Greetings and welcome to the first installment of the Northport Golf Club blog. I am your humble blogger, Joel Getman. I am an avid, if not skilled, golfer and, along with my lovely partner, Nan Hicks, have been an enthusiastic Northport member for several years.

 

How did I become Northport’s official blogger?

 

I missed a meeting. It’s as simple as that.

 

Before we go any further, let me remind you about our upcoming season-opening events. Our 2025 season kicks off with The Spring Junior Golf Auction and Open House to be held on April 26. Proceeds will benefit our junior golf programs. A pot luck dinner will be held in conjunction with this very worthy event. On the 27th we will hold our annual Welcome Back Scramble. Hey, it’s been a long winter. Get your clubs out of hibernation. Let’s celebrate springtime with some golf!

 

While I promise to keep myself out of these entries, I do think a brief introduction would be appropriate. I’m a native Bostonian, Dorchester to be exact. I spent most of my life on the South Shore where I taught English in Hingham, MA for 31 years before retiring to New Hampshire in 2000. I believe my late wife, Ada, and I were the only people to ever retire northward, but I could be wrong. Our community in New Hampshire had a championship golf course and that is where I was infected by the golf bug.

 

Like many of you, I still haven’t found a cure.

 

When  Ada passed in 2009, I decided I needed a change of scenery and moved to Destin on the Florida panhandle. Nan and I met eight years ago and three years ago we decided to split our time between Destin and Stockton Springs.

 

And yes, I DO realize how lucky I am to live in two such beautiful places.

 

OK, enough about me. What about the 2025 season at the Northport Golf Club?

 

There have been a number of improvements. First an “invisible” one. Thanks to funds from the club’s endowment there are two new heat pumps in our clubhouse. These will serve to make the surroundings more comfortable no matter what kind of weather Maine dishes out this season.

 

And thanks to an old cedar tree, as well as the skill and generosity of Keith Parker and volunteers from the Green Committee, you will be delighted to see new tee markers on all the holes. They were all milled from that fine old cedar. Keith and his volunteers were also responsible for removing the old yellow ropes that indicated the preferred cart directions  and replacing them with sharp new signage. Here’s a look at the new tee markers, all painted with donated paint:

 

Up on the clubhouse deck you will notice that the shabby green rug that has been in place since the Hoover administration has been replaced. Several of our generous women members took on that task. Funds collected during the Wednesday Scotch events were used to purchase four new chairs. There are also new runners in the banquet hall.

 

When and if you land on a green, you’ll undoubtedly notice that it has been mowed by a brand new hand mower made especially for the purpose. Two of these mowers were purchased this year, one for the greens and one for the tees. This is a significant expenditure that will undoubtedly result in an upgrade in our course conditions. Mario, our new Superintendent, and his crew will make good use of this new equipment. More about Mario in future blogs.

 

Well, it certainly won’t be long now. Here’s to a fun and brilliant 2025 season. Thanks for reading. Catch you at the turn.