LYNNFIELD — It was a picture-perfect day on the first tee at Sagamore Spring Golf Club, as golfers, local organizations and local politicians joined together to celebrate National Golf Day with a day of charity and good fun.
“This all started because we’ve been thinking about the past year with golf and the pandemic and how it ended up being a very safe, healthy sport to participate in,” said Sagamore Golf Inc. President Richard Luff, whose family has owned Sagamore since its founding in 1929. “And for us in the golf industry, we realized that we don’t do a great job of advocating for that sort of thing and that we needed to spread the word.”
Luff, who is also the president of the New England Golf Course Owners Association (NEGCOA), has done a lot of work over the past year with the Alliance of Massachusetts Golf Organizations (AMGO) in terms of advocating for the game’s benefits in all aspects of life.
“Our plan with these events, which people from the NEGCOA and AMGO are doing all over the state, is to build relationships with local and state representatives and introduce them to these parts of the game of golf,” said Luff. “We found that those relationships were the ones that gave golf a voice during the pandemic, and we realized that we need to do a better job of building those relationships.”
Some of the facts that Luff cites include the 25,500 direct and indirect jobs created by the golf industry in Massachusetts, which in itself is supported by the 650,000 golfers in the Commonwealth. Golf also brings in $796.8 million of total wage income, $366.7 million in hospitality and tourism and $2.7 billion in total economic output — just in Massachusetts alone.
And, as Luff points out, golf was one of the only outlets that people have had for the past year.
The day at Sagamore sported a very fun atmosphere, with a straightest drive competition set up on the first tee for all groups that teed off between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday. The rules of the competition were simple. Golfers would tee off trying to get as close to the painted center line in the fairway as possible, then wait to see if one of a rotating cast of honorary starters — which included Massachusetts State Senator Brendan Crighton, Massachusetts State Representative Bradley Jones, Chairman of the Lynnfield Board of Selectmen Phil Crawford, Lynnfield Town Administrator Rob Dolan and seven-time Massachusetts Women’s Amateur champion and Lynnfield legend (and the Item’s own) Anne Marie Tobin — could hit it closer. For every group that teed off, Luff and Sagamore Spring donated $50 to A Healthy Lynnfield — an organization aimed at raising awareness about substance abuse prevention in Lynnfield as well as opioid recovery resources in the community. For every drive that the honorary starters hit straightest, Luff doubled the donation to $100.
“It’s a beautiful day to be out enjoying the fresh air, and the golf industry in Massachusetts obviously brings a ton of benefits including economic development and a great place for people to get outside and enjoy all the health and mental health benefits it provides,” said Crighton. “We certainly saw a huge uptick over the past year with people using state and city parks and facilities to get outside, and hopefully that’s a trend that continues. And to partner with A Healthy Lynnfield, a great organization that I’ve had the pleasure to work with over the years, that’s a great bonus.”
“A Healthy Lynnfield has really taken off over the last few years and has been a great cause for Lynnfield in helping to talk about a myriad of substance and mental health issues,” said Jones. “And to get out here and enjoy the outdoors and the game of golf all together with them, it’s like a perfect marriage for everyone involved.”
In the end, Luff was happy to simply share the day with some great people and donate to a great cause, all while touting the benefits that the game of golf provides.
