Twenty Strategic Ideas for Atlantic City

Twenty 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.

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.

3) Do whatever it takes to bring back the Miss America pageant back to the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

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.

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 attract golfers from out of town and compete with the other markets. Atlantic City has what other golf markets don’t – a great history.

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 sculling and row boats, Olympic class sailboats, and Americas Cup Class sailboats.

7) There is a new, international circuit of America’s Cup Class catamarans that are really fast and exciting to watch, 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.

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.

9) In order to attract foreign visitors, the Atlantic City Airport should make it easy for private planes to land there from Europe, and the Atlantic City Yacht basin should make it easy and encourage more visits by wealthy yachters 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 infra-structure attributes to the Jersey Shore.

11) Atlantic City should offer more concerts and shows, bring back the Atlantic City Pop Festival, the Atlantic City Jazz Festival, start a folk festival and make them city-wide events, both in and outside of the casinos.

12) The casino showrooms should make it easy for the acts to film and record their shows and sold-out shows can 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. With all of the acts that come to Atlantic City there should be full service recording studios for them to record live concerts, new albums and music videos.

13) 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 open 24 hours. Competition creates variety and only increases business for everybody.

14) Atlantic City should be promoted as it has always been known as an “Open City,” open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for business, for meetings, for pleasure, and try to attract those international jet setters, New York and Philadelphia pleasure seekers, and just ordinary people who want to have a good time at any time. AC Open 24-7.

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 between the islands in Hawaii.

16) The HBO production of “Boardwalk Empire” is popular in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and those fans should be encouraged to visit Atlantic City, fly directly to Atlantic City Airport in junkets and visit the real Boardwalk Empire.

17) There aren't many places left from Nucky Johnson's Atlantic City, and they should be recognized and preserved as part of Atlantic City's history.

18) The State of New Jersey and Atlantic City should make it easier for movie and TV production crews to film in town, as Canada encourages such productions, but local and state taxes penalize these companies. The Boardwalk Empire boardwalk studio is in a Brooklyn, New York lot, when it could have been built right in Atlantic City, and used as a tourist attraction when not in use.

19) There used to be an Atlantic City Press Club – a center for media, especially out of town media, not only wired for internet, radio and TV production, but also a bar and café where the reporters and public gather before and after events and after-hours, like the Pen & Pencil Club in Philadelphia and National Press Club in DC.

20) Atlantic City has a history, a great history and many fine traditions, some of which are still maintained, and that history should be used as the basis for any marketing campaign attempting to bring more tourists to town. While the former planning policy of keeping visitors inside the casinos is now out the window, most of old Atlantic City – Nucky Johnson’s town, is gone, though what is left should be preserved and maintained, and tours of the historic town should be given.
Atlantic City was and can be once again, the Showplace of the World, if only the attempt is made to make it so.

Bill Kelly - billkelly3@gmail.com

KOPR

KOPR – Kelly & O’Leary Public Relations

KOPR is a privately held public and press relations agency that specializes in personal, family, company, business, corporate and regional history of the South Jersey Shore. We specialize in historic marketing, focus most of our work in and around the Somers Point - Atlantic City – Cape May shore area.

Founded by William E.Kelly, Jr., the principal researcher and author of the regional history books “300 Years at the Point – A History of Somers Point, New Jersey” and “Birth of the Birdie – 100 Years of Golf at Atlantic City Country Club,” KOPR focuses much of its work at the Jersey Shore, and dedicates primary interests to local history, golf, music and boating. Follow-up volumes on both books are in the works – “The Secret History of Somers Point and Ocean City, N.J.” and “Flight of the Eagle – The Growth of Golf in America.” A History of Rock & Roll is also being composed.

KOPR devises strategic plans, researches background sources, creates personal, family and company profiles and develops synopsis and articles for reports, prospectus, bouchoures, web sites, CDs, books and documentary films.

In Washington D.C., KOPR is active with a number of 501c-3 organizations, including the Committee for an Open Archives (COA), which lobbies for the release of classified government records, COPA – the Coalition On Political Assassination, and aligns with other associations in monitoring Congress and the government as independent watch dogs.

