Using History To Promote Jersey Shore Golf

Rory McIlroy and John McDermott - the 2011 and the 1911 US Open Champions








Johnny McDermott - the 19 year old 1911 US Open Champion from Atlantic City CC, still the youngest to have ever won the US Open, which he also won in 1912.




Using History to promote the Jersey Shore as a golf destination resort.

When comparing the Jersey Shore golf scene with that of Ocean City, Maryland, you have a lot of numbers – an almost equal number of golf courses, around two dozen, but a radical difference in the amount spent to market golf - $600,000 spent in Maryland verses $70,000 spent to promote Jersey Shore golf.

As detailed in the recent Press of AC article, the comparable bottom line is equally contrasted by the $48.5 million spent in one year by golfers visiting Ocean City, Maryland and the $8.4 million earned by Jersey Shore’s golf courses in the same time period.

Although you can’t argue with numbers, it is the bottom line that you are most interested in, and that number can be increased significantly without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising.

It can be significantly increased not only by advertising the right message, but by proper promotion - by promoting the one asset that the Jersey Shore golf courses have that Ocean City, Maryland and most other golf destinations don’t have, and that’s a deep and engaging golf history as well as historic, classic and some totally unique courses.

Atlantic City is where “resort golf” originated, and while OC Md, might be more popular now, the Jersey Shore was the first to introduce golf as a vacation sport. They’ve been playing golf at Atlantic City Country Club for over a century, and at Seaview for nearly as long, while Greate Bay’s course was originally laid out by the legendary Scotsman Willie Parks, Jr. Harry Vardon played an exhibition at Atlantic City, but I’ll bet Parks and Vardon never played anywhere in Ocean City, Md.

Atlantic City CC was the “mother club” for many other historic and classic courses, including Wildwood, Brigantine, Mays Landing, Pine Valley, Oakmont, and even the Tokyo Golf Club, whose founder was inspired after first playing golf at the “Northfield Links,” as ACCC was called.

Atlantic City, Seaview Bay, Cape May National and Wildwood are traditional links courses, with some holes linked to the water, while others like Seaview Pines, Sand Barrens and Harbor Pines, have many of the same sandy scrub pine forest attributes as the legendary Pine Valley. You won’t find any golf course in Ocean City, Maryland that come close to these pine courses or the uniqueness of Twisted Dune, Sand Barrons or Galloway National.

Twisted Dune was laid out by former Pine Valley caddy Archie Struthers, and Galloway National was built by banker Vernon Hill when he couldn’t get a membership in Pine Valley, so now he has his own, equally exclusive golf club.

Atlantic City Country Club and Seaview have a history that cannot be matched by any club in Ocean City, Maryland, but it is a history that is not promoted and marketed so it will attract those golfers who really appreciate the history of the game, and that’s most golfers.

They say, “play a round of history” at Atlantic City, but they should say, come to the Jersey Shore, “where golf history is made,” not only yesterday, but today.

And it’s not just a matter of throwing money at the problem, and spending advertising dollars, it’s also a question of how to get the right publicity when the situation arises.

For instance, when Rory McIlroy won the US Open at Congressional in Maryland by record scores, they frequently flashed a list of the six young twenty year olds who have won the US Open since World War II. When the National Public Radio reported on his victory, they mentioned that McIlroy was the youngest player to win the Open since 22 year old Bobby Jones in 1923. The AP writer Doug Ferguson had to stretch things a bit when he wrote, “McIlroy became the second youngest player to win a major since the Masters began in 1934.”

Why stop at World War II? Why stop at Bobby Jones? Why mix it in with the Masters?
Why not just go back to John McDermott, still the youngest to have ever won the US Open?

McDermott was not mentioned in any cacse, and he was the youngest to ever win the US Open when he did it at the age of 19 in 1911, almost one hundred years to the day McIlroy won the championship.

But you wouldn’t know that following NBC, NPR or AP.

