In golf, 'tis the season for hiring and firing.
All over town, at clubs and courses, the talk among golf pros often turns to which jobs, coveted or otherwise, are coming open - who's out, who's in, who's angling for what.
Most years, one, two, maybe three head pro jobs come open. With just over 800 pros in the Philadelphia PGA Section - 300 head pros, 500 assistant and teaching pros - you can imagine the grapevine chatter and jockeying for position.
This year is different. Not only are six head pro jobs open or coming open, four are coveted spots at top tier clubs: Overbrook Golf Club in Bryn Mawr, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and The ACE Club, both in Lafayette Hill, and the choicest of them all, Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square.
"I can't remember three or four big jobs, quality jobs, being open at the same time," Geoff Surrette, executive director of the Philadelphia PGA Section, said last week. "It's definitely the buzz of the Section. Folks are trying to better themselves."
That's not surprising when pay packages for the top jobs at premier clubs around the country can reach $250,000, plus benefits and other incentives.
Besides those four prime posts, the head pro positions are open or coming open at two other clubs, neither of which is exactly chopped liver: Spring Mill Country Club in Warminster and Blue Bell Country Club in Blue Bell.
The reasons for the openings vary from club to club. At the ACE Club, Dave Nevatt, director of golf and general manager, resigned six months ago. Word is that post will be filled within the next few days.
At Aronimink and Overbrook, the contracts of their longtime pros, Jim Masserio and Stu Ingraham, respectively, were not renewed. At Whitemarsh, Jim Bromley, 52, head pro since 1985, is getting out of the golf pro business and buying three fitness-club franchises.
"Many years ago, I decided I couldn't do this job until I retired," said Bromley, who has worked at just two clubs (Whitemarsh and Waynesborough Country Club) since he was 12 years old. He knew the 12- and 14-hour days and six- and 61/2-day weeks would eventually be too much. In good conscience, Bromley said he couldn't give the job anything less than it demanded. "This club has been so good to me, there was no way I could do that," he said.
