhat with a storm front moving through the area. A windy, and sometimes overcast afternoon provided the tournament winners.
With a 13-under 57, the team of Irv Sanders, Bob Caouette, Jr., Bob Caouette, Sr., and Steve Sakowicz took the title by one stroke over the Crumpin Fox entry of Colin Hanley, Craig Berry, Jay Poirier and Eric Bolland. Finishing in the show position at 11-under were Mark Cady, Kevin Koldis, Bob Bogusz and Aaron Uchman.

Palmer planning to summer in NE

Three Western Mass. courses were selected for the "Best Private Courses in Massachusetts" by a panel of voters for the Spring issue of GolfBoston.Com Magazine.
The voters picked the top 25 private courses in the state.
The Country Club in Brookline was #1; Salem Country Club in Peabody was #2; and Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton was #3.
Longmeadow Country Club led the way among the trio of WMass courses as it was chosen #14.
Country Club of Pittsfield was #21 and The Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley was 25th.
Not surprisingly, each of the Western Mass. courses on the list was designed by legendary architect Donald Ross.
Twelve of the top 25 are Ross designs.
Amherst-based architect Geoffrey Cornish designed two of the top 25 and co-designed a third.
Cornish designed The International (#17) in Bolton and Nashawtuc CC
(#19) in Concord. He co-designed Cape Cod National GC (#15) with Brian Silva and Mark Mungeam.
The Country Club, which dates from 1882, gives credit to Willie Campbell for the design, though changes over the years have been numerous.
Salem CC, site of this year's U.S. Senior Open, was designed by Ross in 1925.
Myopia Hunt was designed in 1894 by Herbert Leeds. Myopia was host for four U.S. Opens, the last in 1908.
The rest of the top 25:
4 - Essex County Club; 5 - Kittansett Club; 6 - Winchester CC; 7 - Sankaty Head;
8 - Oyster Harbors; 9 - Nantucket Golf Club; 10 - Eastward Ho! CC;
11 - Worcester CC; 12 -Hyannisport Club; 13 - Brae Burn CC; 16 - Willowbend Club; 18 - The Ridge Club;
20 - Pleasant Valley CC; 22 - Oak Hill CC; 23 - Charles River CC; 24 - Plymouth CC.

There's a lot of talk about the new player on the Western Massachusetts golf scene

DOWN THE FAIRWAYS

Longmeadow CC has a new bunker mentality