Stafford Country Club

Mother nature teed up a perfect Chamber of Commerce kind of day at the Stafford Country Club for the chamber's annual golf and bocce ball tournament.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Press release:

Stafford Country Club hosted Arc GLOW’s 46th Annual Golf, Tennis & Bocce outing Monday, July 25. The tournament is the longest running charity event at the local private course and also features tennis and bocce divisions. 

“There’s something for everyone,” event director Sandy Konfederath said. “To appeal to golfers of all skill levels, the format was changed to a scramble in 2019,” the director said.  This year the tournament attracted 128 golfers, 20 bocce players and 16 playing tennis.

In golf play, men’s first place team winners with a 56 were Tom DePalma, Tony Formatto, Gary Kaczor and C.J. Montante.  Second place for men went to Scott Fauth, Marc Strain, Les Rose and Jeff Reuter with a 58. The mixed team of John Roche, Maria Woodward, Tina Lambert and Steve Pies recorded a tally of 62.  

This year’s hole-in-one prize on 8 was a 2022 Jeep Compass Trailhawk, courtesy of Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. Unfortunately, no one shot an ace to drive away with the new vehicle.

In other on-the-course contests, Jarad Lee and Christine Penepent won longest drive on 7 and 15.  In the closest to the pin contests, Trevor Wyse won a golf bag, courtesy of C.H. Wright on 8 (10’7”); Shane Gowanlock earned first prize on 12 (40”), with Joe Shields, second (48”) and Jan Witkowski and C.J. Montante tied for third (50”). Brian Mulhern won a bicycle, donated by Adam Miller Toy & Bike in the top prize on 14 (2’4”) and gifted it to Arc GLOW’s Batavia-based supportive apartment program.

In bocce, the top team was Cathy Barcomb, Toni Funke, Mary Raymond and Sheila Laird. Donna Saskowski won bocce’s golden pallino contest.

On the tennis courts, first place team honors went to James Bellamy and Rick Morrison; second place team went to Nash Dsylva and Dave Ealy and Hollis Upson earned top score.

Tournament gold sponsors were Turnbull Heating & Air-Conditioning, MTE Turf Equipment Solutions, Crickler Vending, Relph Benefit Advisors and Casella Waste Management. Silver sponsors were: Agnes Houseknecht – In Memory of Ralph Houseknecht, Orcon Industries, Alan & Cathy Barcomb, Toal’s Plumbing & Heating, Alesco Advisors, Toshiba, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel, In Memory of Valerie Penepent, Tecglass & Instruments, LLC, National Seating and Mobility, Parkview Health Services, The Bonadio Group and Hoffman, Hanafin & Associates. Also supporting the event were 8 golf sponsors, 3 tennis sponsors, 4 bocce sponsors, 2 cart sponsors, 8 Friend of Arc sponsors and 3 Friend of Camp Rainbow sponsors.  Door prizes, silent auction and basket raffle items were donated by dozens of area businesses and community members. The winner of the $1,000.00 Hank Memorial CA$H drawing was Lance Wetmore, a first-time tournament participant who bought his ticket at the event.  

Funds raised benefit programs and services for people with disabilities served by Arc GLOW. The tournament was founded by the late Danny Lullo, a local businessman who came up with the idea to hold a tournament to benefit Arc programs and services for people with disabilities in our community.

Arc GLOW’s Sandy Konfederath said the success of this event is directly attributed to the commitment of Arc volunteers and staff. “We have a strong volunteer base in our committee and exceptional support leading up to, and the day of the event. More than 50 people played a role in bringing all the details together - even the weather cooperated,” she said.

Ed Carney is the event chairman.  Deb Fischer chairs bocce and Calvin Klemmer and Peggy Lamb chair tennis. This year’s raffle was chaired by the Mahler family of Batavia

Submitted Photos.

Top photo: First place in Men's Golf: CJ  Montante, Tony Formato, Tom DePalma, and Gary Kaczor.

Mixed Team champions John Roche, Tina Lambert, Maria Woodward, and Steve Pies.

Bocce champions Sheila Laird, Toni Funke, Mary Raymond and Cathy Barcomb.

Second place in men's golf, Les Rose, Marc Strain, Scott Fauth, Jeff Reuter.

To help celebrate its 100th Anniversary, the Stafford Country Club invited members of the Batavia Society of Artists to paint pictures of the club grounds, and tonight those paintings were sold to members. Twenty percent of the proceeds go to the club's scholarship fund with the remainder of the sale price going to the individual artist.

Top photo: Teresa Tamfer, one of the BSA's organizers of the event, with one of the paintings by a BSA member

Members of the Batavia Society of Artists participated Tuesday evening in a Plein Air painting exhibition at the Stafford Country Club.  

The artists spread out over the golf course to paint various landscapes of the club.  The event was organized by club member Mari-Ellen Lamont as part of the club's 100th Anniversary Celebration.

