Tamarack to Host the Met Area Team Championship
Posted on Oct. 15, 2025 / Subscribe 0
A Bit About the Tournament
The Met Area Team Championship began in 1980, originally featuring six local associations. The winning team each year was responsible for organizing the next event. After a 24-year hiatus due to a lack of volunteers, Andy Drohan of Allied Nutrients and Blake Halderman of Brae Burn Country Club, revived the tournament in 2004. With support from sponsors, they expanded the field to 13 teams and elevated the overall experience.
Beyond offering a fun, year-end break from the golf season and building camaraderie among participants, the tournament also supports industry professionals in need. Andy and Blake are especially proud of this charitable mission.
Since its revival at Aronimink Golf Club in 2005, the championship has continued to grow. Now in its 21st year at Tamarack Country Club, the Met Area Team Championship is one of the largest regional industry golf events in the country—second only to the GIS tournament.
Tamarack Then and Now
Tamarack Country Club, originally founded as the Port Chester Country Club in 1909, began as a nine-hole course with sheep, rather than equipment, maintaining the fairways and $25 annual dues.
In 1928, the club relocated to Greenwich, CT, when its original site was acquired for a new high school. Architect Charles Banks was hired to design the new 18-hole course, which opened in 1929 and was named after the area’s native tamarack pine trees.
Banks, a protégé of Seth Raynor and influenced by C.B. Macdonald, was known for using template holes modeled after iconic European designs—such as Biarritz, Redan, and Eden—which are a hallmark of Tamarack’s layout. Though his career was cut short by a heart attack in 1931, Banks left a lasting legacy with over 30 courses designed or renovated.
In recent years, under architect Brian Schneider and LaBar Golf, Tamarack has undergone significant change. “This has been a true renovation and restoration to return the course to Banks’s original vision while modernizing key elements, explains Jeff, noting the updates, which include:
• Full bunker restoration using “Better Billy Bunker” system
• Five additional acres of fairways (now 36 total)
• Squared-off greens for a classic look
• Expanded native fescue areas
• Five tee boxes per hole for all skill levels
• Rebuilt cart paths and enhanced drainage
Future upgrades include a new irrigation system and pond excavation.
Jeff’s Circuitous Career Path
Jeff was born and raised in Pawling, NY, and attended the prestigious Trinity-Pawling School. When it came time for college, turfgrass management wasn’t on his radar. “I started out at Southampton College on Long Island as a Marine Biology major,” Jeff recalls. “But after a few semesters, I made a change I’ll never regret.”
Taking time off from school, Jeff spent a few winters skiing in Vermont and Colorado before returning home to Pawling, where he took a job with a local landscaper. It was through friends working at Fairview Country Club that Jeff met Bob Alonzi, the club’s superintendent at the time—and the connection that would launch his career in turf.
From 1978 to 1981, Jeff worked under Bob at Fairview, then enrolled in the UMass Turf School. While completing his two-year degree, he interned at Baltimore Country Club and returned to Fairview in 1984. A year later, he expanded his experience by working briefly with Bob’s brother, Joe Alonzi, then the superintendent at Fenway Golf Club.
In November 1985, Jeff landed his first superintendent role at Knickerbocker Country Club in Tenafly, NJ. Three years later, he returned to New York as superintendent at The Apawamis Club, where his lightning-fast greens became the stuff of legend—and a source of putting anxiety for many members. In February 1997, Jeff accepted his current role at Tamarack Country Club.
“With the membership’s commitment to ongoing improvement, my work at Tamarack has been both interesting and challenging,” says Jeff. “The support I've received through more projects than I can count has been incredible.”
Reflecting on his journey, Jeff credits Bob Alonzi as a pivotal mentor. “He played a role in almost every step of my career, and I’m grateful for that,” Jeff says. “I’d like to think I’ve had a positive influence on the assistants and team members who’ve worked with me over the years.”
That list includes many now-leading figures in the industry: Rob Alonzi, now at Fenway, spent nearly five years at Tamarack with Jeff. Sean Cain, now at Sunningdale, Chris Burnett, whose career took him to Michigan, and even Winged Foot’s Steve Rabideau, who interned under Jeff. “Look at Steve now,” Jeff says with pride. “The student has become the teacher.”
Life Beyond the Course
An avid skier, Jeff still enjoys time on the slopes and quiet winters with his wife, Maggie, and their children, whenever everyone can find time to be together.
Now, he’s looking forward to hosting the Met Area Team Championship at Tamarack. With its fast, expansive greens, deep bunkering, and elevated complexes, Tamarack promises a true test for every team in the field. One thing’s certain: Whoever wins will have earned it.
Kevin Collins, a member of the Tee to Green Editorial Committee, is NE/Mid-Atlantic Territory Manager for Ocean Organics.
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