A Chronicle of the
Philadelphia PGA and its Members
by Peter C. Trenham
The Leaders and The Legends
2010 to 2019
Leaders
Mark Christopher Anderson
Mark Anderson was born in Massachusetts in 1967. At age 14 he began playing golf at the Braintree Municipal Golf Course. Teenagers were able to play golf there for $5 and the golf professional Warren Birch provided clubs for a small fee. After graduating from high school he attended college at Florida Southern University where he went out for the golf team. Competing at Florida Southern, his golf game began to take shape. From there he transferred to Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he played on the golf team for three years, graduating in 1992. He turned pro and worked at Indiana Country Club for three years. In 1995 Anderson arrived in the Philadelphia Section as the assistant at Centre Hills Country Club. The next year he moved to the Golden Oaks Golf Club as the teaching professional and within a few months he was promoted to the head professional position. Two years later he became the head professional at the Heidelberg Country Club where he stayed for eight years. In 2006 and 2007 he was the professional at the Talamore Country Club. In 2008 he decided to give his full attention to teaching golf, moving to the Philadelphia Cricket Club as a teaching professional. With that he became the coach of the University of Pennsylvania women’s golf team. In his second year as their coach, his team won the Ivy League championship which was held at Baltusrol Golf Club, by 22 strokes. It was the first time the University of Pennsylvania’s women had won the Ivy League golf championship. In 2012 he was the Philadelphia Section’s Teacher of the Year. At the Cricket Club he came up with an innovative idea called the Breakfast Club, where he provided golf instruction from 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. In 2004 he was elected to the Philadelphia PGA board as a district director. Two years later he was elected secretary for 2006 and 2007. He was vice president in 2008 and 2009. In the fall of 2009 he was elected Section president for 2010 and 2011. In 2018 he qualified for the 2019 PGA Professional Championship.
Ian Robert Dalzell
Ian Dalzell was born in Northern Ireland in 1971. At the age of seven he began playing golf at the Portstewart Golf Club where his entire family were members.. When he reached college age he also began playing golf nearby at Royal Portrush Golf Club. He attended the University of Ulster graduating in 1994. His father ran a golf tournament for 21 years called the Causeway Coast Golf Tournament, growing it from 250 players to over 1,000 entries from many countries around the world, a distinction that earned him an MBE from the Queen. In 1991, while in college, Dalzell met a contestant in the tournament by the name of Jay Cranmer who was building a golf course in New Jersey. The man invited Dalzell to visit New Jersey for the summer and work on the construction of the golf course and help out in the Pro Shop. The course was Laurel Creek Country Club. After going back to Ireland to finish college, Dalzell then moved to the states and turned pro, spending the next two summers working at a golf resort in Catskill region of New York (1995-1996). In 1997 he started working as an assistant at the Redding Country Club in Connecticut for four years. In 2001 he became a PGA member and arrived in the Philadelphia Section as the head professional at the newly opened Hidden Creek Golf Club. At Hidden Creek he was involved with starting a brand new golf program with all of its tournaments and awards along with operational procedures and policies. He became Assistant General Manager in 2004, and was awarded the General Manager/Head Golf Professional title in 2005. In 2011 Dalzell moved to Huntingdon Valley Country Club as the head professional. At Huntingdon Valley he grew the rounds of golf and owned the golf shop merchandise which was an exception at a robust facility in 2011. In 2008 he began a term on the Section’s board as a district director. In 2010 he was elected director of section affairs for two years. After that he was secretary for two years and then vice president for two years. He served as the Section’s 41st president in 2016 and 2017. He was a recipient of the Section’s Merchandiser of the Year for private facilities in 2008, Horton Smith award in 2012 and again in 2013. In 2014 Dalzell was the Section’s “PGA Golf Professional of the Year”.
Daniel Clifton Haskell
Dan Haskell was born in Maryland in 1950 and grew up in Baltimore playing lacrosse, but not golf. He attended Bowling Green State College in Ohio where he played on the lacrosse team, which finished sixth in the NCAA championship one of his years. Not long after graduating from Bowling Green in 1974 he received a telephone call from his brother Tom Haskell. Tom had recently completed the construction of the Kings Grant golf course with some partners. They had a lease from the owner of the Kings Grant development company to operate the golf course. Dan, who was not a golfer, agreed to come to work at Kings Grant Golf Club with his brother. That was his introduction to the golf business. In the morning he got the electric golf carts out and mowed greens along with other needed chores. Later in the day he managed the food and beverage department. With having just begun to play golf he turned pro in 1975 and began learning the game with the help of his brother Tom. In 1980 the Kings Grant lease was sold and Dan went to Tavistock Country Club for a year as an assistant under Charles Genter. A year later he was hired by the Medford Lakes Country Club as the general manager, were he also worked as the assistant to the club’s long time professional Joe Schlindwein. When Schlindwein retired in 1996 Dan became the head professional while still being the general manager. He retired from Medford Lakes in 2014 and a few months later Leo DeGisi, who was the general manager and director of golf at Medford Village Country Club, hired Dan to assist with their golf operation. A first venture into Section politics for Dan occurred when he was vice president of the Philadelphia PGA Assistants Organization. Later he served as a district director for three years, 2003 to 2005, before becoming a Section officer. He was director of section affairs for 2006 and 2007, secretary 2008 and 2009 and vice president for 2010 and 2011. At the 2011 annual meeting of the Section he was elected president for 2012 and 2013.
