John Carlone to Host Tripleheader Golf Event
Posted on Oct. 12, 2025 / Subscribe 0
NYSTA’s Poa Annual, Met Area Team Championship Qualifier, and Superintendent Championship Set for October 14 at Meadow Brook
by Steve Rabideau, CGCS
On October 14, Superintendent John Carlone and the Meadow Brook Club will host the annual joint meeting of NYSTA and the Metropolitan and Long Island Golf Course Superintendent Associations. With three events taking place at once—the NYSTA Poa Annual, the Met Area Team Championship Qualifier, and the annual Superintendent Championship—it will be a busy day on the Par 72, 7,475-yard layout.
Unique Beginnings
Meadow Brook Golf Club, officially the Meadow Brook Hunt Club, has a storied past dating back to 1881 when it was founded in Westbury, NY, as a polo and fox-hunting club. A nine-hole golf course was added in 1894 but abandoned by 1905 for polo. Golf returned in 1916 with a new 18-hole course designed by Devereux Emmet, featuring 10 greens along the namesake brook.
In the early 1950s, the original course was lost to the construction of the Meadow Brook Parkway. The club began a new chapter in 1953, relocating to a 450-acre site in Jericho, NY, with an 18-hole championship course by Dick Wilson and six polo fields. After selling 180 acres in 1967, Dick Wilson’s protégé, Joe Lee, redesigned the course on the club’s current 270-acre site.
A major renovation in 2016 by Brian Silva modernized the course with four new USGA greens, nine holes with new tees, all 88 bunkers rebuilt with Better Billy Bunker technology, and 12 acres of trees removed. The Poa/bent sod was harvested off the old greens and reinstalled on the new USGA greens. A new short-game facility was also constructed with a new USGA green grown in to Pure Distinction bentgrass. Target greens with bunkers were constructed on the driving range. All told, it was a $2.9-million renovation!
Meadow Brook has hosted numerous major events, including three Met Opens, two Met Amateurs, three Ikes, a Long Island Amateur, and several Met PGA, LIPGA, and LPGA tournaments. From 1987 to 2002, it was home to a Champions TOUR event with winners like Lee Trevino, Gary Player, and Raymond Floyd.
Renowned for its large greens—averaging over 7,500 square feet—the club also holds historical significance as the 37th USGA member and a founding member of the MGA in 1897.
From Golf Kid to Turfgrass Manager
John’s path to Meadow Brook started, naturally, on a golf course. He picked up the game at 11 in his hometown of Portsmouth, RI, and by high school was part of a dominant team that went undefeated in regular-season play for four years. They fell short of the state title each year to a team led by a young Brad Faxon, but John stayed competitive, going on to play three seasons—from 1981-1983—for the University of Rhode Island golf team. John found his way into turf management with the help of the late Dr. C.R. Skogley, then a professor in URI’s Plant Science Department.
While earning his B.S., John did his placement training at Westchester Country Club in Rye, NY, working for then superintendent Ted Horton. After graduating in 1983, John joined Scott Niven at The Stanwich Club before accepting his first superintendent position at Middle Bay Country Club in 1985. Eleven years later, in December of 1996, John took the job at Meadow Brook.
Not long after, he was managing the course for a Champions TOUR event—the Long Island Classic—from 1997 through 2002. “I loved the challenge of preparing for those events,” says John. “It was stressful at times, especially hosting in late July and early August, but incredibly rewarding.”
Golf First
Unlike most clubs in the region, Meadow Brook is all-in on golf: no pool, no tennis, and just one member dinner a month. “It’s a pure golf club,” John says. “The members are serious players, and many are low-handicappers.”
That commitment to golf helped shape the club’s ambitious 2016 renovation with Architect Brian Silva. “That $2.9-million renovation was one of the high points of my time here,” says John.
In the years since, John has continued making improvements—installing XGD drainage on 14 non-USGA greens, building new tees, and, thanks in part to three hurricanes, removing around 3,000 trees.
Giving Back to the Industry
Beyond course work, John has made a long-term commitment to service within the profession. He’s held leadership roles in nearly every major turf organization in the region—serving as president of the MetGCSA (2000–01), LIGCSA (2006–08), the Tri-State Turfgrass Research Foundation (2011–12), and NYSTA (2020–21). He’s also wrapping up 13 years on the NYSTA board and has served on multiple GCSAA committees since 1991, including Election, Education, Tournament, Membership, Communications, and Chapter Relations. John has also served as chapter delegate for both the MetGCSA and LIGCSA.
“I’ve always believed in giving back,” says John. “The people I’ve met, the courses I’ve toured, the conversations I’ve had—it all made me a better superintendent. I would 100 percent recommend board service to anyone. It’ll make you better at your job and a better person overall.”
Another key focus for John has been mentoring the next generation. Over the years, eight of his assistants have gone on to become superintendents. “They were a big part of the success we had here,” he says. “I felt a real responsibility to help them move forward.”
Life Beyond Turf
For nearly three decades, John and his wife, Leslie, lived on club grounds at Meadow Brook. Married 38 years, they have three adult children and three grandchildren.
Their daughter, Emily, lives in Johnston, RI, with her husband Lucas and their children Savannah (7), Cassidy (5), and Tyler John (3). The couple owns and operates Coastline Electric in Rhode Island.
Their son David, 33, a former Army First Lieutenant, is pursuing an MBA at Northeastern while also performing stand-up comedy at clubs in New York City, Long Island, and Rhode Island.
Their youngest, Daniel, 30, a West Point grad and former Army Captain, lives in Lisle, IL, with his wife, Sydney, who is an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Loyola Chicago.
Looking Ahead
At the end of 2025, John and Leslie will move back to Portsmouth, RI. He doesn’t plan on retiring completely. He hopes to stay connected to the turf industry in some way—but the day-to-day demands of course management will be behind him.
“I’m ready to walk away from the full-time grind,” John says. “Forty years as a superintendent at two high-end private clubs on Long Island—that’s a good run. I’m proud of what I’ve done, but it’s time to do something else.”
That “something else” might include helping out with Coastline Electric—or more likely, chasing grandkids around a yard instead of geese off a green. Either way, after a career spent building and maintaining courses at the highest level, John Carlone has earned the right to enjoy the next round—whatever form it takes.
Steve Rabideau, co-chair of the Tournament Committee, is director of golf courses at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY.
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