Home Green Shows Support for First Tee

Home Green Advantage lays out the green carpet for First Tee

A 50-ft. putting green was the center of attention at the Fifth Annual 19th Hole on the Park fundraiser for The First Tee Metropolitan New York held recently at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan to benefit TFTMNY’s Path to College Program. Guests at the event competed in various laughter-fueled contests on the green supplied by Michael Lehrer, President and CEO of Home Green Advantage.

"Each year at our 19th Hole on the Park fundraiser, Michael donates his time and efforts to set up a 50-foot putting green in the center of the ball room. It is the highlight of the evening and our guests absolutely love trying to make that long putt," said Kate Keller, Director of Member Services, Public Relations, and Special Events and Young Benefactors Co-Founder. "Since day one, Michael has been a great supporter of the Young Benefactors and of The First Tee of Metropolitan New York."

Armonk, NY-based Home Green Advantage has been providing the putting green for the past several years at the event, allowing party goers to challenge one another and themselves to see who can make an elusive hole-in-one. Aside from this contribution, Lehrer has personally donated approximately $10,000 to the Metropolitan Golf Association Foundation since 2008.

"I've worked with Michael on various projects including a putting green for the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at the Westchester Medical Center, a putting and chipping green at our MGA headquarters in Elmsford, a putting green and tee-line project at our First Tee facility at the Fairchild Wheeler Golf Course in Bridgeport, CT, and on a significant tee and putting green renovation project at our First Tee facility at Weequahic Park in Newark, New Jersey," says MGA Executive Director Jay Mottola. "In each of these cases, Michael exceeded expectations, while at the same time donating part of his services for the good of the game."

The MGA foundation continues to lead efforts to make golf accessible for young people of all ages with their junior competitions, educational programs, caddie academies, and the many other programs and events. As a golf enthusiast and longtime supporter of the foundation, Lehrer understands the significance of the organization.

“I am a firm believer in giving back to the community and helping out the game of golf," Lehrer said. “First Tee does a wonderful job with the kids and I am happy to help them achieve their goals.”

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Antigua Previews Spring Men's Collection

The Antigua Group has introduced the Antigua Spring 2015 Men's Golf Collection featuring the all-new Desert Dry™ Performance Cotton apparel.

"We're very excited about our Spring 2015 Men's Golf Collection," says Ron McPherson, President and CEO of Antigua. "Response to the bright colors, fantastic new styling, and the advanced moisture-wicking technology has been outstanding. This promises to be our best-selling men's collection to date."

Antigua's Spring 2015 Men's Golf collection is loaded with technology. The exclusive Desert Dry™ technology absorbs and wicks moisture quickly and evenly, achieving the most-efficient evaporation possible to keep you comfortable and dry. This year, Antigua has taken Desert Dry™ moisture management technology and constructed fabrics with fine cotton fibers blended with synthetic filaments to create Desert Dry™ Performance Cotton. Customers have been requesting a more casual fabric, without compromising the wicking capabilities of the poly fabrics.

Meanwhile, Desert Dry™ Xtra-Lite combines the Desert Dry™ moisture-wicking feature with specially constructed ultra-light fabrics that feel like cozy cotton, but handle perspiration like poly.

The Spring 2015 Men's Golf Collection includes 11 new shirt styles featuring proprietary Desert Dry and Desert Dry Xtra-Lite technology, as well as an assortment of pullovers, jackets, shorts, vest and hats.

"Antigua's Men's Performance 72  Collection - Spring 2015 reflects the inspiration of defined and refined lines and angles both symmetric and asymmetric," says Sean Gregg, Antigua's director of product development and marketing support. "Each piece offers this distinction from our newly introduced style Soul with its high-low horizontal multi-wale double knit stripe in solid colors to style Vantage with its contrasting elastic taping details that highlight the styles linear raglan form."

Some highlights:

Illusion: This 100 percent polyester Desert Dry™ Xtra-Lite short sleeve polo marries the appeal of a solid with the subtlety of a stripe by blending engineered yarns that reflect or absorb light with opposing results giving the 'illusion' of an engineered stripe pattern. Offered in seven colors.

Asset: The long-sleeve quarter-zip pullover has a 92 percent polyester and 8 percent spandex jersey face with brushed back knit. It sports an open cuff, tail bottom, self fabric collar, and contrast taping detail at top sleeve seam.

Crux: This is a 100 percent polyester yarn dye heather, double-knit interlock long sleeve quarter-zip pullover that has a contrast color sleeve, shoulder inset and collar. With coverstitch detail, it's offered in five colors.

Dune: This Desert Dry™ lightweight ripstop woven short is made of 100 percent nylon. It boasts hook & loop back welt pockets and on-seam slash pockets in front.