The paintings will be sold at auction to benefit Stafford Country Club Scholarship Fund.

Dr. Matthew Prindle, of Geneva, shot his first-ever hole-in-one while playing at the Stafford Country Club on Saturday with his father-in-law Bill Hayes, of Batavia, and Dan Prong and Sam Frank.

Hayes, who submitted the video, said it's a tradition for them is to play at the Ricky Palermo Tournament at Terry Hills in the morning and then take in 18 more holes at Stafford.

Prindle hit a pitching widge on the 120-yard, Par 3, fourth hole.

Press release (along with submitted photos): 

It was a first for golfers in Arc of Genesee Orleans Tournament Monday – a scramble format! After 42 years of stroke play, the planning committee switched things up this year, to rave reviews.

“We wanted to appeal to golfers of every skill level,” Arc’s Sandy Konfederath said, “and also speed up play.” 

The tournament is the longest-running charity event at the local private course and also features tennis and bocce divisions.

“Something for everyone,” Konfederath said.  This year the tournament attracted 98 golfers, 37 bocce players and 14 playing tennis.

In golf play, women’s team winners with a 63 were Heather Burbules, Maria Woodward, Francesca Fuller and Tina Lambert. The mixed team of Katie Berger, John Houseknecht, Katie Houseknecht and Buddy Houseknecht recorded a tally of 62 and the team of Steve Harrison, Steve Pies Bruce Briggs and Mat Redmond captured the men’s title with a 61.

This year’s hole-in-one prize on 8 was a 2019 Jeep Compass Latitude 4X4, courtesy of Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. Unfortunately, no one shot an ace to drive away with the vehicle.

In other on the course contests, Scott Fauth and Francesca Fuller won the longest drive on 7 and 15. In the closest-to-the-pin contests, Tina Lambert won a golf bag, courtesy of C.H. Wright on 8 (4’8”); John Houseknecht earned first prize on 12 (1’11”) with Paul Saskowski second (10’6”) and Karen Percassi third (11’). Kevin Wehner won a Schwinn bicycle, donated by Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle in the top prize on 14 (6’2”).  

In bocce, the top team -- from ESL Credit Union -- was Tim Miller, Jenna Holota, Mary Blevins and Collin Hawes, who also won the Golden Pallino contest.

On the tennis courts, first-place team honors went to James Bellamy and Diane Bonarigo; Gary May earned top score and second-place team went to Augusts Rolfe and Calvin Klemmer.

Gold sponsors were Turnbull Heating & Air-Conditioning, Crickler Vending, MTE Turf Equipment Solutions, Relph Benefit Advisors, Toshiba and Tompkins Bank of Castile/Insurance Agencies/Financial Advisors.

Silver sponsors were: Western New York Concrete, The Batavia Daily News, Graham Corporation, The Bonadio Group, Alan & Cathy Barcomb, Hoffman, Hanafin & Associates, In Memory of Ralph Houseknecht Sr., Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Parkview Health Services, Genesee Valley Penny Saver and The Insurance Center.

Also supporting the event were seven golf sponsors, three tennis sponsors, four bocce sponsors, three cart sponsors, two entertainment sponsors and eight Friend of Arc sponsors.

Door prizes, silent auction and basket raffle items were donated by dozens of area businesses and community members. The winner of the $1,000 cash drawing was Bruce Briggs with ticket number 04201.

Funds raised benefit programs and services for people with disabilities served by Arc of Genesee Orleans. The tournament is named in memory of Danny Lullo, a local businessman who came up with the idea to hold a tournament to benefit Arc programs and services for people with disabilities in our community.

Ed Carney is the event chairman. Deb Fischer chairs bocce and Peggy Lamb chairs tennis.

A members-only tournament at Stafford Country Club raised $10,000 for the Michael Houseknecht Scholarship Fund at Batavia High School.

The check was presented last night in the clubhouse.

Photo and info submitted by Lizabeth Starkweather.

This is Booker Edgerson, a star cornerback with the Buffalo Bills in the 1960s.

When I told Edgerson that I'm a little rusty on my Bills' history because I'm a lifelong San Diego Chargers fan, he smiled and said, "then you must know Lance Alworth."

Of course, I know Lance Alworth. I used to watch Alworth play, though I was very young at the time.

"I'm the only man to catch Lance Alworth."

"You ran down Lance Alworth?"

"Yup, I ran him down."

In fact, Edgerson's Wikipedia page notes that he's the only man in NFL history to catch Alworth from behind.

"I played against him my whole career," Edgerson said. "We came into the league together. Man, he was tough to cover."

Edgerson was playing in a golf tournament Monday at Stafford Country Club to benefit the scholarship fund at Genesee Community College. He was one of five former Bills players, and former Lions player, who participated in the tournament. This is the first year for the tournament, but the planning committee is already talking about next year.