Although there were three, national mainstream media articles about McDermott that were published during the week of the Open, McDermott should have been officially acknowledged and remembered as one of the greatest champions ever. Not only was he the youngest, but after British and Scottish pros won the first 16 in a row, McDermott was the first American to win the US national championship, and he did it twice, back-to-back in 1911 and 1912.

The next US Open will be in San Francisco in June, and there should be a concerted effort made to call attention to McDermott, his association with Atlantic City, and the sense of history that permeates the entire South Jersey Shore golf scene.

Getting journalists, especially beat reporters to write articles that mention McDermott, the Atlantic City Country Club and Jersey Shore golf is not advertising, its good publicity, promotion and public relations, which when successful, is something you just can’t buy at any price.

Atlantic City was not only the home of John McDermott, it is also where the term “birdie” and “eagle” were coined, and where many great golfers have played over the years. It has a deep history that is also reflected in the stories of Seaview, Greate Bay, Wildwood and Mays Landing clubs. And South Jersey must boast many championship courses where great tournaments have been held, including USGA, LPGA, PGA and the first PGA Senior’s tournament. Presidents Warren G. Harding and Eisenhower have played Seaview, where Sam Snead won a PGA in 1941.

Doesn’t this great history count for something more than the many beautifully manicured courses that Ocean City, Maryland has to offer?

History should be the theme, and the goal should be set to get people to come play at the Jersey Shore – “where golf history is made,” where there are real links courses, classic scrub pines courses as well as some totally unique ones that you can’t experience anywhere else.

You can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising, but its just words and pictures without a simple and enticing message, and the message should be to come appreciate where resort golf originated and what makes Jersey Shore golf special – it’s history.

The Jersey Shore – Where Golf History Is Made.

http://kopublicrelations.blogspot.com/
http://kellysgolfhistory.blogspot.com/

Bill Kelly
Billkelly3@gmail.com
609-425-6297

Jersey First!

New Jersey is known for being the place where many things happened for the first time, so much so that it's motto, and marketing strategy should be centered around the slogan -
JERSEY FIRST!

First time the term "Birdie" was used in the game of golf was at Atlantic City Country Club in 1905. It is also where the term "Eagle" was coined and used for the first time.

The first golf tee was invited by a black man in North Jersey.

Atlantic City Airport - Bader Field, was the first place that was called an "Airport."

Cape May was the first national Seaside Resort.


http://www.mcvts.org/ettc/mentoring/VNJ-firsts.htm

First AIR VOYAGE in America, made in balloon from Philadelphia to Deptford, 1793.

First BASEBALL game played under organized rules, Hoboken, 1846.

First BOARDWALK laid on sand, Atlantic City, 1870.

First FIRST AID KITS made in New Brunswick, 1890.

First FM STATION went on air at Alpine, 1937.

First FOOTBALL game played by college teams; Princeton-Rutgers, 1869.

First LOCOMOTIVE in America, steam-powered, made at Hoboken, 1825.

First ELECTRIC LIGHT, made practical by Thomas Edison, Menlo Park, 1879.

First MISS AMERICA chosen, Atlantic City, 1921.

First MOVIES made and shown in West Orange, 1889.

First MOVIE STUDIO in the world, West Orange, 1893.

First PHONOGRAPH invented by Edison at Menlo Park, 1877.

First REVOLVER, or repeating pistol, Paterson, 1836.

First ROCKET ENGINES made at Pompton Plains, early 1940s.

First SMOKE DETECTOR, perfected in Jersey City, 1900.

First CONDENSED SOUP (add water, heat and serve), Camden, 1897.

First STEAMBOAT in America ran from Burlington to Philadelphia, 1786.

First SUBMARINE in America, Paterson, 1878.

First TRANSISTOR made by three-man science team, Murray Hill, 1948.

First TV for home use made in Upper Montclair, 1933.


http://www.shgresources.com/nj/facts/


More New Jersey Firsts, Facts, and Trivia
"I'm From New Jersey" is the only state song that is adaptable to any municipality with a two or three syllable name.

New Jersey has the highest population density in the U.S. An average 1,030 people per sq. mi., which is 13 times the national average.