Fiji: The printed plaid pattern on this 95 percent polyester and 5 percent spandex Desert Dry™ moisture-wicking lightweight dobby back, texture-woven short looks great. It's complemented by front on-seam pockets with back hook & loop pockets.

Striker: Features an irregular linear repeat of neutral ground shades offset with a regularly repeated pop accent color stripe tying back to the same palette.

Zone: An update to 'the golf stripe' style, it offers a background of this season's color palette that offsets a neutral charcoal pointelle mesh knit, in a narrow automatic repeat stripe. Side inset mesh panels mirror the ground and collar colors while adding performance breathability.

Radar: Updates the classic golf shirt with a faux raglan sleeve accented along the top with contrast pop color, meeting up the collar tipped in the same shade. Offered in neutral ground colors, white, black and shades of grey with the inset under-sleeve and side panels pulling from the dominant neutral color and separating it into a tonal neutral stripe effect.

"This season's collection is complemented by the addition of prints," adds Gregg. "In addition to the fashion inspired linear cut-and-sew body details and in keeping with the linear inspiration, proprietary prints have been created to incorporate the palette and maintain the theme. From thin symmetrically balanced 'pin-striping' on a style like Linear, which emulates the look of rhythm and speed with angular dark contrasting side chest print to the asymmetric silicone multi-color, geometric-stepped chest print in tonal and neutral, complementing print shades as used on style Image. Meanwhile, the style Psych embraces a contrasting full front panel honeycomb print pattern in color against neutral backgrounds, and is set in to the front body with linear engineered seams."

Additionally this season, Antigua has reintroduced some fashion Performance 72 classics - updated in performance fabrics and offered in new colors representing the seasonal palette.  Style Major has been a popular performance spin on the classic 50-50, color-to-white horizontal feed stripe with a matching flat knit collar. Style Rush has carried forward in new colors and represents fashion newness with its self-fabric collar and dress shirt-inspired collar band, and updates the classic narrow pin stripe with added flexibility and a soft-touch fabric hand that includes spandex. Less classic and more staple, style Titan is a derivative of Antigua's own essential style Icon with its pique, single wale one-inch repeating texture stripe and seam-engineered contrasting color filament chain stitch. Titan's newness is demonstrated in its dual color spun micro-filament yarn knit, to offer a heather appearance in all the neutral ground shades.

Antigua has also developed several new styles with "self-flat knit collars" that invoke a self-collar appearance with the stability of a yarn-dyed flat knit collar. These include the irregular stripe body fabric pattern of style Trend; style Striker, which incorporates a pop color body fabric stripe and places it as a collar-tipped edge; and style Hue that utilizes the same concept adopting the narrowly repeated neutral body stripe as a matching collar effect.

This season's newly developed color palette also contributes to the collection's fashion appeal. After seasons of color building to a crescendo which piqued with the cleanest of bright shades, this season's inspired palette has transcended to a softer range with less flare and vibrancy. The shades are not muted, though they lack the intensity of seasons past. The color names similarly reflect their inspired depth of saturation. In addition to maintaining optic white as the base around which this Spring '15 collection's colors revolve, colors Papaya, Pistachio, Purple Haze, Chambray and Electric are a new balance of scaled-back brights that retain the sportswear appeal while being cleverly fashion friendly.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Aulenti Honored by LPGA

Angela Aulenti

Angela Aulenti of Sterling Farms has been selected by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) to receive the 2014 Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award.  The national honor recognizes an outstanding member of the LPGA’s Teaching and Club Professionals division who reflects qualities valued by Hall of Fame legend Lopez: leadership, passion, giving and approachability. Aulenti is the Head Golf Professional at Stamford’s Sterling Farms Golf Club and also Director of Golf for the town’s E. Gaynor Brennan Golf Course,

Aulenti, the first female head golf professional in Connecticut, combines a reputation as an expert clubfitter with her dedicated and superior teaching skills.  Her year-round indoor facility at Sterling Farms provides the most current technology and precise fitting analysis for golfers of all ability levels.

“Angela is a wonderful example of true, passionate leadership, not only within the LPGA and PGA, but in her community and in the golf industry as a whole,” said Nancy Henderson, Chief Teaching Officer of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals and LPGA Foundation President.
“She is a tremendous role model in the same spirit as Nancy Lopez and a deserving recipient.”

“Being the recipient of the 2014 Nancy Lopez Award is the crowning achievement of my professional career,” Aulenti stated.  “Nancy and I played junior golf together and Nancy has been a tremendous role model not just for professional golfers but for all female golfers worldwide.  Nancy is and always will be a true legend in our sport.  There are no words to express the significance of this honor.”