KOPR - Kelly - O'Leary Public Relations

Integrated communications and marketing plans.

My specialty and that of my company is to utilize and develop history as a means of increasing business and achieving missions and goals.

I did this with the publication of the book 300 Years at the Point - A History of Somers Point, NJ, and with Birth of the Birdie - the First 100 Years of Golf at Atlantic City Country Club, both of which were successful at calling attention to their great history.

They not only achieved their goals, but in the end, after the books were sold, the projects literally paid for themselves and even made a profit.

The history of every company should be at the core of its existence, and can often be referred to as a source for information, inspiration and a reminder of where you have been and where you are going.

Because many companies are family owned, and are passed on from one generation to the next, the early history is often lost with the passing of the founders, so it is important to document the history of every company, and utilize that history in defining future goals.

Often, family owned companies are sold to other corporations, and the early history of the company is lost in the transaction, and it is then difficult to keep the core values and mission of the company alive under the new corporate ownership. A return to the history is often an invaluable resource that can be used to refine the company goals, its relationship to the neighborhood community, and to ensure it is profitable and survives into the next generation.

If you would like me to develop the history of your company as part of your integrated marketing plan, you can contact me at BillKelly3@gmail.com (609) 425-6297 or write to me:
William Kelly
20 Columbine Ave.
Browns Mills, NJ 08015

Atlantic City Country Club - Historical Synopsis

THE COUNTRY CLUB OF ATLANTIC CITY – 1897-1997
An Historical Synopsis – By William Kelly

The Country Club of Atlantic City was incorporated in 1897 by a group of Atlantic City hotel operators who wanted to offer the game of golf to their guests. Unlike most country clubs, the Atlantic City Country Club was established specifically as a golf club, and began what became known as resort golf.

John Reid, a golf professional from Philadelphia, who was born in Scotland and played in three U.S. Opens, surveyed the Northfield site and spent a year laying out the first nine holes while the clubhouse was built. By the early spring of 1898 Mr. Reid was giving demonstrations of his long driving skills and organizing tournaments for both men and women. The first club championships were won by a husband and wife team, Mr. and Mrs. Milton Work, who were also the club bridge champions.

The Country Club of Atlantic City’s first amateur golf champion in 1898 was Mr. Francis H. Bohlen, who also became the first Philadelphia Country Club golf champion in 1899. Bohlen attended the 1898 U.S Amateur championship in Morristown, N.J. the same weekend Harriet Curtis attracted a large local gallery when she gave an exhibition of her skills over the Atlantic City course. With her sister Margaret, the Curtis sisters went on to win many championships and placed the Curtis Cup into competition to instigate international play.

The first time inter-club matches were organized that first year between the best players from the Country Club of Atlantic City and the Philadelphia Country Club. Other early team matches were held with the Cape May Golf Club, which while an older club, is no longer in existence.

The tourists of that day traveled primarily by train and the game of golf came to Atlantic City by rail. Atlantic City hotel guests who wanted to play golf left by trolley from Virginia Avenue and the Boardwalk. The railroad company also provided a special train for golfers when they traveled to Cape May or Philadelphia to play, and the names on the list of those who participated included the names of many of the founding members and hotel owners – J. Haines Lippincott, Frederick Hemsley, Walter Smedley, et. Al. Rather than for their guests, the hotel owners themselves took a liking to the game and played frequently.

In 1900 a group of Quaker hotel owners including some of the club’s founders formed the Ozone Club, a social group dedicated to playing golf one day a month, which they have don continuously since then. Their first match was over the Atlantic City course, where they frequently returned over the years.

Although Old records indicated there were stable fees as well as green fees, the trolley was the main mode of travel to and from the country club before the advent of the automobile. Because they wanted to get in as much golf, or drinking at the bar, as possible, they were notified of the approach of the last trolley with the clang of a bell, which rang continuously until the last trolley run was made in 1948. The bell is now by the front door.

The fifth U.S. Amateur championship was held at the Atlantic City Country Club in 1901 when Walter Travis became the first person to win a major championship with the radical Haskell ball, which revolutionized the game of golf.

If for any one thing, the Atlantic City Country Club is known as the place of origin of the term “birdie,” for one under par for a hole, the most frequently used term in golf.

