The five DiRico brothers grew up in a house just off the third tee of the old Oxford Country Club in Chicopee. The course became their playground and the launching pad for careers in the sport they love. Dave, Tom, and Dan remain head pros today, and they recently talked with BusinessWest about the game, their profession, and the changes that have come to both.

Dan DiRico remembers a phone call to the Franconia Golf Club pro shop that came on a Saturday afternoon late last summer.

It was rock legend and avid golfer Alice Cooper looking for an early-morning tee time.

It seems that Cooper, who was in the area for some appearances at Mohegan Sun, had to change his plans to play at a private club in the area and was looking for another place to take his foursome. Franconia, the well-regarded 77-year-old Springfield municipal course, had somehow come onto his radar screen.

"He called me himself; he said, matter-of-factly, ’this is Alice Cooper and I’m calling to see if I can get a time,’" recalled DiRico, the long-time club professional at Franconia, who worked out something for the singer but said that Cooper eventually changed his plans again and wound up at Springfield Country Club instead. "He even called me back early the next morning to thank me."

There are a few morals to that story, said DiRico. First, the phone in the pro shop is always ringing, and one never knows who’s going to be on the other end. The second is to take care of the people on the phone — and those who show up at your pro shop door — because if you do, they’ll come back.

His brothers would agree.

Dave and Tom DiRico are also golf pros, and together, the three have more than 90 years of experience in this rewarding and often challenging line of work.

They sat down with BusinessWest in the grille at Crestview Country Club in Agawam, where Dave has been the pro for the past 10 years, to talk about life as a pro, how they all came into the profession, and about the game of golf in general.

They agreed that this profession brings responsibilities and rewards that are often tightly interwoven. They have the responsibilty, for example, of seeing young people get a good introduction to the sport — and they have the reward of seeing adolescents become life-long players. Likewise, they have the responsibility of training the next generation of club pros (just as they were taught themselves), and they have the reward of seeing young apprentices go on to fulfilling careers here and elsewhere.

They also get to play a little golf, but not as much as many people might think.

These are just some of the more-traditional aspects of the job, said Tom DiRico, currently pro at Chicopee Country Club, noting that recent societal trends have added some new wrinkles, not all of them pleasant.

At his club for example, two of the better par fours in the area, the 5th and the 12th, have been altered (the latter has actually become a short par 3) due to continued sprawl and a desire on the part of Chicopee’s elected officials to avoid future litigation from homeowners living just off those fairways.

This is an extreme example of changing times, he said, adding that there are other, more-universal challenges, especially escalating competition for limited golf dollars.

"This used to be a game Ö now it’s a business," said Tom, the oldest of the three and the self-proclaimed best player. "A lot has changed over the past 30 years; this is a very competitive business now, and that’s changed how we approach what we do."

Dave, whose career has been limited to private clubs, which come with a different set of challenges, agreed. He cited statistics showing that the game, which enjoyed a boom with the emergence of Tiger Woods, has been seeing a steady drop in play since it peaked in 2000, the year Woods won three of the sport’s four majors. This fact, coupled with the continued building of new courses, has created a far more competitive environment for area courses.

"There are only so many rounds to be played," he said, "and today’s players are more demanding and cost-conscious than ever before. Overall, they’re looking for value, and it’s our job to provide it."

Round-about Way

The brothers DiRico grew up in Chicopee, in a house off the third tee of the former Oxford Country Club, now part of the Chicopee River Industry Park.

"That was our playground," Tom said of the 9-hole private track that became public when it was sold by the party that later built Crestview. "We played there and we all worked there."

Tom recalled that his first job was shining shoes in the locker room. He eventually moved on to the caddie shack, the bag room, and the pro shop, as his brothers did.

It was at Oxford that the three brothers — actually there were five boys — essentially made up their minds to pursue careers in golf. (Phil, the oldest brother, was a pro at several area courses and is currently the superintendent at Hampden Country Club, while James, the youngest of the siblings, was a long-time pro at Quaboag Country Club before shifting gears and buying a car dealership).

Tom, Dan, and Dave have stayed behind the pro shop counter, and they’ve each had several stops in their careers.

Tom started as an assistant at Quaboag, before serving as head pro there for several years. He later served as pro at Cohasset Country Club in Southbridge, where he stayed for three years before starting a 20-year stint as pro at Westfield’s Shaker Farms Country Club. While there, he initiated other entrepreneurial ventures, including a driving range (Golf Acres) and a restaurant (DiRico’s) which he eventually sold.

Dan cut his teeth at Springfield Country Club, working for longtime pro Harry Matson. He later became the first head pro at Hampden in 1973, where he worked until he was hired by the city of Springfield to run operations at the community’s other municipal course, Veterans. He came to Franconia in 1992.