Aulenti, a PGA and LPGA member, currently is in her third term as president of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals’ Northeast Section.  In 2012, she was inducted into the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.  Aulenti has won numerous awards for her excellent service and commitment to the game, including the 2011 LPGA Professional of the Year and the 2014 Callaway National Clubfitter of the Year Award.  She resides in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Dress Up Your Driver

When you look better, there's a spring in your step, a song in your heart, and by golly, you just perform better, too.  With that principle in mind, ClubCrown by VIVE has introduced a product to make your driver (or other metal wood) look better on the tee.  Will it help you hit the ball longer and straighter?  Who knows!  But at least there will be a spring in your swing when you look down at that striking new club in your hand.

Actually, the ClubCrown Stripe should help with alignment, which can't hurt your performance.  Best of all, the ClubCrown Stripe can be self-installed in minutes and it costs only $19.99.  I watched the installation video (which lasts about four minutes), then put the stripe on my driver in less than ten minutes--total--and got it absolutely right the first time.  Easy!  Here are the actual before and after results....

Cool, huh?  Here's the instruction video...



"The STRIPE allows golfers to customize the crown of their club for only $19.99 and gives them the added benefit of serving as an alignment aid," says Andrew Glaser, Founder and CEO of the company. "Just like the original ClubCrown, the STRIPE can be removed and won't damage a club's finish. Every design we make has fantastic alignment properties and, at the same time, gives your clubs a very cool look and feel. All STRIPES are the same width as a golf ball and our proprietary alignment method ensures that the stripe always goes straight back. The customized alignment properties of the STRIPE are totally unprecedented in golf, especially at this amazing price point."

The STRIPE is offered in over 70 collegiate and military designs, plus many other exciting patterns. for more information or to order, visit www.clubcrownstripe.com.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Kananaskis Country Golf Gets $18 Million to Rebuild

Golfers in or headed to the Canadian Rockies were heartened by the announcement that the provincial government in Alberta is going to spend $18 million to rebuild the 36-hole Kananaskis Country Golf Course complex. Work to refurbish the courses to their original design and protect them from future flooding is expected to begin later this year.

A favorite of Albertans and global tourists alike, the Robert Trent Jones-designed Mt. Lorette and Mt. Kidd courses have been closed since the June, 2013, flood.  In addition to the golf courses, the Alberta government also committed $60 million to restore campgrounds, day-use areas and recreation trails.

“We’re deeply gratified by the news and what it means to the community, our team, local businesses and provincial tourism,” said Kananaskis Country Golf Course General Manager Darren Robinson, who has been with the at KCGC for 17 years.

A 2011 study showed the significance of Kananaskis Country Golf Course to the province as it produced a net economic impact of $14 million while sustaining 175 full-time equivalent jobs. KCGC hosted an annual average of 60,000 rounds in its last five years of operation and 85 percent of those golfers were Albertans – who receive a reduced rate.

“Kananaskis Country’s economic impact over the past 30 years cannot be overstated,” said Darren Cooke, General Manager at Canmore Golf & Curling Club and Canadian Rockies Golf spokesperson. “The re-opened courses and other recreational activities will immediately provide more leisure options for all Albertans, as well as significantly more tourists and revenue for Alberta and the Canadian Rockies destination overall.”

Known for its inspiring beauty and pristine, unspoiled natural setting, Kananaskis Country joins other acclaimed Canadian Rockies Golf partners as regular fixtures in yearly “best of” rankings by Score Golf and Canadian Golf Magazine. The two separate and distinct championship courses at KCGC are surrounded by rugged mountains towering 10,000 feet above sea level and are named after two of the towering limestone peaks that serve as their backdrop.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Tamarack Hosts Senior Am Qualifying

Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, CT, will host a strong field of senior golfers trying to qualify on August 27 for a spot in the 60th U.S. Senior Amateur Championship.  The prestigious tournament for players 55 years of age and older will be contested at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, California, from September 13 to the 18th.   In all, some 51 golf clubs around the country were selected to host a qualifier, and August 27th is the final day to determine who will make the field.

Among the group of Tamarack registered players are Dick Siderowf, one of America’s most renowned amateurs and a member of Century Golf Club in Purchase, New York, and George Zahringer III, a member of Deepdale Golf Club on Long Island, who won the 2013 British Senior Amateur, the 2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur, multiple Long Island Amateurs, as well as four consecutive Met Amateur Championship titles.

