QUEENS COUNTY
GOLF CLUB → NASSAU COUNTRY CLUB GOLF PROS C.A.W. Fox - 1896 Carl
Fox arrived in New York from Scotlandon
the12th of April 1894. He served as the golf professional and coach to Meadow
Brook Hunt Club and that year he supervised the laying out of a twelve-hole
course on the August Belmont estate at Babylon in 1895. He was appointed
professional at Queens County Country Club in 1896 where he stayed for a year
before joining Rockaway Hunting Club. In 1904 Fox played in a foursome match
against Alex Smith who had taken over Fox's old job at Nassau and in April,
Smith replaced him at Scarsdale. Tom Warrender - 1897 Tom
Warrender hailed from North
Berwick. He followed Carl Fox as a
professional at the nine-hole course at QCGC. Walter E. Stoddart – 1899 Walter
Edward Stoddart came from Musselburgh.After completing his apprenticeship as a clubmaker, he emigrated to the
United States in 1897. His first
position was at Brookline, however, the Boston Globe in April 1899 announced
that he left there to become the pro at the Nassau Country Club. In April 1902 he accepted a position at Wee
Burn in Connecticut. Peter Clark - 1901 – 1902 Peter
Clark was a Musselburgh man, born from a family of golf professionals famous in
that section of Scotland for their golfing and club making skills. Clark came to Nassau from the Philadelphia
area after three seasons in the U.S. Peter Clark, NCC Golf
Professional Clark
was known as a quiet young man and a fine and steady golfer. Nassau Country Club went through a long list
of candidates before choosing Clark. He
was at NCC but a year when he took the position of Por at the Century Country
Club in West Chester. Alex Smith - 1902-1908 Alex Smith (seated)
outside Pro Shop His Assistants
(standing left to right) Fred Low, Dick
Clarkson, Jim Maiden Alex
Smith came to Nassau after the1901 U.S. Open and remained until 1908,when he went
to take the Pro position at Wykagyl Country Club. Like many from his hometown
of Carnoustie, Alex loved teaching the game to anyone eager to learn. There were numerous golf professionals who
had their start under his tutelage, including World Golf Hall of Famers Jerry Travers (winning four U.S. Amateur
titles and the 1915 U.S. Open), Marion Hollins (winner of the U.S. Women's
Amateur in 1921) and Glenna Collett, (six U.S. Women's Amateur titles from 1922
through 1936).
Alex Smith Jim Maiden - 1908 -1949 Jim Maiden In
1901 Jim Maiden, then 20 years old, had come to this country to work as
assistant to Smith at Nassau. Maiden was one of the key professionals who
helped found the PGA of America. He was
a member of the seven-man organizing committee that set up the PGA of America
in 1916 and was among the PGA's first slate of officers, serving as
vice-president. Later that year he became the vice-president of the PGA's
Metropolitan section. Maiden was a fine teacher. One of his more famous pupils
was Barbara Hutton. This was around 1928. Charlie Brett remembers her as just a
"little kid" then and adds, "Her family, who owned Woolworths,
had an estate at Westbury in those days. " Up to the 1917 season, Maiden
charged $1 for a lesson. At that time, Nassau's Governors suggested that Maiden
now charge $2 a lesson, "the Club to receive 50 cents. " Maiden was
made an honorary member of Nassau in 1951. He died in 1958 at age 77. Jim
Maiden Edward Scott -1949 - 1964 Early
in1949, Edward Scott, formerly pro at Huntington Country Club, came to Nassau.
Like Maiden, Scott was a Scotsman. A quiet, genial man, he had a distinct
Scottish burr. He was born in Glasgow and came to this country in 1930. Scott
served Nassau for 15 years. He lived with his wife "Doll "at their
home in Cold Spring Harbor. In 1964, Nassau's Gordon Stott and Ed won the LIGA
Amateur-Professional Best-Ball Championship at Woodmere with a 67. In September
of that year, Scott retired from Nassau at the age of 62. TheBoardelectedhim to
membership and accepted his resignation with regret. Edward Scott Harold Kolb -1964 -1997 Harold
Kolb had been the assistant pro at Nassau since 1963. Kolb was born and raised
in Bayside, New York. In his youth he caddied at the old Bayside Links, which
no longer exists. Kolb's introduction to the game was unusual, to say the
least. "I caddied at Bayside from 1949 to 1951, before I went to
college," he says. "One of the best bags I had then belonged to Frank
Costello, a Mafia boss. The usual caddie fee was $1.25 a round. He paid $25 a
round!" In 1976,
he won the professional part of the Beefeater Tournament in Bermuda, a 54-hole
event, with a seven-under-par 203. In the sectional qualifying for the 1980 U.
S. Open, he was low scorer with 142. He has qualified eight times for the PGA
Club Professional Championship, and made the cut three times. He has qualified
for two PGA Senior Championships in Florida as well as the 1986 U.S. Senior
Open at Scioto, Ohio. He also has played twice in what is now called the
Northville Long Island Classic. An event on the Senior PGA Tour, at Meadow
Brook. Harold Kolb Ralph Panetta Ralph Panetta
was never a Pro at Nassau, however, he is deserving of a place in Nassau's
history of golf. He was the Club's
Clubmaker and Starter. His passion and
love of Nassau was remarkable. Not only
was he a part of the greatest generation, but he was also an integral part of
the history of Nassau Country Club. Ralph Panetta Drew Pohalski - Director of Golf 1998 - Present Andrew
Pohalski was born in Glen Cove Hospital on April 1, 1969, only a mile from the
Nassau Country Club. At the age of 12, he was introduced to golf as a caddie at
the Meadow Brook Hunt Club, where his father worked for 26 years. From the age
of 20 to 28 he served as the Assistant Golf Professional at both The Rockaway
Hunting Club in Cedarhurst,
NY and Loblolly Pines Golf Club in Hobe Sound Florida. In 1998 he was given the opportunity to
interview for the Head Professional position at Nassau Country Club and was
hired in February of that year. Andrew's focus has always been on teaching,
junior golf, and the everyday running of the golf operation. He has been quoted
as saying "My goal has always been to help make Nassau Country Club "The
Premiere Family Club on Long Island." Golf
has always been a family affair. He and his wife Elizabeth have raised twelve
children that have come up through the ranks of Nassau's Junior Golf Program.
Two of his daughters have become members at NCC and have won multiple Ladies'
Club Championships. In 2018 he was
honored with the award of Junior Golf Leader in The Metropolitan Section. Drew Pohalski Aaron Mueller - Head Professional Aaron
rejoined the Nassau team as Head Golf Professional in 2022.Previously, Aaron held the position of First
Assistant Golf Professional at Nassau to Drew Pohalski from 2015-2018. In 2019 Aaron accepted the position of Head
Golf Professional at Indian Hills Country Club in Northport, New York. He held this position until his return to
Nassau in 2022.Aaron also served as an
assistant at Huntington Country Club where he trained under Head Professional
Jim Smoot for five seasons (2010-2014). A native of West Virginia, Aaron spent
his early professional years in his home state and in Florida. Seeking the
opportunity to work and play in The Metropolitan Section, the best PGA. Section
in America, Aaron moved to New York, landed at Huntington Country Club and
settled in on Long Island. Aaron and his wife Erin have three children: Morgan,
Ryan and Camden. Aaron Mueller |