Although there are conflicting reports concerning the details of exactly what occurred, three is no doubt the term “birdie” was coined sometime in December 1903, on the old 12th hole, which later became the practice green behind the clubhouse. The men who participated in that round included Ab Smith, who hit the “bird of a shot,” and A. W. Tillinghast, who became a renown golf course architect, and George Crump, the Philadelphia hotel owner who founded Pine Valley Golf Club.

In the 1910 U.S. Open, held in Philadelphia, 18 year old local boy Johnny McDermott tied Scotsmen and brothers MacDonald and Alex Smith to force a three way play-off. Although Alex Smith won the event, young McDermott placed second, which he parlayed in to a full time professional’s job at Merchantville Golf Club and within a year, became the golf pro at the Atlantic City Country Club.

McDermott replaced William “Robbie” Robinson as the club’s third golf professional. By winning the 1911 U.S. Open in Chicago, McDermott became the first native-born American to win the U.S. Open, and at 19, remains the youngest to have ever won that event. McDermott then defended his title in Buffalo at the 1912 U.S. Open, and the following year, handily defeated British pros Harry Vardon and Ted Ray at a tournament at Shawnee. After winning, McDermott gave a speech in the locker room, promising that the U.S. Open national championship trophy would not be taken across the pond by foreigners but kept in America.

McDermott was also the first American to place in the top ranks at the British Open, but a series of personal setbacks put an early end to McDermott’s career. Although McDermott played poorly in the 1913 U.S. Open, that event, held at the Country Club at Brookline (Mass.) was probably the most spectacular golf game every played. It also included Wilfred Reid, later an Atlantic City pro, and Walter Hagen, and was won by another young American, Francis Ouimet in a playoff with Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, two of the greatest players of all time. A photo of Ouimet lining up his final put on the 18th hole hung next to the locker room door for many years.

After the 1913 U.S. Open, McDermott missed a ferry and never teed off at the following British Open, then barely survived a shipwreck on the way home. In late 1913 McDermott passed out in the Atlantic City pro shop, failed to recover from a nervous disorder and never played serious golf again.

McDermott’s assistant Clarence Hackney assumed McDermott’s pro position in 1914 and remained on the job for the next 26 years, until he died on New Year’s eve, 1940. Hackney had won the Canadian Open and participated in early international matches that preceded the Ryder Cup competitions.

By 1914 golf had become a popular pastime and Clarence Geist, a fabulously wealthy Atlantic City Country Club member became impatient about his tee time. His partner, Maurice Risley, reportedly said to him, “Mr. Geist, if I had as much money as you do I’d build my own golf course.” Gesit then had Risley, a realitor, purchase land in the Absecon Highland and built the Seaview Country Club.

At first Geist hired Englishman Wildfred Reid to be his first pro. Reid would later became the Atlantic City CC pro (1946-48), but his disenchantment with the Seaview situation led him to take the head pro job at the Wilmington Country Club in Delaware, whose pro replaced James Fraser at Cortland Park in New York. Fraser then completed what they called the “Triple Switch” by taking Reid’s former job at Seaview.

James “Jolly Jim” Fraser came to America from Aberdeen, Scotland around 1907. Although he played golf as an amateur in Scotland, like many Scotsmen in his day he found work as a golf professional in New York at Cortland Park, the first public golf course in America. James Fraser married in New York, where Leo was born in 1910, and then came to Atlantic City in 1916. Sonny Fraser was born a year later. The Fraser family lived in a home just off the Seaview bay course’s first fairway, where they received many famous golfers, including MacDonald Smith and Walter Hagen. Hagen became a personal friend and hunting partner of “Jolly Jim” Fraser, and won the 1914 U.S. Open, keeping the Open trophy in America for the fourth straight year.

Hagen also became the first true touring professional and first American to win the British Open. Hagen later became a close friend of Leo Fraser, and a signed photo hangs in the McDermott Room at the Atlantic City Country Club.

In 1920 James Fraser laid out a golf course in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the opening of which included an exhibition match between Fraser and Walter Hagen against the formidable duo of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Ray won the U.S. Open that year, but the Englishmen would lose their match against Fraser and Hagen, during which a young 10 year old Leo Fraser served as a caddy for his father.

