Jack Barse Elected President at MSGA Annual Meeting
Jack Barse, a third-generation member of Columbia Country Club, was elected president of the Maryland State Golf Association at its annual dinner meeting, November 18. As is the custom, the meeting was held at the club of the incoming president.
A Washington native, Barse is a vice-president at BF Saul Insurance. He served on the executive committee when the U.S. Junior championship was held at Columbia CC in 2003, and was recruited as a rules official by Randy Reed, the MSGA’s former director of rules and competition. He volunteered with the Middle Atlantic, Washington Metropolitan, and Maryland State golf associations until asked to serve on the MSGA Board of Directors in 2007.
He is the ninth Columbia member to serve as president of the MSGA in its 96-year history. Over the years, the club has served as host of seven Maryland Opens, and next June will host its 11th Maryland State Amateur.
According to Barse, “The best part about being a rules official, particularly in match play, is the privilege of having the best seat in the house for a well-played match by athletes in the heat of competition. Bad is when a player has incurred a penalty and the worst is when a player has incurred a penalty for slow play.”
In addition, “I caddied at Burning Tree while in high school and one day had the bag of Max Elbin, the head professional. The thing felt like it weighed 1,000 pounds. Forty years later, I was seated next to Max at a Middle Atlantic PGA dinner and loved that he pretended to remember me.
Barse succeeds Stanard Klinefelter, of the Elkridge Club, whose outgoing message highlighted the fact that a closing on the new headquarters is expected soon. “It’s the right building in the right place at the right price. We’re not used to being fund-raisers,” but it has all come together. “I wanted to make the organization stronger and along the way make sure we had the proper venues for our events and that rules were done properly. Going forward, I know these traditions will be continued.”
In further remarks, Barse seconded the headquarters statement by Kilnefelter. “Having a permanent home is a very big step for the association now that we are on the threshold of our centennial [2021]. In that vein, I would like to give special thanks to Clark MacKenzie [a former MSGA Amateur champion] who has been our beneficent landlord for quite some time and has continued his very real and material support of the association throughout the process of searching for and finding our new headquarters.
“On another note, I’m struck at how playing the game remains the same while the world around us, the world at large, and the world of golf changes continuously. Maybe that’s what most attracts us to it, even beyond the challenge of getting the ball into the hole. Maybe it’s that quality as a touchstone, a trigger for memories, a port in the storm, that makes us cherish the game the way we do.
One of Barse’s recent memories includes the Maryland Amateur last June when three of the four semifinalists had their fathers as caddies, perhaps a first for the event. While players Connor Flach and Tyler Herriott were understandably jittery, Art Flach and Randy Herriott were absolutely beaming. “It was a very cool moment,” Barse added.
In concluding, the in-coming president asked those assembled to recruit friends to get involved, especially with junior players.
“The way I see it,” he said, “it’s up to us to teach these kids — by our example — how to care for the game so they’ll teach others when it’s their turn. Show them how rich the game is, even beyond playing it. Show them that other dimension that we know so well. Friends, it is up to us to endow the future of this great, confounding, and fantastic game.”
Joining Barse on the committee ladder are Jan Miller, Baltimore CC; Brian Fitzgerald, Chevy Chase Club; Alexander “Sandy” Martin, Green Spring Valley HC; Paul Dillon, Congressional CC; David “Moose” Brown, Rolling Road GC; Diane Herndon, Argyle CC; Ted Florenz, Chartwell G&CC; Cliff Patterson, Manor CC, and the newest member, Robert Stewart, Elkridge Club, plus Robert Sherwood, Columbia CC, secretary, and John Pauliny, Hillendale CC, treasurer.
Dave King Honored with Dawson Stump Outstanding Achievement Award
Dave King, from Bethesda Country Club, a fixture in the area’s golf scene for some 40 years, was honored with the Dawson Stump Outstanding Achievement Award during the annual meeting of the Maryland State Golf Association on November 18th at Columbia Country Club. He is the sixth recipient of the award since it was inaugurated in 2012. Dawson Stump, a past president of the MSGA, served as an official of the organization for some 40 years, prior to his death at the age of 86 in August 2014.
King, whose golf career was hampered by a severe rheumatoid disease, still compiled an enviable record which included two MSGA Amateur titles (both at Columbia Country Club), and is the only player to have won the MSGA Amateur, Mid-Amateur, and Senior Amateur championships. He has participated in 17 USGA championships and had a top-10 ranking among the nation’s senior golfers for several years. Despite his numerous golf victories and play on the course, however, his true legacy is his passion for helping others.
He founded, administrated, and played in a tournament for seniors at Evergreen Country Club in Northern Virginia; he has funded scholarships for juniors through the Maryland State and Virginia State golf associations, and has been active in The First Tee, a youth development organization for golf.
In introducing King, Matt Sughrue, a decorated player in his own right, said, “I’ve known Dave King for 45 years — since he was a new member at Bethesda Country Club and I was a junior member. I was eleven when I watched him win his second [MSGA] Amateur. Since then, we have played countless rounds of golf together and he has been my friend and my mentor.” Many others could say something similar, because to know King is to be a friend.
The latest instance of one of his “good works,” was the awarding of his annual $2,500 Dave King Scholarship to Grant Zangwill, a senior at Franklin High School in Reisterstown, a Baltimore suburb, where he is very involved in activities in and out of school. He is a member of Franklin’s varsity golf team, manager for the varsity lacrosse team, treasurer for the Class of 2017 and a member of the National Honor Society. Additionally, he volunteers as an instructor at the Baltimore Golf Academy, and with The First Tee.
Others honored during the annual meeting were MSGA Scholarship recipients Eric and Nicole Michol, graduates of Manchester Valley High School in Carroll County, and Jacob Reed, a graduate of Century High School, also in Carroll County. Eric Michol is a freshman at the University of Maryland and is pursuing a degree in turf management. His golf interest in this field spiked after taking a position on the maintenance crew at Caves Valley Golf Club. Nicole Michol began college this fall at Carroll County Community College and later intends to transfer to the University of Kentucky where, because of her love of animals and horseback riding, she plans to major in equine. Jacob Reed is a freshman at Methodist University where he plans to major in business administration with a concentration in professional golf management and a possible second major in marketing. In past summers, Reed has worked at Waverly Woods Golf Course and Woodholme Country Club.
Scholarship renewals were also awarded to Aria Jalalian, University of Maryland; John McMullen, Eastern Kentucky University, and Micaa Thomas, Savannah College of Art & Design. Organized in 2006, the program has awarded 32 scholarships, totaling $119,500.
The annual Emmet Gary Scholarship, awarded to students in the University of Maryland’s Plant Sciences Turf and Golf Course Management program, went to senior Brock Campbell, from Laurel, who interned at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Starting in 1969, the Emmet Gar Scholarship program has had 154 recipients who have received over $300,000 in scholarship funds.
– Reported by John Stewart from Columbia Country Club