If you want to work in the pro shop at Green Hill Municipal Golf Course, you apparently have a better chance if your name is Matt.
Matt StrzepaA graduate of St. John’s High and resident of Shrewsbury, he is in his first year as assistant golf professional at Green Hill Municipal Golf Course. He replaced Matt Foleywho retired from the golf business in late summer last year. The Head Pro is Matt MoisonLast summer, one of the pro shop employees Matt Oberwho will complete his senior year at North Carolina State University in the fall, but did not return to Green Hill this season.
“I think Matt Moison was lucky with my application because my name is Matt,” Strzepa said.
Moison rolled out the red carpet for Strzepa, joking that Green Hill should get a discount on staff name tags since only one name was needed.
Actually, there are employees with other names, but there were a few Matts.
Strzepa, 24, grew up in Shrewsbury and lives in Worcester. He most recently worked at the PGA Tour Superstore in Natick. Before that, he worked at Cyprian Keyes GC in Boylston and at golf courses in Florida.
“Matt was great,” Moison said last week. “Eager to learn, kind, polite, punctual, on time and ready to go.”
Strzepa worked with people with special needs at the PGA Tour Superstore and helped organize a similar program at Green Hill. In partnership with the Seven Hills Foundation, Green Hill formed a “Skills and Drills” team for newcomers to golf, and Strzepa taught them for several Saturdays. The program was free, and a NEPGA grant funded golf balls and long-sleeved T-shirts.
Strzepa, Moison and pro shop staff Logan Kiley led Green Hill’s first “Golf With Pride” training program for members of the LGBTQ+ community for seven weeks.
About 14 people participated in the program each week, which was also free.
Strzepa was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted in 2001 by Michael And Donna Strzepa from Shrewsbury. He came to Shrewsbury in 2003 at the age of 3 after the paperwork was completed.
When he was 5 or 6, he was impressed by a set of Maxfli golf clubs at Dick’s Sporting Goods and asked his parents if they could buy him some. They agreed, as long as he took the sport seriously, and enrolled him in junior golf camps at Cyprian Keyes GC in Boylston.
“I just fell in love with the game,” he said.
Strzepa graduated from St. John’s High in 2018 and was the third-best golfer his senior year. Foley graduated from St. John’s two years before him. Strzepa played junior golf when Foley was on the first team.
After graduating from St. John’s, Strzepa attended the Junior Players Golf Academy in Orlando, Florida. He lived with friends for a year and a half and practiced golf every day. Thanks to his hard work, he won two Hurricane Junior Golf Tour events in Florida.
Strzepa then turned pro and played in a few mini-tour events before realizing the competition was too strong, so he began taking online courses at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Florida, to earn his associate degree in professional golf management in 2021.
He then worked as an assistant at the Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach and at the Cart Barn with Cyprian Keyes before taking a job as a golf instructor at the PGA Tour Superstore last summer.
Strzepa joined Green Hill as an assistant professional on March 8. He had missed working on a golf course and asked Foley what it was like working at Green Hill. Foley had left the club last summer to sell cars for his uncle. RJ Foleybut he highly recommended working at Green Hill and called Moison the best boss he ever had.
“It kind of lit me up,” Strzepa said. “So I kind of wanted to pursue it further.”
At the PGA Tour Superstore, he usually only saw his students and he wanted to have more contact with more people.
“I’m a huge people person,” he said, “so if I’m stuck in a simulator all day and only see 10 faces a day, I go a little crazy.”
Strzepa grew up in Cyprian Keyes and Green Hill.
Strzepa’s parents also adopted a girl named Alexandria from Seoul, and they have two biological children, Ryan And Elizabeth.
Green Hill has some members who come from South Korea, but Strzepa cannot speak Korean with them. He only speaks English.
The fun of the game remains at the Rossetti Junior Golf Camp
Seventy boys and girls ages 8 to 11 from Worcester participated in the annual Danny Rossetti Junior Golf Camp at Green Hill August 12-14.
The free camp has been held in each of Moison’s 28 years as head pro, except for 2020, when it was canceled due to the pandemic. In 2009, Moison named the camp after Rossetti, a former camper and Green Hill employee who was killed in a car accident the previous fall at age 26.
Moison said he was proud of the camp because it had a great atmosphere.
“It’s educational, it’s fun, you learn about golf,” he said, “you hit golf balls, you do all the things you do at other golf camps, only here you can be a kid, have fun, laugh and run around, which is not the case at other golf courses.”
Moison called the camp a blueprint for how he wants to run Green Hill overall: learning the game, challenging himself and having fun.
Rossetti’s parents, John And Pamand brother Dave I usually volunteer at camp, but Pam and Dave were sick this year and John was there the first day before taking care of Pam.
Tatnuck is finally club champion
Andreas Reed can finally call himself men’s club champion at Tatnuck Country Club.
Reed defeated Joe Murphy5 and 3, in the 36-hole final on August 11. The 33-year-old Boston native has participated in the club championship in 10 of the last 11 years, reaching the semifinals each time. He also lost in the final six times, three times to Tim Umphrey and three to Matt Umphrey. Last year, Reed didn’t play because he had COVID.
“It was a great feeling,” said Reed about finally winning his championship title. “I’ve had the heartache of coming second so many times. Finally overcoming that hurdle was quite an emotional day. The whole family was there. A lot of people followed me everywhere, which was nice.”
Numerous relatives and friends saw Reed in the final, including his 95-year-old grandfather Dr. Robert Harperwho has been a member of Tatnuck for over 50 years, his parents, Daniela Reed And Betsy Harperand his uncle Robert Harperwho won the club championship in 1997 and 2006. Tim Umphrey, who now plays professionally, was also present.
Reed played qualifying in the rain that Friday and then played two 18-hole matches on Saturday to reach the 36-hole final on Sunday.
“I was pretty exhausted afterward,” Reed said. “It was a lot of golf. I don’t play as much as I used to.”
Reed, a WPI graduate, works in sales for an athlete recovery equipment company.
Youngster prevails at The Haven
Adam Trani He may only be 16, but he won the Class A men’s net club championship at Haven CC in Boylston.
Trani lost a playoff to get into the gross club championship, so he entered the net club championship and won all three of his matches against golfers much older than him. He defeated Alex Bartholomew4 and 2, in the final on August 11th.
Senior Assistant Pro Patrick Sharron said Trani was the youngest golfer to win the men’s Net Club Championship, at least since he started working for the club in 2017.
“It was cool that he was able to play against people from so many different age groups,” Sharron said. “For someone his age to make it to that age group is pretty impressive, especially for someone who doesn’t have a lot of golf experience. He played very well.”
Trani, son of Bryce And Nicole Tranilives in Shrewsbury and will soon begin his penultimate year at St. John’s High School. He participated in The Haven’s PGA Junior League program, played for the St. John’s junior golf team the last two years and hopes to make the first team this fall.
Dylan Greenwald von Boylston repeated his title as men’s gross club champion by winning Joe Angnelli III3 and 2, on August 11 in the final of the 16-player field.
Ideas welcome
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—Contact Bill Doyle at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @BillDoyle15.
