Michael J. O'Grady

The Country Club of New Bedford has employed several Greenkeepers over the past century, however, none was more respected than Michael Joseph O’Grady. For those of us who were fortunate enough to have known him, there was no question but that the Country Club of New Bedford was hiscourse!

Woe to the caddy who went under the fence on Route 6 or cut across his course in the early morning before working. In his eyes there was only one way in and out - the main entrance. Caddies caught sneaking on to play in the late afternoon or early evening were faced with a red hot Irish temper. Caddies were taught never to walk across a green carrying a golf bag, to be certain that they replaced divots, to always rake their golfers footprints in the traps and in general to stay off O’Grady’s greens unless absolutely necessary.

Mike O’Grady ruled with an iron fist, but our greens were never better cared for than when he was in charge. Smooth as silk for putting yet firm, they always held a well struck shot and most of all they always putted true. Oftentimes he could be seen examining the greens closely and hand watering them in the late afternoon to keep them at their absolute best.

His time with the Club started with little fanfare and began hard on the heels of the dismissal of his predecessor. The Board of Governors Minutes for October 26, 1925 state that the Board “Voted That the action of the special committee on Greenskeeper in discharging Nathan Mitchell on October 6 be approved.”

Mr. O’Grady was hired at that same meeting.

Michael O’Grady was approximately fifteen years of age when he emigrated from the town of Murisk in County Mayo, Ireland in 1919. Shortly after his arrival in America, he began working on the green crew at Rhode Island Country Club under the tutelage of his uncle Tom Galvin. By the time he struck out on his own and sought employment elsewhere, he had been working as Assistant Superintendent at Rhode Island for several years.

Surprisingly, O’Grady was only in his early twenties in 1925 when he was given the responsibility of caring for the course at the Country Club of New Bedford. It seemed only natural that the Board would have had a bit of hesitancy about employing their young new Superintendent. The master Greenskeeper many came to know later on in his career was still something of a novice. The Board would be entrusting him with caring for their new golf course which had been remodeled into eighteen holes only two years earlier.

The Board of Governors Minutes record of his hiring reflects that uncertainty reading: "That the report of Mr Cary, chairman on the greens committee to the effect that Michael Grady had been employed as Greenskeeper at $40 a week for one year be approved, with the understanding that Thomas Galvin of the R.I. Country Club inspect the work from time to time as desired by the greens committee at an expense of $10 per visit."

Despite this inauspicious beginning, Michael J. O’Grady was not lacking in confidence. He soon made a name for himself with his attention to detail and dedication to maintaining a quality golf course. Employed a mere two years earlier at CCNB, by 1927 his reputation was already on the rise. His article Greenkeepers, Play Golf!was published in the September issue of the National Greenkeeper - the newsletter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. Early photos of our third and seventh greens can be seen in this article.

Mr. O’Grady’s opinion was sought regarding Eastern course conditions by the President of the National Greenkeeper Association in 1932. With the Great Depression in full force, most golf courses in New England were struggling. O’Grady’s expertise was sought by other Superintendents on how to best handle a condition called brown patch. He is quoted in the article as having visited over twenty courses in the area (most of which were having the same problem) which demonstrates his commitment to both his craft and fellow Superintendents.

In this same article Mr. O’Grady discussed just how difficult this time period proved to be. He described how much his staff was reduced due to the Club’s financial issues. He was forced to employ a minimal crew of just “eight men and one high school boy”. Despite the small size of this crew, they were still able to care for the eighteen hole golf course plus four grass tennis courts. He managed his crew so that greens were “cut four times a week instead of six and tees once a week instead of twice.” Given the size of the crew it came as no surprise when he stated that “the traps and the rough were somewhat neglected.” *72

Michael O’Grady focused on caring for his greens above everything else - knowing that this is what truly separated the Country Club of New Bedford from other courses in our area. In the same article he reflected on how he managed to maintain his precocious greens at such a difficult time. Crabgrass was weeded out by hand and then the green was over-seeded with bent grass. He watered in the early mornings and late afternoons. He felt strongly that doing so avoided moisture on the greens at night, which in turn helped him reduce the chances of brown patch disease. *71

It is truly remarkable that by the Fall of 1932, just seven years into his career as a Head Superintendent, Michael O’Grady was confident enough to remake one of the original green configurations. Somehow he managed to reconfigure the sixth green at CCNB - despite the reduction in staff and funding resulting from the Great Depression. The original Willie Park Jr. bowl shaped design at the sixth green was apparently flawed in O’Grady’s view because it retained water. Perhaps the ledge still visible behind the green was something of a contributing factor. The redesign is described in the November 1932 edition of the Greenkeeper Club of New England Newsletter article seen below.

Around this same time period, O’Grady chose to plant “over one hundred “silver maple trees” on the Willie Park links style golf course in an act of “course beautification”. This fact was related to me by Paul Barratt, former Superintendent at CCNB, who worked for Mr. O’Grady when he was in high school. According to Paul “Mike loved to plant trees and the ground crew would dig trees from members’ properties to be replanted between fairways”. Paul started at CCNB as a caddy at age 10. He began work on the green crew at age 16 and personally helped dig up many of the trees and replanted them around the golf course. He attributes the “cedars and arborvitaes on the upper holes” to this effort. According to Paul the recently removed weeping willows that once lined the fourteenth hole were donated by Dr. Arminio in an effort to “dry out” CCNB’s wettest fairway. Rather than simply helping relieve wetness, these moisture loving trees compounded problems by sending their roots to the easiest water source and effectively clogged the drainage pipes instead.

Almost eighty years later, many of the O’Grady trees remain. Their overgrown canopies constricting our fairways and changing the character of the original Willie Park Jr. design. Park’s opinion regarding trees on a golf course was clearly stated; “Trees are never a fair hazard if at all near the line of play, as a well hit shot may be spoiled by catching in its branches.” *79

Those trees constrain our fairway widths, effectively challenge tee shots on multiple hole for even the best players and in places almost obscure the original links design. Park’s design of shared fairways (including their shared bunkering) has been minimized and often eliminated. Examples can be seen where fairways are now clearly divided between holes number 1 and 5, numbers 9, 10 and 11 plus numbers 14, 16 and 17.

Mr. O’Grady was active in the Golf Course Superintendent Association of New England serving as Vice President for several years in the early 1950’s and ultimately serving as President of the Organization in January of 1955 and 1956. *73 He remained very active within the Association and was still listed as a Trustee as late as 1962. *71

Michael O’Grady was employed as the Greenkeeper at the Country Club of New Bedford for forty-four years until his demise in the 1969. His death on July 5, 1969 was lamented by his peers in New England who praised his dedication and diligence to his craft. *74

The O’Grady family was housed on CCNB property in a cottage on Hathaway Rd. It was located on a small tract of land north of today’s twelfth tee. A deeply personal letter was written to Mrs. O’Grady by then President Gus LaStatti expressing his condolences and the bond of friendship he had developed with her husband over the years. The letter included the Club’s sadness regarding her loss and appreciation for the many years of service which her husband had provided.

Given Mr. O’Grady’s many years of dedication and loyalty to the Club, his wife and son were offered the opportunity to continue to rent and reside in the house. Sadly, this relationship did not end well and despite written protests from O’Grady’s son Robert, they were evicted in January 1970.