Peter A. “Pete” Micklewright
Pete Micklewright was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1953. He began playing golf at age 11 with his father at the Hopewell Valley Country Club. He played on his high school golf team for three years and then attended Trenton State College where he graduated with a degree in business administration. At Trenton State he played on the golf team for four years and made the deans list with a 3.25 average. He was the captain of the golf team his senior year and all conference. Micklewright turned pro in 1980 and began his career as an assistant at the Schuylkill Country Club. Two years later he was the head professional at the Dutch Hollow Golf Club in Owasco, New York. In 1983 he returned to the Philadelphia Section as the head professional at the Blue Ridge Country Club where he stayed for thirty years. When Blue Ridge merged with Colonial Golf & Tennis Club in 2014 he took over as the general manager for three years. Then he was the head professional at Blue Ridge for one more year in 2017, which made it a total of 35 years. Micklewright was the Philadelphia Section PGA “Golf Professional of the Year” in 2005. He was honored as the Section’s Junior Golf Leader in 1989 and 1992. From 1990 to 1993 he was on the Section board as a director. As a member of the Central Counties Chapter he was the secretary from 1986 to 1988 and president in 1989 and 1990. He served on committees in the Section, Chapter and PGA of America. Fourteen of his former assistants went on to be head professionals. Along with being a complete club professional for 38 years his passion was junior golfers. In 1987 he founded Harrisburg Junior Golf Days. For 12 years the program supplied golf instruction, clubs, a shirt and lunch 12 times each year to young golfers. During that time more than 3,000 boys and girls were introduced to golf. After that the Harrisburg Boys and Girls Clubs continued the program. He coached a local high school golf team at no charge for six years when the school had planned to eliminate the team due to a lack of funding. In 1995 he became a PGA Master Professional. His thesis was titled “Harrisburg Golf for Kids Days, PGA Clubs for Kids, A Formula for Success”. His two boys were products of that passion. One son qualified for the 2004 US Amateur Championship and the 2008 US Mid-Amateur Championship. His other son qualified for 1996 US Junior Amateur Championship and went on to be a head professional in the Tri-State PGA Section where he qualified for the PGA Club Professional Championship three times. He contributed many hours of his time promoting golf in the Harrisburg area by teaching golf on local television shows and speaking at service clubs. He was instrumental in growing the Jake Gittlen Memorial Golf Tournament into one of the largest amateur fund raising tournaments in the country, raising millions of dollars for the Hershey Medical Center Gittlen Cancer Institute. In 1988 he was the Harrisburg District Golf Association “Man of the Year” and in 2016 he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Capital Area Chapter. In 2018 Micklewright was inducted into the Philadelphia PGA Hall of Fame.
John Joseph Rogers, Jr.
John Rogers was born in Philadelphia in 1959. His father, John Sr., was the wrestling coach and a football coach at Temple University for 15 years. During the summers his father conducted sports clinics in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey for 45 years. The family belonged to Wildwood Golf & Country Club where Rogers began playing under professional Sam Duncan. Throughout high school, Rogers wrestled and was an area all-star in Philadelphia football. While attending Millersville University football injuries ended his career at age 19. He then turned to golf. His father suggested calling Howard Kramer, the professional at the Host Farm and Golf Club, across town in Lancaster. Kramer had been a sports star at Temple and wrestled for Roger’s father in the 1950s. Rogers took the opportunity to improve his golf under Kramer. He began working for Kramer and after graduating from college in 1984 he turned pro, working at Host Farm. In 1985 he went to Chambersburg Country Club for three years as an assistant and then the Country Club of York for two years under Van Tanner, who had been an officer in the Philadelphia PGA. In 1990 he moved to Virginia as a head professional. In 1993 he moved back to the Philadelphia Section as the professional at the newly opened Majestic Ridge Golf Club, where it developed into an ownership position. During that time, he earned a real estate license to promote building lot sales along the golf course property. Rogers concluded a 20-year career at Majestic Ridge as the general manager when the course was closed and sold in 2012. The next year he was hired as the territory manager in fleet and heavy equipment sales with the EZGO Corporation. In 2015 he was the director of golf at the Spring Hollow Golf Club. Rogers created the PGA Passport, a golf booklet. He then merged it with fellow PGA member Andy Barbin’s Victory Golf Pass. The golf pass promoted golf at over 200 golf facilities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. In 2005-07 Rogers and Barbin directed the Victory Golf Show at the Valley Forge Convention Center. The three-day show drew a total of 30,000 golf fans in each of its three years raising over $150,000 for area charities. He was president of the Central Counties Chapter from 2005 to 2007 and was the Chapter’s Golf Professional of the Year in 2003. From 1999 to 2010, he was the Section’s education chairman organizing scores of recertification programs throughout the Section. Because of his passion for the education of his fellow golf professionals, Rogers was the Section’s Horton Smith award winner six times. At the national level, Rogers was honored with the PGA of America’s Horton Smith award in 2011. He served the PGA of America as a member of the Education Committee for two years. Rogers co-authored an educational manual for the physically impaired golfer with Penn State University, to develop a Wounded Warriors Program and other education programs. He was elected Section director of section affairs in 2008 and 2009 and again in 2012 and 2013. He was Section secretary in 2014 and 2015 and vice president in 2016 and 2017. At the Section’s annual meeting in November 2017 Rogers was elected president for the years 2018 and 2019.
