RDC Group Adds Shackamaxon To Roster Of Fine Clubs

The venerable Shackamaxon Golf and Country Club in Scotch Plains, NJ, has been purchased by an affiliate of RDC Golf Group, Inc. (RDC), a leading New Jersey-based golf course ownership and management company. Shackamaxon was founded in 1916 and features a historic A.W. Tillinghast golf course. The championship, par-71 layout boasts one of the most famous holes in the New York-metro area: the ninth-hole island green, one of Tillinghast’s first island green creations.

The club has hosted a number of prestigious events including the 1922, 1937, 1972 and 2002 New Jersey State Golf Association (NJSGA) Open Championship, the 1924 and 1977 NJSGA Amateur Championship, the 1928 Met Open, the 1955 Cavalcade of Golf and the 2010 Women’s Eastern Golf Association Amateur Championship.

The club’s new ownership group combines the golf expertise of RDC Principals Christopher Schiavone and Matthew Galvin with the hospitality experience of Warren Leeds, president of the highly-regarded Whippany, N.J.-based Ome Caterers.

“Shackamaxon is a great private club with a proud history,” said Schiavone. “My partners and I believe that our commitment to high standards, along with the support of a great membership, will ensure Shack’s future as one of New Jersey’s top country clubs.”

Schiavone’s family has been entrenched in New Jersey golf for 46 years, having co-owned Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster since 1965. Schiavone founded RDC in 1993, and shortly thereafter, joined forces with Galvin, who currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Golf Course Owners Association.

The company and its affiliates own and operate the renowned Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Township, NJ, and the family-oriented Tuscawilla Country Club in Orlando, FL. RDC also manages the Gil Hanse-designed public Tallgrass Golf Course in Shoreham, NY, and the daily-fee Putnam National Golf Club in Mahopac, NY.

In addition to writing about golf, Dave Donelson distills the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs into practical advice for small business owners and managers in the Dynamic Manager's Guides, a series of how-to books about marketing and advertising, sales techniques, motivating personnel, financial management, and business strategy.

Swing Science At St Andrews

It may be home to the Old Course, but there's nothing ancient about the teaching facilities at St Andrews. A new biomechanics system has been introduced at St Andrews Links Golf Academy and it promises to measure the golfer's swing in ways you can't imagine. The system was developed by an Olympic athlete to monitor a golfer's movements using small sensors to detect rotational and translational movement of the segments of the body during the swing.

The Advanced Motion Measurement (AMM) System is used by a number of top players on the PGA Tour. The system was developed by Stephen Cheetham and his brother Philip, an Australian gymnast who competed in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. They founded AMM in 2003 to develop motion measurement products which can be used to improve the physical performance of athletes and to reduce the chances of injury.

The data from the swing motion measurement can then be fully analysed using TPI3D analysis software. The team of PGA professionals at the St Andrews Golf Academy, led by director of instruction Steve North, will use the system in their coaching programs to deliver precise swing improvement tips for their clients. It monitors elements such as sway, lift and thrust, pelvis rotation, forward bend and side bend.

“This is an impressive system which will give us a great deal of useful data in terms of analysing clients’ swings and precisely identifying aspects they need to improve,” said Steve. “It captures over 200 different parameters of the swing which will enable us to zero in very quickly on areas of weakness and to monitor improvements in performance. We are focused on delivering the best coaching we can to our clients using instruction techniques tailored to the golfer’s requirements and utilising the most advanced technology available.”

The AMM system is the latest addition to an array of technology used in the Golf Academy including Trackman ball tracking system, SAM PuttLab, K-Vest, SAM BalanceLab, V1 analysis software and online platform. The Golf Academy delivers coaching through its team of four PGA professionals and club fitting services through the Custom Fit Centre.

In addition to writing about golf, Dave Donelson distills the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs into practical advice for small business owners and managers in the Dynamic Manager's Guides, a series of how-to books about marketing and advertising, sales techniques, motivating personnel, financial management, and business strategy.

