Golf: GBCC co-hosts Metro Pro-Pro Championship

Compliments galore for greens at Island course

The Metropolitan Pro-Pro Team Championship, played over the links of co-hosts Gardiner’s Bay Country Club and The Bridge, on October 3 and 4, was won by Carl Alexander and Kirk Satterfield of The Golf Club of Purchase. In a better ball of a team-of-two format, Alexander and Satterfield shot 128, 14 under par. They triumphed by three shots over the teams of Tyler Jaramillo (Seawane Golf Club) and Heath Wassem (Fenway Country Club); and Michael Laudien (Rotella Memorial Golf Club) and Dave Fusco (Patriot Hills Golf Club), who both shot 131.

Alexander and Satterfield began the championship at Gardiner’s Bay with a sensational 60, 10 under par. Satterfield, assistant to golf pro Alexander at The Golf Club of Purchase, has been in fantastic form. He recently won the MET PGA Assistants Tour Championship with a sparkling 63 at Rockaway Hunt Club.

He stated after last Monday’s round that the Gardiner’s Bay greens were the purest putting surfaces he’d played on all year. That opinion was reiterated throughout the field.  Pro after pro left the 18th green commenting on the exceptional quality of the greens and what a delight and hidden gem they had discovered in Gardiner’s Bay Country Club on Shelter Island. Many of the younger professionals had never been to GBCC and they were wowed with their experience.

Golf clubs represented in the field of competitors included the likes of Shinnecock Hills, Friar’s Head, Century, The Creek Club, Quaker Ridge and Deepdale.

The quality of the field wasn’t in question. More than 35 of the top 50 professionals in the Metropolitan Section battled through the two rounds. The MET PGA decided to create a ying/yang set-up. The Bridge was set up beastly: there were only four scores in the 60s on Monday. Meanwhile, Gardiner’s Bay, the beauty, was set up as a birdie fest. Generous hole locations and immaculate greens led to the field posting a combined 109 under par on Monday — a birdie blitz.

Chance Scheffing and I shot 144 for the 36 holes, a respectable finish that put us in a tie with Bob DeStefano, who teamed up with Dave Gosiewski from Noyac Golf Club. Well played, Bob!

We thoroughly enjoyed hosting the event. Receiving so many unsolicited compliments left, right and center concerning the quality and presentation of the golf course left us all with an incredible feeling of fulfillment and gratification that we belong and we’re heading in the right direction.