Dave DiRico started as an assistant to Bob Bontempo at the Orchards in South Hadley in 1973. He later became pro at Quaboag, and followed a nine-year stint there with an eight-year run at Hampden. After a year out of the business and another year as director of golf at Tower Ridge Country Club in West Hartford, he took over the pro shop at Crestview.

The brothers DiRico said that while there are many similarities between work at public and private clubs, different challenges exist in each setting.

At private clubs, the customers are members, paying thousands of dollars each year for the privilege of belonging (unless their business picks it up for them). This fact makes for a very demanding constituency, said Dave.

At public courses, especially municipal clubs, the client base is larger and more diverse, said Tom, adding that this makes customer service more difficult. "You never know who’s going to come through the door."

This challenge is coupled with the fact that the municipal course exists, in large part, to create revenue for the city or town, bringing pressure to maintain and increase the volume of rounds from year to year.

When asked to talk about a pro’s life, the DiRicos said it is not unlike most other service businesses. "The goal is to provide a positive experience," said Tom, who, like both of his brothers, said the work can be lucrative, although the financial compensation varies with the club and each deal is different.

While none of the DiRicos would describe the work as difficult, physically or otherwise, it is often demanding. In New England, most pros get the winter off, although there are things to be done year-round. During the season, which traditionally lasts from early April to Thanksgiving, many pros work seven days a week, arriving before 6 a.m. and leaving at least 11 or 12 hours later.

During that time, pros (the good ones, anyway) are focused on the experience, said Dave DiRico, "because everything that happens at a club reflects on the pro."

When asked about what’s involved with making an experience positive, the three said it’s a long list, and includes everything from helping groups secure tee times to keeping the play moving at a good pace to properly handling unexpected developments like a frost or rain delay.

Tournaments are another big consideration, they said, noting that, in this day and age, when there is a fund-raising golf tournament for seemingly every organization and every cause, pros have to help make those events successful. They also have to strike a balance between those tournaments, which are a solid, consistent source of revenue, and the needs of a course’s regular players, be they members or the general public.

"It’s important to maintain a good balance," said Dan. "Every club needs tournaments, because they mean revenue, but you can’t have too many of them."

Focused on the Green

Providing a positive experience at Franconia became much easier after a $3 million overhaul that closed the course for part of 1999 and all of 2000. Several holes received minor improvements, said Dan, noting that the main thrust of the work was to rectify chronic flooding of the 12th and 15th fairways.

"For a while, a part of my job was providing a towing service for carts," he joked, adding that for golfers who were wrecking shoes while slogging through the low-lying areas of the course, it was certainly no laughing matter. The overhaul has made the course a popular ’muni,’ as municipally owned courses are called, drawing steady play from locals and inquiries from the occasional rock ’n’ roll bad boy.

But no course can rest on its laurels, said Dan, noting, as both his brothers did, that today’s Western Mass. golfers have choices, and a bad experience or two may prompt them to exercise those options.

That’s why, as he was setting prices for this season, Tom DiRico called just about every public course in the area to see what they were charging. "Price isn’t the only factor people look at, but it is certainly a consideration," he explained, noting that the list of golf courses in the four counties of Western Mass. is considerably longer than it was 20 or even 10 years ago.

The most recent additions include The Ranch, an upscale course in Southwick that has drawn a number of tournaments — and members — away from other area courses. Other additions include The Ledges, a municipal course in South Hadley, and Scottish Meadow Golf Club in Warren, another public course situated roughly halfway between Springfield and Worcester. Some new courses, especially The Ledges, as well as some old ones, including the semi-private Shaker Farms, are struggling under the weight of competition, and the DiRicos say the market is likely to become more saturated before it becomes less so.

Beyond the sheer volume of courses, however, another factor in the need to provide a quality experience is the phenomenon of heightened expectations, said Dave DiRico.

He told BusinessWest that the proliferation of golf travel — something that was wasn’t done with as much frequency years ago — has given area golfers exposure to well-manicured tracks at a variety of destinations, from the Cape to Plymouth; Pinehurst to Williamsburg, Va.

"And when they get back, they want to see the same at their home club," he said, adding that while some expectations can’t be met, the club pro has to aim high and at least try to meet the needs of a new, more discerning golf public.

"To succeed in these times, you have to have a passion for the game, and that’s something we all have," said Tom, referring to the DiRico clan. "We know how to work the job and take care of people, and that’s what you have to do today."

Fit to a Tee

Assessing his career as a pro, Tom, 56, said he’s definitely on the "back nine."

He wouldn’t say whether Chicopee is likely to be his last job, but he did say that it would take a pretty good offer to pry him from his current post. Despite the changes to its signature par 4s, Chicopee is still one of the area’s better public courses, and the opportunities for the head pro are numerous. (He was also recently given control and the food and beverage operation at the club).

Like his brother Dan, Tom said he likes working with the public and especially enjoys the fact that he never knows who will be on the other end when the phone rings.

It might just be Alice Cooper.

George O’Brien can be reached at obrien@businesswest.com