The Atlantic City Country Club expanded as the game of golf became more popular. The legendary Willie Park, Jr., two time British Open champion, came to Atlantic City in 1921. he reworked the entire course and added an additional nine holes, bringing the total to 27. Park also laid out the Ocean City-Somers Point golf course (now Greate Bay). Over the years golf course architects Toomey and Flynn also redesigned aspects of the Atlantic City course at a later stage.

James Fraser died in 1922 when his car collided with a Shore Road trolley. The Frasers continued to live at Seaview, with Leo and Sonny greatly influenced by Mr. Geist and other club members. Leo once recalled how he couldn’t play golf at Seaview when he played hooky from school because he mother or Mr. Geist would see him, but he often worked as a caddy at the Atlantic City Country Club. At some point Leo Fraser met Bob Hope, who then worked as an emcee and standup comic at theaters and hotels on the boardwalk, and he played frequently with Leo whenever he was in town.

In 1926 Leo, at the age of 16, went to Michigan where he obtained a golf professional job at Saginaw. Eventually Leo returned home to become the Seaview pro while his brother Sonny became a popular amateur golfer while he worked for Mr. Geist and “Hap” Farley, the political boss of Atlantic County.

For a brief period Leo took a job in the insurance business in Baltimore, where he met and married Doris Hinton, but he never strayed far from the game of golf.

After completing his grand slam in 1930, Bobby Jones chose future Atlantic City pro Ed Dudley to be the golf professional at his Augusta National. Dudley became president of the PGA during World War II and helped initiate golf exhibition tournaments that raised money for the war effort and the Red Cross. During the war the U.S. Army Signal Corps occupied the ACCC clubhouse until 1944, when Sonny Fraser put together a syndicate that purchased the club. The syndicate included Atlantic County Republican boss H. “Hap” Farley and Olympic rowing champion John B. Kelly.

While John Creesey was the pro during the war years, Sonny Fraser brought in “Big” Ed Dudley, then President of the PGA, to be the pro in 1944.

In the fall of 1944, with the tide turning in the war, Sonny Fraser called for a tournament of the best amateur golfers in the country. Sonny Fraser himself won his inaugural tournament, which was played annually until the club was sold to casino interests over fifty years later. Past winners of the Sonny Fraser invitational tournament include many who went on to win other major tournaments, including Carey Middlecoff, Julius Boros, Billy Hyndman and Howard Everett.

After serving as an officer in a much decorated combat unit in Europe during the war, Leo Fraser returned to Atlantic City where he learned that Sonny’s syndicate not only purchased the Atlantic City Country Club, but had plans on building a horse racing track. At the time Sonny was an assistant to Farley, a N.J. State legislator in Trenton who got the race track bill passed.

While Sonny Fraser, John B. Kelly and other club members were busy attempting to bring horse racing and the first legal gambling to Atlantic City, Florida Sen. Frank Smathers complained that the New Jersey race tracks would compete with the tracks in Florida, and pointed out that there were illegal slot machines in the Atlantic City Country Club clubhouse.

Rather than get rid of the slot machine, Sonny and company sold the Atlantic City Country Club to his brother Leo, who borrowed most of the money from his friend and frequent golfing companion Carroll Rosenbloom.

On January 14, 1948 the trolley bell clanged for the last time, as the last of the Shore Fast Line trolleys made its final run down Shore Road.

After Ed Dudley left in 1948, Leo hired Wilfred Reid to be the Atlantic City golf professional. Born in Nottingham, England, Reid had been the first Seaview pro, and played in both the Shawnee tournament won by McDermott and the 1913 U.S. Open at Brookline. Reid was the pro when Leo Fraser hosted the 1948 U.S. Women’s Open, introducing the area to what tournament golf is all about, and featuring Babe Zarahas’ first of four U.S. Open championships. Shortly after that tournament Zarahias helped establish the Ladies Professional Golf Association – the LPGA.