New Jersey has the highest percent urban population in the U.S. with about 90% of the people living in an urban area.

In November of 1914, the New York Tribune, cooperating with Mr. Bertram Chapman Mayo (founder of Beachwood) issued an "Extra" announcing: "Subscribe to the New York Tribune and secure a lot at Beautiful Beachwood. Act at once, secure your lot in this Summer Paradise now!" This was the greatest premium offered by a newspaper - nothing equal to it was ever attempted in the United States.

New Jersey is the only state where all its counties are classified as metropolitan areas.

North Jersey is the car theft capital of the world, with more cars stolen in Newark then any other city. Even the 2 largest cities, NYC and LA put together.

New Jersey has the most dense system of highways and railroads in the U.S.

Picturesque Cape May holds the distinction of being the oldest seashore resort in the United States and one of the most unique.

In order to meet the increasing demand for his wire rope John Roebling opened a factory in Trenton, New Jersey in 1848. John Roebling, along with his two sons, Washington and Ferdinand, built a suspension bridge across the gorge of the Niagara River. They then built the Brooklyn Bridge plus many other suspension bridges in the United States.

New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the diner capital of the world.

North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world with seven major shopping malls in a 25 sq. mile radius.

New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Passaic river was the site to the first submarine ride by inventor John P. Holland.

New Jersey has over 50 resort cities and towns, some of the nations most famous, Asbury park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside heights, Cape May.

New Jersey is a leading industrial state and is the largest chemical producing state in the nation.

New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport in the U.S. located in Elizabeth.

Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Redman, Das EFX, Naughty by Nature, Sugar Hill Gang, Lords of the Underground, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifa, Shaq, Judy Blume, Arron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Whitney Houston, Eddie Money, Frank Sinatra, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Walt Whitman, all New Jersey natives.

The light bulb, phonograph (record player), motion picture projector were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park laboratory.

New Jersey is home to the Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City.

Atlantic City is where the street names came from for the game monopoly

Fort Dix is named for Major General John Adams Dix, a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civil War. During his distinguished public career, he was a United States Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, Minister to France and Governor of New York.

Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world.

New Jersey has the largest petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East countries.

The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey.

New Jersey has the tallest water tower in the world.

The first tin-foil phonograph developed by Thomas Edison was crude, but it proved his point-- that sound could be recorded and played back. Thomas Edison had phonograph demonstrations and became world-renowned as the "Wizard of Menlo Park" for this invention.

Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.

New Jersey is the only state in the nation which offers child abuse prevention workshops to every public school.

The first baseball game was played in Hoboken.

The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick, in 1869. Rutgers College played Princeton. Rutgers won.

The first Drive-In Movie theatre was opened in Camden.

New Jersey has 108 toxic waste dumps. Which is the most in any one state in the nation.

New Jersey has a spoon museum featuring over 5,400 spoons from every state and almost every country.

Origin of name: From the Channel Isle of Jersey.

Tourism is the second-largest industry in New Jersey.

In 1977, New Jersey voters approved legislation allowing legalized casino gambling in Atlantic City.

New Jersey has 21 counties.

Although the Borough of Ship Bottom was incorporated in 1925, the name dates back to a shipwreck that occurred in March 1817, when Captain Stephen Willets of Tuckerton rescued a young woman from the hull of a ship overturned in the shoals. The rescue became known as "Ship Bottom."

Gregory's Bar and Restaurant

http://www.letseat.at/GregorysRestaurantAndBar/history

The Gregory family has been providing good food and drink for their Somers Point patrons for over half a century and five generations.

The building that houses Gregory's has been there longer, having graced the corner of Delaware Avenue and Shore Roads since 1908. Every door is of different size because the building was constructed from an old assortment of wood salvaged from seven Longport homes that were destroyed in a storm and barged over the bay. The unique shape of the roof stems from the design of the hull of a ship.