The only man to catch Lance Alworth ... that's quite a line on a professional football resume.

Press release:

The 40th Annual Genesee ARC Golf, Tennis & Bocce Tournament at Stafford Country Club held this past Monday was dedicated in memory of Ralph Houseknecht, a longtime tournament supporter, disability advocate and friend of ARC who passed away earlier this year.

Prior to the start of golf, ARC Executive Director Donna Saskowski said “Ralph spent much of his life helping Genesee ARC and the people we serve, most notably as the first local businessman to offer community employment opportunities to individuals with intellectual disabilities, when he ran Pepsi of Batavia.”

She encouraged the 120 golfers including five Houseknecht children and three grandsons to play in Ralph’s honor and enjoy the game as he did.

In golf play, coming out on top was Zach Fuller who shot a 72, followed by Mark State with 77, and a tie for third with Paul Barton and Tom Burgess, both shooting 79. Low gross honors for women went to Francesca Fuller with an 88.

In the low net category, Jim Gibson came in with a 65 followed by Chuck Graney, 66, and Bill Wassink, 67. Katie Houseknecht Berger had a low net score of 67 for women.

In the blind bogey competition, Alan Saskowski and John Ottaviano matched the blind bogey number drawn of 72.

There were several contests on the course including the longest drive on 7, Jesse Luxon and closest-to-the-line on 15, Al Leaton. In the closest-to-the-pin contests, Mike Davison won a golf bag, courtesy of C.H. Wright on 8 (3’9”); Bruce Partridge, Donnie Miller and Mark Houseknecht won cash prizes on 12 and Katie Houseknecht Berger won a Schwinn bicycle, donated by Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle in the top prize on 14.

The hole-in-one contest on 8 was sponsored by Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. Unfortunately, no one shot an ace to drive away with a 2016 Jeep Wrangler Sport.

In bocce, the first-place team was Yvonne Branton, Jane Scott, Kathy Zeliff and Chris Fix.

Top score in tennis went to Steve Clemm. First-place team honors went to Phil McNulty and Marjorie Fulmer and second-place team went to Hollis Upson and Jim Fulmer.

Gold sponsors of the event were Turnbull Heating & Air-Conditioning, The Bonadio Group, Graham Corporation, MTE Turf Equipment Solutions/Tom & Lynn Houseknecht, Crickler Vending and Relph Benefit Advisors. Silver sponsors were: The Daily News, Oakfield Family Medical Care, Alpina Foods, Erie and Niagara Insurance Association, In Memory of Ralph Houseknecht, Tompkins Bank of Castile, Castilone Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Tops Friendly Markets, Bessey Tools, Parkview Health Services, Genesee Valley PennySaver, Rochester Regional Health/United Memorial Medical Center, One Group and The Insurance Center.

Also supporting the event were 16 golf sponsors, four tennis sponsors, eight bocce sponsors and six Friend of ARC Tournament sponsors. Door Prizes, silent and Chinese auction items were donated by dozens of area businesses. The 2016 cart sponsors were Manning Napier, Orcon Industries and Philadelphia Insurance.

A total of 120 golfers, 12 tennis players and 32 bocce players participated in the annual event that raises money to benefit programs and service for people with disabilities served by Genesee ARC. The winner of the $1,000 cash drawing was Ron Brueckner with ticket number 11966. The ticket seller was Deb Hinze of Batavia. The ARC/Lullo Memorial tournament is named in memory of Danny Lullo. Mr. Lullo was a local businessman who came up with the idea to hold a tournament to benefit Genesee ARC programs and services for people with disabilities in our community.

The Genesee ARC/Lullo Memorial Tournament is the longest-running charity event held at the local private club.

The Genesee ARC today held its 38th annual golf tournament at Stafford Country Club, which also included tournaments in bocce ball and tennis.

Above, Steve Pies watches a put just barely slide by the cup during his tournament round.

Ken Barrett hitting a tee shot.

Ray Shirtz playing tennis.

Krysia Mager, Lisa Dechau, Bob Bennett and Marth Bailey, the champion bocce ball team.

Representatives from Alpina yogurt at the bocce ball tournament. Alpina was a silver-tier sponsor this year.

There's a new energy at Stafford Country Club says club President Marc Staley, with more activities for families and improvements to the golf course that keep it interesting but also make it more playable for those who aren't long hitters.

Stafford is in its 91st year and has had good times and bad times, Staley said, but things seem to be on an upswing these days.

"We try to make sure people come out here and enjoy themselves, that's number one," Staley said. "We have a top-notch course that's playable, a tremendous outdoor pool -- the largest outdoor pool in Genesee County -- a fish pond, bocce ball, tennis, sledding in the winter, dining -- there's a lot of things that are very family friendly about the place."