Legends
Gregory Price “Greg” Farrow
Greg Farrow was born in Philadelphia in 1951 and grew up in Glassboro, New Jersey. At the age of 12 he noticed an older boy who lived next door swinging a golf club. The neighbor began taking Farrow to driving ranges and pitch & putt courses, which continued for three years. Along with that Farrow cut some holes in his family’s back yard. He and several other boys from the neighborhood spent hours hitting pitch shots and chip shots there. At age 15 the neighbor decided it was time for Farrow to play a real golf course where he broke 90, playing his first round of golf. With too many divots in the back yard, Farrow’s father decided the boys should find a golf course to play on. They were able to join Pittman Golf Club for $100 a year. Those boys then started up a golf team at Glassboro High School. After high school Farrow attended Glassboro State College, graduating in 1973. In his senior year he was a Division 3 All-American. He turned pro in 1980, working at Pittman under Charlie Lepre. After four years at Pittman he qualified for the PGA Tour in late 1983. Due to his qualifying position from Q-School he only played in nine tournaments and lost his Playing Card. Back home he became the head professional at the Links Golf Club for three years, 1985 to 1987. In late 1987 he qualified for the PGA Tour again. He did not win enough in 1988 to keep his Playing Card. For the next seven years he was the teaching professional at Burlington Country Club under Michael Mack. In 1996 he became the head professional at the newly opened Deerwood Country Club where he stayed for more than 25 years. During his career Farrow played in two U.S. Opens, a PGA Championship and a Senior U.S. Open. He won the Section Assistants Championship four times, Senior Championship three times and the Match Play Championship twice. At the 1987 PGA Assistants Championship he finished in a four way tie for first. In a sudden death playoff Darrell Kestner holed a 50-foot putt to win the tournament. In 1989 he won the Pennsylvania PGA Championship. His greatest playing accomplishment came in winning the 2003 New Jersey Open at the age of 52 after having won the New Jersey Senior Open two years earlier. He played in the PGA Professional Championship seven times and the Senior PGA Professional Championship six times. At the 1990 PGA Professional Championship he tied for 4th . In 2015 Farrow was inducted into the Philadelphia PGA Playing Legends.
George James Forster, Sr.
George Forster was born in Philadelphia in 1956. At age 13 he began playing golf at the city owned Walnut Lane Golf Club. After a few years of playing golf at Walnut Lane the golf professional, Jim Morrison, gave him a job working in the snack bar. Morrison moved to Flourtown Golf Club and Forster went with him to work in the bag room while attending Textile University (later renamed Philadelphia University). At Textile he played on the golf team graduating in 1978. That year he turned pro and began his career as an assistant at the LuLu Country Club. The next year Forster went to Sunnybrook Golf Club as the assistant. He was there until 1984 when he became the head professional at Radnor Valley Country Club, where he stayed for more than 35 years. When it came to winning golf tournaments Forster was a late bloomer. At the age of 43 he broke through, winning the 1999 Section Championship. The year before that he had begun working with one of the Section’s leading golf instructors, Bob Kramer, who he gave credit for help with his golf swing. He later received help with his swing from Mark Sheftic, and for his putting he went to Jon Dunigan. He also engaged a coach for the mental side of his golf. During a playing career that spanned three decades Forster won the Section Championship twice, the Match Play Championship two times and the Section Senior Championship twice. He qualified for the U.S. Senior Open twice and the Senior PGA Championship ten times. Along with that he qualified for twelve PGA Professional Championships and fourteen Senior PGA Professional Championships. On two occasions he won the Haverford Trust Classic which offered the Section’s largest first prize of the year. Four times he was the Section’s Senior Player of the Year. Forster played on 27 Section Challenge Cup teams that competed against the Golf Association of Philadelphia and other PGA Sections. Forster was inducted into the Philadelphia University Hall of Fame in 2006 and in 2009 he was the Philadelphia Section’s “PGA Golf Professional of the Year”.
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Trenham Golf History 