Originally a home and business known as Piercy's General Dry Goods Store, Ella Piercy and her sister, Carrie Reckstel, were the first to obtain a liquor license for the premises. Their nephew, Gerald S. Piercy, took over in 1913 and operated it as the Piercy Hotel before it became the Hotel Boulevard. In 1929 Mrs. Keemer and Mr. Davis bought and renamed it the Davis Hotel, which was popular with duck hunters, boaters and fishermen, and also served as a riding academy.

During prohibition the bar was relocated in the basement, where it remained even after the repeal of liquor laws in 1933. The Davis Hotel changed hands for the last time in February, 1946, when many shore properties were sold after the depression, the storm of '44, and World War II.

Walter "Pop" Gregory owned Walt's Cafe, at Emerald and Cumberland Streets in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, which he had operated since before prohibition. An avid fisherman, frequent visitor and seasonal resident, he purchased the Davis Hotel for his sons Walter and Elmer when they returned from the war.

Renamed the Gregory Hotel, the bar remained a rathskeller in the basement for the first season before being moved upstairs against the south wall where the jukebox is now located. In 1950 Ray Smith Sr. built the classic Philippine mahogany horseshoe bar.

In 1957 the Gregorys recruited Vince Renich from Bayshores to be a bartender and clam shucker. With a dart board, shuffleboard, pool table and seven drafts for a dollar, Gregory's became a popular neighborhood tavern frequented by local fishermen and seasonal visitors alike.

The Tight End Fishing Club met every Monday night when stripers were running all the time and fresh seafood was the staple of the daily diet. The N.J. State record striper, nicknamed Big Ben, was caught by Gregory's patron Maury Upperman on a bucktail lure. After services, the fish was stuffed and mounted on the wall over the dining room door.

In 1979 Elmer's son, Gregory, and Walter's son, Walt, took over the business and remodeled the building, but kept Gregory's reputation for fresh seafood and inexpensive drinks. They also initiated the popular "Taco Tuesday," "Adios Turistos," "Vince's Birthday," venison on the Super Bowl Sunday buffet, and many other special occasions.

More recently a new generation has taken over the kitchen. Joe and Paul Gregory, both graduates of the Culinary Academy at Atlantic Community College, have continued Gregory's longtime traditions, including "Pop's" homemade snapper soup and whole lobster dinners, and have also added their own unique touch to the menu.

On any given day you can find a member of the Gregory's clan around the premises - sons, daughters, cousins, nephews, nieces, and neighbors working in some capacity, keeping Gregory's a family affair.

And, you can count on the next generation to continue the traditions into the next century, ensuring Gregory's will always be a friendly, familiar, yet unique place for good food, inexpensive drinks and great times.

by William Kelly (Author of "300 Years at the Point" - A Somers Point History)

Fifteen Ideas for Atlantic City

Fifteen Strategic Ideas for Atlantic City – By Bill Kelly billkelly3@gmail.com (609) 425-6297

