Ryan Mccormick, Baltusrol Golf Club, Feted At 2012 Celebration Of Golf
PHOTO CAPTION: From left, R.J. Donnelly of Player of the Year sponsor Donnelly Construction, Mark McCormick of Suburban G.C. accepting Player of the Year award for his son Ryan, NJSGA president Tom McGovern
The 9th annual Celebration of Golf awards dinner on October 18 at the Crestmont Country Club in West Orange put an official close on the 2012 New Jersey competitive golf season.
The event enabled both the NJSGA and the NJPGA to recognize award winners and those who have made special contributions to golf in New Jersey as well as review highlights of their respective golf seasons.
Once again, the Celebration of Golf was a well-attended and fun evening with Bill Raftery of CBS Sports at the helm as master of ceremonies.
For the NJSGA, Ryan McCormick of Suburban Golf Club was recognized as the Player of the Year. after he enjoyed an amazing summer.
McCormick, 20, became only the fifth player in history to win the NJSGA and MGA Amateurs in the same year and the first since 1949. He also was within one stroke of winning the Met Open, but nonetheless won low amateur honors. He would have become the first golfer ever to win all three in the same summer.He also won the New York City Amateur for a second straight year.
The 2012 NJSGA Player of the Year Award recognizes the top amateur player in the state. Sponsored by Donnelly Construction, Player of the Year is a year-long points accumulation contest that rewards top finishes in a number of NJSGA, MGA, and USGA championships and club invitationals. R.J. Donnelly represented the company at the dinner.
“I wish to thank my family and friends for their support, not only this year, but through my entire life. It’s great to share this award with them,” read his father, Mark McCormick, head professional at Suburban Golf Club, from a letter Ryan had prepared. Ryan was playing for St. John’s University in a collegiate tournament in Orlando.
“Two pros, Tom Jaeger and Mike Diffley, helped me set goals before the year and I was really close to achieving all of them. I wish to thank the NJSGA for their time in setting up events. Steve Foehl, Mike McAneny and Rick Kennedy have always treated me in the same professional manner. I’d also like to thank the members of Suburban , my second home. They have been a second family to me.
“I am honored to be NJSGA Player of the Year and hope to be back next year,” wrote Ryan McCormick, who was runner-up to Mike Miller of Knollwood for Met Player of the Year honors. McCormick defeated Miller in the semifinals en route to his Met Amateur championship at Hollywood.
Baltusrol Golf Club was recognized as the Caddie Scholarship Foundation Club of the Year for its long history in supporting the program and in leading the NJSGA in donations to the Caddie Scholarship. This year, six caddies from Baltusrol received scholarship grants from the NJSGA Caddie Scholarship Foundation.
“Baltusrol Golf Club represents everything great and good about the game of golf. The members have shared their golf course for national, regional and state events,” said Ed Batta, Chairman of the NJSGA Caddie Scholarship Foundation.“Baltusrol is a tremendous supporter of the Caddie Scholarship Foundation. This year, it took over the No. 1 spot from Rock Spring by donating $52,950 and was also No. 1 in 2004. In the last 10 years, its members have contributed $390,000.”
Also in the Club category, Hamilton Farm Golf Club was recognized as the Club of the Year. Hamilton Farm has helped raise funds for the New Jersey Golf Foundation, the charitable arm of the NJPGA. In accepting the award, Director of Golf Matt Freitag emphasized Hamilton Farm’s commitment to supporting local and regional golf and their related programs.
In the major PGA Professional award categories, Bryan Jones of Black Oak Golf Club was honored as Golf Professional of the Year and Brian Gaffney as NJPGA Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
“At some point, you have to group the things that are important to you. For me, it’s teaching, the rules and service,” said Jones, former NJPGA president and a member of the PGA rules committee for 16 years. “A key word associated with my career is ‘opportunity.’ It’s the opportunity that golf provides to all of us every day.”
Gaffney, who played in the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club in particular thanked his wife, Allison, “who has allowed me to dream and to set goals. I’ve had a chance to touch great things in golf.”
The final presentation of the evening was the Distinguished Service Award, granted jointly by the NJSGA and NJPGA. This year, it was awarded to Haresh Tharani of the New Jersey Golf Foundation.
The principal and chairman of Tharanco Group, the parent company for various innovative fashion and textile-related companies in the US and across parts of the world, Haresh gives his time and support within his industry to Fashion Delivers, a charitable foundation that has mobilized the fashion community to affect the world through their fund-raising efforts.
The Greg Norman Collection of sportswear for men and women is part of the Tharanco Group.
He is also a driving force behind Children’s Hope India in bringing aid and academic opportunity to children in need. Haresh is known to many as a sponsor and patron of numerous other meaningful charitable endeavors.
An avid golfer and a member at Brooklake Country Club and Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, Haresh brings this same sense of passion, commitment and love for the game to support the New Jersey Golf Foundation in its continued efforts and initiatives giving young golfers an opportunity to experience and enjoy the sport of golf.
In 2011, Haresh received the Chairman’s Award from the New Jersey Golf Foundation presented annually to an individual who, behind the scenes, has been an integral part of the NJ Golf Foundation’s early successes.
“Haresh’s support of the New Jersey Golf Foundation is unparalleled and vital to the success of the organization,”said NJPGA executive director Scott Kmiec. “He has been involved in many charitable endeavors to support the game we love. And he didn’t support golf to share the accolades like many others. Thanks to him, the N.J. Golf Foundation touches over 100,000 kids.”
“Golf teaches you about life and that’s just fantastic. That’s what the game of golf stands for,” Tharani said. “I am truly blessed to be part of this great golf community and have it be part of the life we all share. One thing I believe in is to treat others exactly like the way you would like to be treated yourself.”
--Mike Moretti
