Name: Greg Scott
Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.
Club: Scorin’ Eagles Golf Club
Handicap Index: 19.3
Name: Greg Scott Greg Scott (back, 2nd from right) and members of the Scorin’ Eagles Golf Club
Hometown: Bronx, N.Y.
Club: Scorin’ Eagles Golf Club
Handicap Index: 19.3
MGA Foundation GOLFWORKS recruiter Greg Scott grew up playing basketball in the Bronx at St. Raymond’s High School for Boys, the same place he currently works as the Director of Guidance. Scott is a passionate golfer who coaches the St. Raymond’s golf team and co-founded the Scorin’ Eagles Golf Club, an MGA member club without real estate. MGAgolf.org caught up with Scott to discuss his unlikely path to becoming a diehard golfer and his role as a mentor to Met Area youth.
When did you start playing golf and how did you become interested?
This is my 14th season. I was introduced to the game by my mentor at St. Raymond’s, Ron Patnosh, who was a coach when I attended high school there, so he’s been there forever and is considered part of the foundation of St. Raymond’s. He is also the person responsible for bringing me in to work at St. Raymond’s. Because we were so close, he just took me out one day and said, “You’re coming with me.” So I marched behind him, and unbeknownst to me, he takes me to Pelham/Split Rock Golf Course and has clubs for me in his trunk. I had never played the game before and didn’t develop an interest until Ron brought me out there and showed me a few pointers. I probably only hit six or seven good shots, but from there the rest is history as I began to love the game.
What is it like to work at the school that you are an alumnus of?
It’s big time for me. St. Raymond’s is my second family. I’ve been there now for 26 years, four as a student and 22 as an employee, and I don’t even consider it work because for me it’s a mission.
You were a star on St. Raymond’s basketball team. Tell us a little bit more about that.
I was the first player from St. Raymond’s to make the Daily News and New York Post’s First Team All-City, I was the defensive player of the year my junior and senior years and I hold the single-game rebound record at the school with 26 in a playoff game. I went on to play for Fairfield University, where injuries curtailed my basketball career.
How long have you been coaching the St. Raymond’s boys’ golf team?
This is my fifth season coaching, the former coach left and asked me to take over because he knew how my passion for golf had developed over the previous decade. I was glad to do that, but it is hard to get kids in the city to become involved with golf. I’m quite sure that when I went to school and was playing basketball that if someone approached me to try to play this game I would probably blow them off. So it certainly has its challenges, it’s easy to get them interested in the game, but it’s hard to get them passionate about it just because they have that basketball, football, baseball and track mindset.
How did you become involved in the Scorin’ Eagles Golf Club?
I co-founded the group and I’m currently the president. Five years ago I told a bunch of guys that I play with and see at Mosholu Golf Course that I had this ambition to start an organized club. So it was primarily my idea, but we have four co-founders and we all started researching it. We searched online and made a phone call to the MGA to find out what we needed to do to form a club without real estate.
Where does the group play in the Met Area and how often do you get together?
We have a rotation of courses that includes Douglaston Park, Van Cortlandt Park, Clearview, Forest Park, Pelham Bay/Split Rock, Mosholu, and Wallkill.
How did you become involved with the MGA Foundation as a GOLFWORKS recruiter?
Once I developed my passion for golf, the counselor next to my office at St. Raymond’s used to recruit kids for GOLFWORKS, but he hated golf, so he passed my name on to [Sr. Director of Communications and MGA Foundation Operations] Jeanne McCooey, who interviewed me about ten years ago and I’ve been working as a GOLFWORKS recruiter ever since.
Any notable success stories about GOLFWORKS program?
There have been a lot, but if I had to choose one it would be Hamilton Lopes. I recruited Hamilton and he worked at Mosholu as a GOLFWORKS intern and now he’s an assistant superintendent at Bethpage State Park. He was a great kid and never had an idea that a job in the golf industry would turn into his career, but the golf course provided a venue for him to utilize his passions for auto mechanics and machinery.
You’re very passionate about helping others. You are considered a mentor to your GOLFWORKS interns and to the students at St. Raymond’s as a both a coach and administrator. Please tell us a little bit more about this role.
I look at my life like this: I’ve been fortunate to be put in position where I virtually get blessed every day, and a blessing to me is anytime I’m able to receive a “thank you” from somebody, and I make it a point to remember those moments. At the end of the day, if I go home and can’t remember that someone said “thank you” to me, then I didn’t do my job that day.
