News

A monthly column from the NYSGA's Executive Director, Bill Moore

This is my 20th year as Executive Director of the NYSGA, and I thought it would be interesting this season to take a quick look back at where we were when I started and how far we have come.  

I joined the NYSGA in July of 2003 - although I did have a couple of summers where I served as a USGA P.J. Boatwright Intern for the NYSGA in 1997 & 1998.  We had a small office in the attic of Bellevue Country Club that had no air conditioning which made for some very hot afternoons.  Pat Keenan, the Executive Director at the time, was a longstanding member at the club and they were generous enough to give us the space to keep our tournament supplies, our laptop, and a fax machine.  The good news was that our staff at the time only ran our State Championships so we were able to make it work within the space.  GHIN & Course Rating services were handled by an independent contractor who worked for the NYSGA for many years - Mark Conradt.  NYSGA and USGA qualifiers were handled regionally by an army of volunteers who handled all the logistics.  We played a lot of afternoon golf in those days.

It still got pretty tight in that room with Patrick and I, as well as our Boatwright Intern, Chris Kinslow. I was glad when the Committee approved my request to rent permanent office space down the road at a small office park beginning in the Spring of 2004. There we enjoyed 600 square feet of space and even sunk a regulation putting cup into the floor for some off-season practice.  I brought my Dad in to answer the phone and then we hired our first full time Director of Handicapping - Scott Gerbereux - in 2006.  In 2010 we brought on Andrew Hickey as a Tournament Manager, and to lead our series of “State Days” (handicapped events now called the Amateur Series).  By then we were quickly outgrowing that space as well. 

In 2014 our Board made the decision to purchase our own office space and we are still here today, the owners of a building in Jamesville.  Our staff now consists of 5 full time employees, 5 seasonal employees/interns, 2-3 dogs, and we store what seems to be an ever growing amount of tournament supplies and infrastructure. 

This space acts as a headquarters from where we serve our 256 member clubs and over 35,000 golfers.  We are also able to use our facility to conduct training seminars for our volunteers, host meetings, and provide working and meeting space for our regional golf association partners.

I am not sure where the next 20 years will take our organization, but I know that we have a permanent home here that can accommodate that growth.  I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

Next Month: A look back at Handicapping