of the
Art Quinn Memorial Golf League begins 20 years ago at a rag-tag little golf
course in East Greenbush called Pheasant Hollow
(affectionately renamed "Peasant Hollow" by those of us who remember
its shaggy fairways and threadbare greens). There, Billy
Smith and Phil Mangione collected an
equally rag-tag bunch of fellows they called The Pebble Beach Golf
League. Over the next couple of years Billy and Phil's league outgrew Pheasant Hollow and they moved it to Cordial Greens in East Greenbush (now called Evergreen Country Club) where it evolved into 40 members with Billy and Phil at the helm. The season-ending outings during this time period were fairly grand overnight affairs with two days of golf and dinners. And shocking as it may sound to today's modern golfer, some league members would even bring their wives! (Thank heaven somebody finally remembered that GOLF stands for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden).
Twelve years ago, Phil and Billy grew unhappy with the management at Evergreen and decided to move their league to a new venue. Art Quinn and John Buono, two of the original members, also decided to leave Evergreen along with them, as did several other of the Pebble Beach Golf Leaguers. So they picked up stakes, renamed themselves the Prestwick Golf League, and moved to Burden Lake Country Club in Schodack, New York. The Burden Lake golf course is a tough old gal whose nasty nature lurks beneath a veneer of friendly, inviting, even luxuriant green. For 76 years - since 1927 - this course has smiled as she pounces, happily gobbling up the pride and confidence of hapless golfers. The Prestwick Boys had found themselves a home.
Sadly, some years ago, Art Quinn, one of the original Pebble Beach members, passed away suddenly and it was decided by The League that they should rename themselves in Art's honor. He was a great friend to many of the members and he is remembered with a smile and a pang even today.
The Art Quinn Memorial Golf League has gone
through some changes over the years. Phil Mangione left to join another club
along with his good friend Doug "Poop" Specter, and the Art Quinn League misses
their robust and philosophical presence. And we miss our chum Brian Sullivan
who, like Art Quinn, passed away while we weren't looking, leaving us shaken
and sad that we weren't allowed to say "So long, Brian, our good friend." Billy
Smith left just a few seasons ago, and losing Bill is a little like taking the
wolverine from the rabbit warren - perhaps it's a little less tense, but it
sure is a heckuva lot less interesting, too. And Nick Bellini decided to say
farewell, too. Although Nick wasn't an original Pebble Beacher, he was about as
close as you can come. Nowadays, Nick spends his time with the ladies... at the
scrapbook store. So conversation with Nick has, um, changed of late. Instead
of, "I'm going to take out my 3-iron and cut it around this dogleg," he'll say,
"I'm going to take out my crimping shears and cut around this fabulous Wild
Asparagus paper... simply scrumptious!" If you're a friend, you'll pretend
not to notice. And if you happen to walk into
Captured Moments scrapbook store, don't snicker at
the "Scrap-Daddy" tee-shirt he'll be wearing - he may have grown a little light
in the loafers, but he can still pack a mean girly punch.
A lot of character went with those boys, but we've picked up a lot of character along the way. The robustness of the original Prestwick Boys can still be found in the likes of Big Jack Thorpe, and Ferd "Baby Tees" Haverly, and "No Shoes" Glenn Olf, and Roger "Look I'm A Statue" Marschke, and Peter "The Pipe" Larsen, and Tom "You Should See What's In My Basement" Mooney, and Doc "Yeah, I'm Related To The Actor" Devane, and Dave "Rich and Robust" Coffey, and Bob "Email to Shame a Saint" Asche, and Chris "I'm not Shemp" Sager, and John "December Molasses" Wall, and, of course, the Brothers EnoSarsfield. Today, the whole of the history of the league lives in the person ofJohn Buono. He is the only member of the present day league who was also a member of the mother league. John also happens to be the biggest son-of-a-bitch the Art Quinn league has, so if you want to hear him tell some tales about our past, be prepared to take some abuse and be happy about it.
This is a good and hearty league of men.
So here's to absent friends, and here's to The Art Quinn Memorial Golf League.
| Year | President | Vice President/ Treasurer | Outing Site |
| 1991 | Art Quinn | Doug Specter | Hiland Golf Course |
| 1992 | Mike Stoffels | Don Filkens | Cranwell GC |
| 1993 | Paul Fiore | Bob Wygant | Columbia CC |
| 1994 | Frank Cicio | Nick Bellini | Waubeeka CC |
| 1995 | John Buono | Joe Kelly | Carvel GC |
| 1996 | Tod Swetkowski | Billy Smith | Segalla CC (now Silo Ridge) |
| 1997 | Phil Burtt | Roger Marschke | Leatherstocking GC |
| 1998 | Kieth McNab | Jack Thorpe | Hiland Golf Course |
| 1999 | Glen Olf | Billy Smith | Straton GC |
| 2000 | Kevin Sarsfield | Carl Eno | Hannah GC |
| 2001 | Ferd Haverly | Roger Marschke | Thunderhart GC |
| 2002 | Bill Cotant | Carl Eno | Saratoga Lake CC |
| 2003 | Phil Burtt | Kevin Sarsfield | Conklin Players Club |
| 2004 | Peter Larson | Dave Coffee | Berkshire Hills Country Club |
| 2005 | Jack Thorpe | Carl Eno | Apple Greens CC |
| 2006 | John Wall | Carl Eno | Rome CC |
| 2007 | Dave Coffey | Carl Eno | Crumpin' Fox |
