The calendar says it’s still winter, the ground is like frozen tundra, and local golf courses have been closed for many months.However, the Harmon Golf & Fitness Club in Rockland, MA is buzzing with activity during the off-season.
Tom Cavicchi, the director of golf, was averaging around 7 lessons each weekday in February, and even more on weekends and into March.
“And it’s only going to increase as we get closer to spring and start heading outdoors,”said the 59-year-old Cavicchi, a widely-acclaimed teaching professional for more than 30 years.
Cavicchi has certainly carved his niche in the game of golf. He was a PGA Tour caddie in 1980-81 before becoming an instructor at venerable Oak Hill CC in Rochester, N.Y. under Claude and Craig Harmon, and at River Oaks CC in Texas under Dick Harmon.
He has also served as head golf professional at Oyster Harbors Club on Cape Cod and at Wollaston Golf Club in Milton, MA, earning the 1995 NEPGA Teacher of the Year Award. He’s been director of golf at the Harmon Club since its inception in 2001 and captured the NEPGA Horton Smith Award in both 2006 and 2007.
The reason the Harmon Club is prospering is two-fold. Cavicchi and his staff are top-notch instructors, and the club has evolved into one of the premier local golf facilities – both indoors and outdoors – as a prototype for golfers who are intent on taking their skills to a higher level.
The 100-acre facility has it all: a par-35, nine-hole regulation course, a nine-hole short course for chips and wedges, an 18-hole putting course, a bunker complex with different types of sand, a grass driving range cut to two fairways with target greens, a 12-station heated driving range with synthetic turf for the winter months, plus a private lesson area.
It also features a learning center for video swing analysis and launch-monitor equipment technology for superior club fitting, as well as a 5,500 square-foot fitness center staffed by trained professionals who have developed golf-specific training exercises. A well-stocked pro shop and restaurant completes the package.
When it comes to golf instruction, there’s nowhere else Cavicchi would rather be than the Harmon Club.
“I’m in a good place,”said Cavicchi. “Having the facilities to work on various aspects of the game allows me to do what I want to do.”
“People always have questions, and I’m their eyes and ears,” added Cavicchi. “We’re trying to understand where they’re at and get a sense of what’s happening with their game. They’re trying to improve and trying to retool. The lessons most golfers are striving for are: (1.)scoring better and lowering their handicap, (2.)striking the ball and working the ball around the course better, and (3.)improving their short game and putting.”
Cavicchi says that golf lessons are for every player of every age. He likes to compare the instructor-golfer scenario with that of a doctor-patient relationship (you may feel fine, but you should still get a physical exam each year to determine your health status).
“The Harmon Club is a very non-threatening environment,” said Cavicchi. “Juniors, seniors, women – everyone shares the same objective and common interest. They all want to get better.”
Bob DiCesare is the golf writer for The Enterprise in Brockton, MA, and he is also a member of the International Network of Golf.
