Egan remembered

Golf pro recalled as a fixture in local golfing community

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — The American flag flew at half-staff over the Municipal Golf Course Wednesday and flowers were placed in the parking space reserved for the resident golf pro in memory of J. Michael Egan, who recently passed away after serving the course for 32 years. One member of the staff at the golf course who had worked with Mr. Egan since he was hired in 1977 is Golf Course Superintendent Michael Hermanson, who said they shared a special relationship. “Mike started in 1977 and I started in 1972, I had been here five years when he first arrived and I was 27 and he was 26,” said Mr. Hermanson. “So we had worked together basically for the past 32 years.” Although Mr. Hermanson said it is not uncommon for there to be friction between superintendents and golf pros at the same course, that was never the case with Mr. Egan. “In my business golf pros and supers don’t always get along as well as they should, but me and Mike had a great working relationship,” said Mr. Hermanson. “And to produce this product at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course it takes a real team effort. Mike and I worked as a team to not only produce the best product on the course but to have a professional image up in the pro shop. First impressions are the ones people realize and it was important when people went into the shop that they were treated professionally and that is what we strived for together day in and day out.” Aside from his many contributions to the course itself, Mr. Hermanson said Mr. Egan was an active member of the community and helped develop the future of the local golf community through his work with several golf teams, including leading the Wildcats to several league titles and Central Mass. championships. “He started the Junior Golf Program, he was the Gardner High School varsity golf coach for many many years — how many high school teams can say they have a PGA golf professional as their coach?” said Mr. Hermanson. “He spent a lot of hours developing the talents of these young men and women.” Another member of the course who had known Mr. Egan for a long time was Gardner municipal assistant pro Kevin Descarreaux, who said Mr. Egan gave him his first golf lesson. “I got my first golf lesson from Mike back when I was 12 or 13 years old or so,” said Mr. Descarreaux. “I used to ride my bike up to the course as a kid and play golf 36 to 45 holes a day.” Eventually, when Mr. Descarreaux became the assistant golf pro at the course, he said he took over a lot of the instructional teaching that Mr. Egan had done, with the exception of a couple long-standing pupils who still requested Mr. Egan. “We worked out a deal where I did predominantly all of the teaching, there were still some old students of his who had been taking lessons from him for 30 years or so,” said Mr. Descarreaux. “Mike knew I had an extensive background and he knew with me he didn’t have to worry about what was going on, he knew that people would be getting quality instructions.” A wake will be held at Mack Funeral Home on Vernon Street from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, and a funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, with a burial at St. John’s Cemetery. Mr. Egan was 59. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 9/4/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 209)