Stafford, being a private club, has the reputation, of course, of being elitist and stodgy. That might have been true at one time, Staley said, but that was then and this is now. There are more women members and more children around.

"We're working hard to get the word out as a board that this isn't some stuffy place, not some place over in Stafford where only rich people go and hang out and smoke cigars," Staley said. "I think it had that feel to it for many years, and I think by design. A lot of members liked that persona, but times have changed."

It's hard to dispel the myth, according to Staley, because the club's charter prohibits it from spending money on marketing.

The club also can't advertise its membership fees, which are considerably lower than one might expect and for avid golfers as affordable, at least, as playing open-to-the-public courses on a weekly basis.

"When people contact us, they're typically shocked that there's no initiation fee and that there's a dues structure that's payable over 10 months," Staley said. "For a family that's playing 30 or 40 rounds of golf a summer, whose husband, wife and kids are playing, it is every bit as affordable as playing those rounds on a public course where you're paying greens fees and renting a cart every single time. Every time you go, it's a hundred or hundred and twenty bucks if you take a family."

An annual full family membership with unlimited golf is a bit over $3,000, plus members are obligated to spend at least $600 a year on food and drinks, which helps ensure the club can afford to keep staff on its payroll. 

There are also tiers of membership for people who don't play as much golf, or don't play golf at all. A social membership (you can still pay greens fees for up to three rounds a season) is $600. That gets you unlimited access to the clubhouse, pool, two clay tennis courts and all social events.

In recent years, the number of social memberships dropped off, Staley said, but the board is working at incorporating more social events into the calendar to bring some of those members back.

Staley said his experience is typical of many of the family members -- he joined when he was single and 28. Back then, it was all about golf. Now he's married with two young children. His wife golfs, but the family spends a lot of time at the pool (which is has its own food and beverage service) and participating in family events, such as scavenger hunts and family meals.

Six times a year the Staleys participate in the club's "Nine and Dine" event, which puts two couples in a foursome for a best-ball tournament and then the players enjoy a meal together.

It's a great way, he said, for members to meet each other and get to know each other better.

One of the big social events, Staley said, is the annual bocce ball tournament. It's a packed house with an Italian buffet that night.

The big annual events are the club's invitational golf tournament, in which members must invite a guest, and the fall tournament, in which members can play each other. The tournaments tend to be packed, Staley said, and even attract galleries who follow the play.

The course opened in 1922 and was designed by Walter Travis, a renowned course designer who had already built several beautiful courses in the Northeast, including Orchard Park, Look Out Point and Cherry Hill.

In the middle part of the century, some of the Travis-designed features were lost and the club has been working over the past 15 years to bring those features back and to make other improvements to the course, Staley said.

An example at Stafford is shaving the grass shorter on the aprons of the greens. Most of the greens have slopes and mounds around them that can make hitting a green more challenging, but also give the golfer more creative options for pitching, chipping and putting.

"During times of economic stress, maintenance decisions get made, not just at our course, but other courses, too," Staley said. "If you look at some of the history of the courses in Rochester that have been around for years, they change. You really have to make a concerted effort to put them back to play the way they were designed. Only then can you see the brilliance of the designer."

One of the projects under way at Stafford is to build more forward-placed tee boxes. It's part of the USGA's "Play it Forward" program. With more young golfers, more women and more seniors, golf courses need to become more playable.

"When you come out here you want to enjoy yourself," Staley said. "You don't want to get your butt kicked for four hours."

There have also been trees removed that weren't part of the original Travis design, or because they've become diseased; and there has also been a major renovation of the bunkers.

There's a whole, multi-year master plan for improvements.

"It will take us a lot of years and a lot of money to do it, but we're trying to stay committed as a board to doing something to move it along, move it in the right direction," Staley said.

Staley thinks a lot of people in Genesee County simply aren't aware of what Stafford has to offer or what a unique opportunity Stafford offers to golfers who would enjoy a private club membership. He said board members hope they can start to change the Club's image.

"If you picked Stafford up and dropped it in the middle of Perinton, we have a different story here," Staley said. "You would be paying $15,000 or $20,000 up front just to get in the door, but we not here. That's the beauty of this place. It's sort out in the middle of nowhere, and for people who live in Le Roy or in Batavia, you really have a gem out here, a beauty of a place."

On the Web: Stafford Country Club.

Brian "Elvis" Dengler, a Rochester resident, takes a practice swing off the 10th tee at Stafford Country Club where a three-day invitational tournament got underway at 12:30 p.m. today.

It's the 58th Annual Jon Lynn Invitational, which allows members of the private club to bring in non-members for the big tournament.

Jon Lynn was pro at the club for 25 years, according to current pro Eric Haille, who has been with the club for 12 years.

Eric will be sending us results for the tournament over the next three days, so look for them in the sports section.