McCaffrey Brings Poa Fundraiser & Met Team Qualifier to Metropolis
Posted on Aug. 22, 2024 / Subscribe 0
by Kevin Collins
On Monday, August 26, Superintendent Dave McCaffrey will welcome the MetGCSA to historic Metropolis Country Club for the annual Poa Fundraiser coupled with the qualifier to secure a spot on the Met’s eight-man team to compete at this year’s Met Area Team Championship being held on October 21 at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club, outside of Philadelphia.
Metropolis Then and Now
Metropolis Country Club began as the Metropolis City Club, a dining and social organization on West 57th Street in Manhattan. The City Club was organized in 1879 to promote a social fraternity among its members and to encourage musical, literary, dramatic, and other recreational pursuits, such as billiards, bowling, gymnastics, and cards. The club was also known for its fine restaurant and men’s grill and boasted a membership of more than 700.
Forty-three years later, in 1922, the social club incorporated, becoming Metropolis Country Club. Members bought the 12-hole course that was home to Century Country Club. Claiming their original layout was too hilly, Century sought a more suitable 175 acres, where they built their current course in Purchase.
Though originally designed by Herbert Strong, when Metropolis took over, the club hired A.W. Tillinghast to add six new holes and then reconfigure the others. The course had remained virtually unchanged until the early ’70s when Golf Course Architect Joe Finger was brought in to build the par-3 15th hole. Then, in 1997, the club hired yet another architect, Ken Dye, this time to rebuild seven tees and one green and rework all the bunkers, eliminating some of them in the process.
That was just the beginning. Around 2011, the club hired Ron Forse of Forse Design to develop a master plan for the golf course and grounds. The planned renovation and restoration of the course was ambitious and geared toward bringing the layout back to its original Tillinghast design.
Construction began in 2014 with nine holes completed that year and nine completed in 2015. “Fairways and greens expansions played a major role in the restoration,” says Dave. In addition, all 65 exiting bunkers were rebuilt, and 40 more of the original bunkers were reinstated. Most tee complexes were rebuilt to add length while also providing additional options for the shorter hitters which focused a lot on the approaches which were much wider so players could use their imagination and play all different types of shots to the greens.
Dave also pointed to the vistas that have been opened up throughout the course with the removal of more than 1,000 trees. In their place, 30 acres of native grasses were established to offer definition.
Metropolis’s improvement projects didn’t end there. Since then, more tees have been added, a new driving range tee and chipping green were completed, and a short game facility was constructed and completed in 2018.
From 2020 until 2023, the club replaced its irrigation system, pumphouse, and drilled new wells to avoid relying on the expensive municipal water supply.
Metropolis’s next mission is a new maintenance facility. The club sold the land where the existing shop is located to BrightView Holdings. BrightView will be building an assisted living facility necessitating the relocation of the maintenance facility and the club entrance. That work will commence in a couple of weeks and should be completed by May 2025.
With all said and done, Metropolis plays 6,900 yards from the tips and has numerous difficult 400-yard Par 4s. The toughest hole, according to Dave, is the 7th. “It traditionally plays the toughest for events at the club,” he warns.
The Road to Metropolis
Dave grew up in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Dave’s Dad, Raymond, and his Uncle Frank got him out on the links at the very young age of 5. Apparently, it’s paid off. Dave boasts a handicap index of 3.9!
Being a fine player inspired Dave to attend Harper Adams University in England. Harper Adams had a combined career track for golf professionals and course managers. Degree in hand, Dave began his journey working at some of the finest clubs in Europe and the U.S.
“My first internship was at Sea Island Resort in Georgia,” says Dave. “Then I went to Oakmont for eight months until my visa expired and I had to leave the U.S.”
But Dave didn’t twiddle his thumbs waiting to return: He did a stint at The K Club in Ireland and then returned to Oakmont in 2004 working for John Zimmers.
“I worked for John for six years. He’s the best in the business,” says Dave. “It was a demanding job, very intense with a lot of hours, but I got a great education. As John’s trust in my abilities grew, he gave me more and more responsibility. The course had U.S. Open conditions every day. In fact, when Oakmont actually hosted the U.S. Open, we had to slow the greens down.”
After Oakmont, Dave went to Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, FL, working for Tony Nysse. “I enjoyed Florida except for the summer weather,” Dave laughs.
After sweating it out for two years, Dave headed north to work for Doug Drugo at Wee Burn Country Club. “Doug and I both came through Oakmont, so it was a real good fit for me,” says Dave.
Feeling the time was right to assume a superintendent’s position, Dave couldn’t have been more pleased when Metropolis came calling. “I started at Metropolis in November of 2012, two weeks after Hurricane Sandy decimated the East Coast. Metropolis was a mess with lots of fallen and damaged trees.” That just added to the “fun” of the club’s planned improvement projects.
In the 12 years that Dave has been at Metropolis, the course has been transformed. And now, Dave is looking forward to the completion of his new maintenance facility.
the Home Front
Dave lives in Stamford, CT, with his wife, Jill. Dave has a son, Kellen, 11, from his first marriage and three children with Jill, including daughter Saoirse, 4, and twin daughters, Aoife and Isla, who are 2.
“Jill is a yoga teacher and has a studio in Stamford,” says Dave. “I’m coaching Kellan’s baseball team, which meant I actually had to learn the game since it’s not big in England. Kellan and I also share a passion for golfing. He loves the game.”
Dave finds spending time with Jill and the girls just as enjoyable. “You probably notice the Irish names,” says Dave. “Jill’s family emigrated from Ireland and settled in Forest Hills Gardens in Queens.”
Dave is looking forward to hosting a challenging round of golf and lively Poa fundraiser and Met Team Qualifier at the new-and-improved Metropolis Country Club. Be sure to join him—and your fellow competitors—on the 26th!
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