Howard Everett, who lived in a house on the ACCC course, defeated a teenage Arnold Palmer in the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship before Palmer went away to college. While Palmer was not well known at the time, his college roommate “Buddy” Worsham came from a family of great golfers. Lew Worsham had won the U.S. Open while “Bucky” Worsham became the ACCC pro in 1950. Palmer’s college life ended abruptly when Buddy Worsham died in a car crash, an accident that resulted in Palmer leaving school and joining the Coast Guard. Stationed at the Cape May Coast Guard base in 1951, Palmer frequently visited Bucky Worsham at ACCC and met Leo Fraser, a friendship that would later become significant when Leo was president of the PGA and Palmer was negotiating with them on behalf of the touring golf professionals.

As a PGA official Leo Fraser was invited to participate in the Centennial 1960 British Open, held at St. Andrews, Scotland. Leo attended the event with Jack Nuggent, Stan Dudas and Palmer. Although Palmer would be runner up in that event, he returned, won twice and helped renew American interest in the British Open.

The American PGA however was having problems with the touring pros who wanted to break away from the PGA and establish their own tour. Leo Fraser assumed the Presidency of the PGA at a crucial time in it’s history and his leadership and friendship with Palmer kept the PGA together.

Leo also understood the need to bring more new golfers into the game, especially the blue collar workers, women and young people, who were shunned at the private country clubs, so he designed and built the Mays Landing Country Club, which opened in 1961.

Leo also continued to support women’s tournaments, and Carol Mann won the 1965 Women’s Open at ACCC, a tournament that also featured young French amateur Catherine Lacosta, who went on to become the first amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open in 1967. While here, a club member took Catherine Lacosta to Pine Valley, where she played a round, even though women were not permitted in the clubhouse at the time.

In 1971 Leo served in an official capacity on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and in 1975 served as host once again for the U.S. Women’s Open. While the 1975 pen was won by Sandra Palmer, it was a teenage Nancy Lopez who garnered much of the attention when she finished second as high amateur.

In 1975 the Lippincott and Leeds families, original founders of the Atlantic City Country Club, sold the Chalfonte Haddon Hall, which became Resorts International, the first legal casino in Atlantic City.

In 1980 Atlantic City was the scene of an official PGA Senior’s tournament a few weeks before the U.S. Seniors Open. Sam Snead, Julius Boros, Lew Worsham and many others showed up for the event, which was a charity benefit for Juvenile Diabetes and was won by Don January.

Although there were other similar senior events of its kind, including those t the Atlantic City Country Club in 1956 (won by Art Wall) and 1957 (won by Dick Sleichter), the 1980 tournament was the first official event of what is now the multi-million dollar PGA Senior Tour (now the Champion’s Tour). Two other major senior tournaments were also held at ACCC in 1985 and 1986.

With Leo Fraser’s death in 1986, the club’s operations were assumed and its traditions continued by the Fraser family, sons James and Doug and daughter Bonnie Siok, along with Bonnie’s husband Don, the club professional. They were all very active, not only in the game of golf, but around the club house and in the organization of tournaments and special events, including the 1997 Centennial observances, which included the 1997 USGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship and a centennial ball.

Jim Fraser was also instrumental in the formation of the Greater Atlantic City Golf Association, the purpose of which is to foster the Jersey Shore as a golf resort destination.

From its earliest beginnings, the Atlantic City Country Club has reflected certain recurring attributes, a few of which especially stand out. There has always been a serious commitment to promoting amateur golf, the encouragement of women’s play and a pride in challenging amateur golfers from other clubs and teams from other countries in spirited competition.

And while the club was owned by the Frasers, there was a sense of family and a members community dedicated to the continuation of the club’s traditions.

These attributes are held dearly , not only in mementos hanging on the walls, but by the club’s employees and club members, who continued the traditions in the clubhouse and on the golf course every day.

As sportswriter Ed Nichterlein said, “It would be hard to imagine a more ideally situated or designed course, or one which has more historic ties to golf.”

The Atlantic City Country Club is one of the America’s oldest and most historic clubs in the country, where history is made and where golf is not just a game, but a way of life.

[In 1998 the club was sold to Bally-Hilton hotels and casinos, and now a public course owned by Caesars.]

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)