1) Use Atlantic City’s History as a basis for promotion. They started a Mob-Museum in Las Vegas with help of the FBI, but without community support, it faltered. Vegas didn’t get started until after World War II, while organized crime got organized right here in Atlantic City. That museum belongs here, in Atlantic City, where the 1929 convention of mobsters was held by the same people who decided, at the AC meeting, that gambling should replace booze as the mob’s primary source of income after prohibition ended. The old Masonic Hall would be a good place for it. [See: Vegas http://www.themobmuseum.org/ ]
2) Fix the Boardwalk Hall organ – the largest in the world, and make it a major attraction again, and let it be used for benefit concerts for non-profit organizations. http://www.acchos.org/
3) Do whatever it takes to bring back the Miss America pageant back to the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall. http://www.acchos.org/
4) The PGA Senior’s Tour began at the Atlantic City Country Club and there should be a PGA Champion’s Tour event at the Jersey Shore, to compliment the LPGA event, as well as a major amateur tournament similar to the Sonny Fraser invitational that was discontinued when ACCC was purchased by the casinos. http://www.pgatour.com/2010/s/06/21/30th-anniversary/index.html
5) Golf at the Jersey Shore is totally under rated, and the figures are easy to see where Ocean City, Maryland spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote their two dozen golf courses, and earns nearly $50 million a year income, while the Jersey Shore clubs spend less than one hundred thousand on golf marketing, and earn less than $5 million a year. It’s not a matter of throwing money at advertising, it is a matter of proper promotion, and the use of the fabulous history of the Jersey Shore clubs to attarct golfers from out of town and compete with the other markets. [ See: http://kopublicrelations.blogspot.com/2011/06/using-history-to-promote-jersey-shore.html]
6) While the beach and boardwalk are important, the back bays of Atlantic City are not utilized as they should be by boaters, fishermen, sailors and canoe/kayaks. While the local boat construction industry has concentrated on large yachts, they also should be building smaller boats that more people can afford and use locally. Among the boats that should be concentrated on are canoes and kayaks, sculling and row boats, Olympic class sailboats, and Americas Cup Class sailboats.
7) There is a new, international circuit of really fast and exciting America’s Cup Class catamarans and they are looking for places to race – and Atlantic City should be considered as a possible venue. While the America’s Cup is now in San Francisco, it might be raced again in Newport, and Atlantic City could be considered for the World Cup event of America’s Cup Class boats, which would be like hosting the Super Bowl of boats. [http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Catamaran-Challenge-Trophy/138683199492757 ]
8) The America’s Cup is now back in America, in San Francisco, but they can’t seem to agree on having a regatta there, so Atlantic City should put an offer on the table that can better Newport for the defense of the next Cup or contest for getting the World Cup race, which is held the year before and after the America’s Cup and is a fleet race that includes all of the major competitors. Even if the America’s Cup or World Cup races cannot be obtained a new Cup should be placed in competition, like the Cape May Cup of the 1800s in which sailboats raced the length of the Jersey Coast from Sandy Hook to Cape Mahy.
[ http://www.americascup.com/]
9) In order to attract foreign visitors, the Atlantic City Airport should make it easy for private yachts to dock and planes to land from Europe. The Atlantic City Air Port and Yacht basin should make it easy and encourage wealthy yachters and globetrotters to visit.
10) There should be easy train and/or trolley connections between downtown Atlantic City and the Atlantic City International Airport, the FAA Tech Center and Stockton College, though there is no mass transit connection between these four key points that are core infrastructure attributes to the Jersey Shore.
11) Atlantic City should offer more concerts and shows, bring back the Atlantic City Pop Festival (1969) and Atlantic City Jazz Festival, start a folk festival and make them city-wide events, both in and outside of the casinos. [http://jerseyshorenightbeat.blogspot.com/2008/02/atlantic-city-pop-fest-flashback-1969.html ]
12) The casino showrooms should make it easy for the acts to film and record their shows and sold-out shows should be presented live over the internet – or archived and viewed later, or the music downloaded and listened to shortly after the show is over – Live From Atlantic City.
13) With all of the acts that come to Atlantic City there should be full service recording studios for them to record new albums and videos, and the film industry should be encouraged to come to the Jersey Shore to make movies. There’s no reason why the Boardwalk Empire set was built on a Brooklyn lot, when it could be right in Atlantic City and made into a tourist attraction when not in use.
14) There used to be over 200 liquor licenses in Atlantic City, and they should be reissued so new bars and restaurants can be opened outside of the casinos, and operated 24 hours a day – 7 days a week. Atlantic City should be promoted as it has always been known as an “Open City,” not only open to new businesses, but open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, AC 24-7 - for business, for meetings, for pleasure, and an effort should be made to try to attract those international jet setters, New York and Philadelphia pleasure seekers, and just ordinary people who want to have a good time.
15) There should be a high-speed, giant catamaran pedestrian-only ferries that run between Atlantic City Inlet, Philadelphia, Cape May and New York City, similar to Australian ferries and the ferries planned for Hawaii by the John Lehman group. [See: Tassie Devils http://stott.customer.netspace.net.au/devilcat.htm ]