Paramount Names Steve Scott Head Pro

Steve Scott, who famously battled with Tiger Woods in the 1996 U.S. Amateur, has been named the new head golf professional at Paramount Country Club in New City, NY.

Scott, who played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and had two victories on the Canadian Tour, turned professional in 1999. The now 34-year-old also has been the number-one-ranked amateur in the U.S. (1999), member of two Walker Cup teams and the U.S. World Amateur Team, and winner of both the stroke and match-play sections of the Western Amateur (1999). Scott also competed in the 1996 U.S. Open Championship and 1997 Masters.

“I’m very excited to be coming to Paramount,” Scott said, “a club with a great membership, long history, and outstanding reputation. The course is a hidden gem, one of the best layouts in the Metropolitan Area. It’s a shame more people don’t know more about it, but I certainly hope to help change that.”

For the past three years, Scott was head golf professional at The Ridge at Back Brook in Ringoes, NJ. A three-time All American at University of Florida, course commentator for Golf Channel and teacher at the Golf Digest Instructional Schools, Scott also was assistant golf professional at Canoe Brook Country Club (Summit, NJ), Jupiter Hills Club (Tequesta, Florida), and Hidden Creek Golf Club (Egg Harbor Township, NJ).

Paramount Country Club, founded in 1920, is a private club located on 217 acres of rolling hills high above the Hudson River in Rockland County, NY. The course was originally designed by Golden Age architect A.W. Tillinghast and is currently being renovated by Jim Urbina. When completed, the course will have many of its original strategic elements restored. It also will boast the one-of-a-kind “Reef Hole,” an especially challenging par-3 design that Tillinghast invented and used on some other courses, but exists today only at Paramount.

“I’ve been privileged to work at some of the finest clubs in the country,” said Scott. “I think I have an understanding of great architecture and there is no doubt in my mind that Paramount is right up there with the best of them. When Jim Urbina completes his restoration of Paramount many people will be amazed at what has been covered up for all these years. This is a wonderful opportunity and I can’t wait to get started.”

In addition to writing about golf, Dave Donelson distills the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs into practical advice for small business owners and managers in the Dynamic Manager's Guides, a series of how-to books about marketing and advertising, sales techniques, motivating personnel, financial management, and business strategy.

Check Golf Weather at Golfweather.com

Not sure whether to pack your rain gear? Check out Golfweather.com, an online weather forecast service for golf courses and golf destinations that now provides up-to-the-minute weather conditions at over 16,000 golf courses throughout the U.S. The brainchild of South African entrepreneur Moshe Adir, Golfweather.com offers real-time seven-day forecasts that include temperature, wind speed and direction, comfort level and probability of rain. And it's free!

“We gather raw weather data from renowned meteorological organizations and use my own forecast algorithms and weather models to provide longitude and latitude location-based forecasts for each golf club in the U.S. and around the world, which results in an incredibly accurate picture of what the weather is going to be like there on any given day,” says Adir, a three-handicap golfer. “Our detailed forecast is broken down into three hourly segments for 5a.m., 8a.m., 11a.m., 2p.m., 5p.m. and 8p.m. to give the golfer an understanding of when best to tee off." When I checked the site, times were listed according to a 24-hour clock, so be ready to do a little math.

It’s not only golfers who depend on the weather accuracy of Golfweather.com. Golf course superintendents are now tapping the online source when setting up their courses for the day and deciding on pin positions and tees according to wind directions and strengths.

Golfweather.com was founded in 2009 in South Africa, and by 2010 grew to include Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The free online tool now pinpoints weather at more than 26,000 courses worldwide. Golfweather.com has already released its app service for the iPhone and soon for Android phones.

In addition to writing about golf, Dave Donelson distills the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs into practical advice for small business owners and managers in the Dynamic Manager's Guides, a series of how-to books about marketing and advertising, sales techniques, motivating personnel, financial management, and business strategy.