Tamarack, which opened for play in 1929, is celebrating 85 years as one of the premier clubs in the region and one of only a handful of original Charles Banks designs.  Banks learned his craft from his association with legendary Golden Age architects Seth Raynor and C.B. Macdonald.  His first project was the Yale Golf Course, which opened in 1926.  Nicknamed “Steam Shovel Charley” because of his use of the new machine in moving massive amounts of earth to create elevated greens and deep greenside bunkers, Banks left an exquisite signature sandy footprint on Tamarack’s par-5 17th hole aptly named “Big Bertha.”

The superbly maintained layout boasts an incredible number of famous European classic hole designs including:  the stunning long “Biarritz” par-3 (the 12th); a “Redan” (the 7th); the “Eden” (the 3rd); a “Road Hole” (the 14th); the “Short” (the 15th) and a “Punchbowl” green on the 11th.  

Tamarack gained local fame as co-host of the popular Ike Championship during its formative years from 1953 to 1962.   The Ike was named in honor of former President Eisenhower, who personally approved the competition, and many of the top name amateurs of the day who were affiliated with Met area clubs competed for this prestigious title.  The name Tamarack refers to a species of pine indigenous to the region.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf

Take Me Home to Sebasco Harbor Resort

Sebasco Harbor Resort Hole #2

I spend a lot of time in fabulously fancy resorts and play many famous, perfectly-manicured golf courses, but I can't remember having a better time than my wife and I did recently at relaxed, comfortable Sebasco Harbor Resort in Maine.  It's got all the amenities you could want including one you can't find everywhere regardless of the price you pay--the feeling that you've come home.

That sense of belonging exists in spades at the spunky nine hole golf course, which I played four times during our five-day stay despite having promised my wife I wasn't even going to bring my clubs on this trip.  It was just too much fun to pass up!  The fourth round was actually a scramble tournament played with both locals and resort guests (including men, women, and kids) that was pure enjoyment.  I had to leave before the final scores were posted to make it to dinner with my long-suffering wife, but stopped by the clubhouse to check the results afterward. It was closed, but head pro Bruce Olson happened to be walking off the course after playing a quick twilight nine, recognized me, and congratulated me on our team's win! The feeling couldn't have been warmer at my home club.

The Sebasco Harbor track is challenging, especially for a resort course. It has a couple of quirky holes to make it interesting and enough length in several places to put your full game to the test.  Tees range from 4,728 to 6,092 yards (for a double circuit to make 18 with a par of 72) and a rating/slope of 70.6/123 from the tips. The layout lies in the hills above the harbor and winds through trees, not home sites, so you can relax and enjoy your game without worrying about driving into somebody's patio.

The signature hole is the 145-yard second hole, a par three that plays over water to a severely-sloped two-tier green.  I barely missed a hole-in-one the first time I played it, then four-putted the next day.  The third hole is one of the most challenging short par fives you'll find anywhere.  It's only 471 yards, but the tee shot is a forced carry to a sharp dogleg left that forces you to leave the driver and maybe even your three wood in the bag.  The green is still reachable in two, but only if your standard 230-yard fairway shot can thread a tree-lined fairway that's less than 20 yards wide in spots.

Three short par fours (the fourth, fifth, and eighth) are offset by the brutal 400-yard uphill dogleg seventh hole, which requires a perfectly-placed drive and a well-aimed mid iron to reach the green in regulation.  The nine ends with a fun birdie opportunity, the 501-yard ninth which has a generous fairway and a dogleg that's navigable by most players. My scramble partners and I put an eagle on our card--probably the winning one-stroke margin.

One of the great bonus golf features of Sebasco Harbor is the Lake Course, a three-hole track made up of holes that were at one time part of the main course until it was rebuilt by new owners in 2001.  The 176-, 204-, and 280-yard holes are perfect for kids, non-golfers, and players of all ages who want to squeeze in a few more holes.  The cost? A whopping $12 to play as much as you like.  The regular course, by the way, is only $45 for 18 holes.

As much fun as I had on the golf course, I still managed to tear myself away from it long enough to do some biking, hiking, and sea kayaking with my wife, visit a couple of nearby towns to do some shopping, site-seeing, and have lunch with some old friends, and enjoyed several lobster dinners at the best dining spot in Maine, Anna's Water's Edge Restaurant, where there were far more locals than tourists every time we were there. The resort also offers excellent dining options plus an addictive ice-cream and coffee stand.  There's a spa as well, plus every conceivable outdoor activity you could want (most of them free!), not to mention an indoor recreation center with vintage candlepin bowling and dozens of other options for rainy days.

The best amenity of all, though, was the people. Staff members were friendly without being cloying and couldn't have been more helpful.  From the time we arrived, they made us feel totally at home.

Among many other books, Dave Donelson is the author of Weird Golf: 18 tales of fantastic, horrific, scientifically impossible, and morally reprehensible golf