WINDSOR – I was looking over the scorecard after playing 18 holes of golf this past Wednesday, and upon some quick reflection, I realized that my actually golfing would play a minor role in this article.
Perhaps more than any course we have reviewed, the story of Golden Oak Golf Course goes beyond the happenings within the fairways.
It's a layered story in which majority owners Rebecca Ellsworth and Ken Ellsworth threw themselves a midlife curveball by purchasing the course. It's a story of superintendent and course manager, Jack Gill Jr., living the American dream by working himself up the ladder from laborer to part owner. And lastly, it's the story of longtime members who willingly volunteer their time, not at the behest of ownership, but just because.
To those who call Golden Oak their home course, it is the social epicenter of a rural area on Route 79, three miles south of Windsor – and just seven miles north of the Pennsylvania border.
After enlisting my GPS to get me to the course, I arrived a few minutes ahead of my tee time, and was greeted in the parking lot by a nice gentleman. He asked me if I was the reporter writing the story about the course. I said, "yes, are you one of the owners?"
He told me no, but "Becky (Ellsworth) was in the clubhouse, and was expecting me."
The gentleman, who introduced himself as Dave Gorman, said he had found playing partners for me, and he had my golf cart ready to go. I inquired after the round if Dave worked for the course. I was told "no, he just likes to help out."
As I learned during my 5 1/2-hour stay, there are a lot of Dave Gormans at Golden Oak Golf Course, and that pitch-in-and-help-out mentality is fostered by the people-friendly Ellsworths.
"The biggest change (since the Ellsworths) took over is the culture here," Gill said after my round. Gill is in his 21st year with the course, and fifth as the course superintendent and manager.
Gorman, who had a ready smile and an anecdote or two to tell before I played, let me know that he arranged for graduating Windsor senior Joey Roberge and recent Broome Community College graduate, Jeremiah Coyd (also a Windsor alum), to play with me.
I quickly noticed that both were swinging the club from the wrong (I mean) left side. In over 30 years of playing the game, I believe this would be the first time I was the only right-handed golfer among my threesome or foursome.
Both young men had a wealth of course knowledge, and their recommendations on club selection and direction were quite handy.
Due to a seniors outing in the morning, Dave sent us out on the back nine. On our third hole, the par-five 12th that runs along the Susquehanna River, I met Gill for the first time.
After our introduction, his first question to me was, "why Golden Oak?"
The short answer was that the last time I was here, we were rained out two-thirds through the round.
The long explanation – because I have some space to fill – was that I was hoping to not only play all 18 holes, but also play those holes much better.
Fearsome thunder clouds hovered over us during that 2004 round. That day, Bob McNitt and ES publisher, Dick Snyder, made up our threesome. We dodged the raindrops for a few holes, caught some misting showers about the seventh hole, then hurried through the final two holes in an incessant downpour.
After grabbing lunch, the rain halted, and we optimistically headed out to the back nine. Within 10 minutes, we realized that we had made a bad decision When we reached the 12th hole, it was raining again – hard.
Ultimately, Mother Nature's liquid outburst shooed us back to the clubhouse where we made a mad dash to the parking lot, unhooked the bags from our carts, and literally left the carts right where they stood as we scrambled into the dry haven of Dick's car.
In all of the years writing this feature, that was the only time I did not finish the round.
Weather was not an issue this week, and was nothing short of spectacular. After introducing myself to Becky Ellsworth and confirming a post-round interview, I allowed my chauffeur, Jeremiah, to drive us to our opening hole, the downhill par-three 10th.
It was an inauspicious beginning in which I had to take a penalty stroke for overshooting the green with my tee ball and into some gnarly shrubbery. From there, however, I proceeded to play my best round of the season.
