By James Lomuscio
Westporter Andy Kaplan said last July he had given up on golfing at Longshore Club Park, opting to go as far away as Farmington to play on decent links.
Ryan Segrue, who is serving as ValleyCrest’s superintendent for the Longshore golf course, listens to golfers tonight. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) James Lomuscio for WestportNow.com
“The greens, they looked diseased,” Kaplan said. “It was like the surface of the moon, brown, discolored.”
Even pockmarked, he said.
But as Kaplan left a Town Hall presentation tonight by principals of ValleyCrest Landscape Companies, he seemed a bit more optimistic about returning to his hometown course this summer. Calabasas, Calif.-based ValleyCrest has a three-year contract with the town and aims to upgrade the 18-hole golf course while saving the town $755,450 attributed to personnel attrition over three years.
“I think these guys are pros, and I have confidence that we’re going to see continued improvement in the golf course,” said Kaplan.
Kaplan was one of about 60 who came to Town Hall to meet and hear from John Crowder, ValleyCrest’s vice president of business development, Terry McGuire, the company’s national director of operations, and Ryan Segrue, golf course superintendent.
Also present on the dais were Todd Bunnell, ValleyCrest’s director of agronomy, Vince Gilmartin, northeast director of maintenance operations, and Charles Haberstroh, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission.
“We have begun a new era at Longshore that we believe will improve the golfers’ experience and enjoyment,” said First Selectman Jim Marpe, introducing ValleyCrest at the meeting’s outset. “At the same time, we are committed to using the recognized cost savings of our new partnership to continue to enhance the course and make Longshore a course that all Westporters can be proud of.”
So determined to woo golfers back, Marpe said that in the short term the town will offer a “buy-one-round, get-one-free” program so golfers will “get back in the habit of making Longshore your primary destination for playing golf.”
Superintendent Segrue, who said he would have 14 maintenance workers, said the initial focus would be on the greens.
“We all know we had a rough winter this year, but we have to get the greens back in shape as fast as we can,” he said.
A golfer plays the Longshore course on Easter Sunday. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com
That will require extensive aeration of the ground, fertilization and assuring proper drainage, he said. Segrue also spoke about improving the bunker areas that have become overrun with weeds and improving the turf on the fairways.
“It’s aesthetics and the playing ability,” Gilmartin said of the desired golfing experience.
“This golf course is begging to be beautiful,” said Crowder. “It’s also begging to be beautiful from a revenue standpoint.”
McGuire stressed that ValleyCrest would act a a support team for Segrue.
“We do not tell him what to do,” McGuire said. “It’s your golf course, not ours. We’re here to learn first hand what your expectations are on your golf course, and we encourage good collaboration this evening.”
One man shouted out asking when he could expect to be able to “putt in a straight line.”
“First of all, can you putt in a straight line?” McGuire responded to a round of laughter.
Segrue noted that golfers would begin to see improvements this summer.
“The golf course will be better than it was,” Bunnell concurred.
He added that the next 12 to 18 months will demand a focused “learning experience” for ValleyCrest about the seasonal, environmental nuances of the park.
“It will take us that long to be where we are happy to go to the next level,” he said.
