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Fore!By: Leonard ShapiroFrom Ball Striker to Ambassador |
Growing up in Rochester,
N.Y., in the 1960s, John Calabria was a highly regarded, all-around high school athlete, at least until he started to run. For one, he was tortoise-like slow. For another, he simply hated the idea of ever trying to go faster. Little wonder he chose golf and played well enough to make the Florida State team, eventually becoming one of the most respected teaching and senior playing professionals in the state.
Now 59, he has added another title to his résumé, serving as director of membership sales and golfing "ambassador" for the Fiddler’s Creek golf community in south Naples, a 4,000-acre work in progress that now includes 2,000 homes and an Arthur Hills golf course, with plans to grow to 6,000 homes and a total of three championship courses about four miles north of Marco Island.
Calabria’s ambassadorial portfolio means that he is often the public face and voice of Fiddler’s Creek wherever he goes—out to dinner with his wife, Dawn; out to the golf course to play with the members every Wednesday; or out to a number of state and local tournaments he still competes in—almost always wearing the community’s logo on his shirt or blazer. He’s clearly a gregarious fellow skilled in the fine art of driving, putting and schmoozing, and all those attributes have served him well, particularly since he moved from his club professional job back in Rochester to become the first director of golf at the then fledgling Naples National course in 1991.
"That was a very big adventure for us," Calabria says. "I was 44 years old and had lived part-time over the winter in Palm Beach. But the job at Naples National became available, and I decided to give it a shot. I had always wanted to be part of a great golf club and work with a guy who had great vision."
That guy was Dr. Charles Benton, a native of Baltimore who had it in his mind to build a world-class golf course and club modeled after Augusta National. Calabria heard about the job opening through a friend who knew Benton and urged him to apply. The owner liked what he saw, and Calabria stayed for the next dozen years at a club that attracted more than 200 members willing to put up a $200,000-plus initiation fee.
Almost immediately, Naples National made Golf Digest’s prestigious list of top 100 courses in the country. Calabria also established a model caddie program that still flourishes. Somehow, he also found just enough time to keep his own game sharp enough to stay competitive at a wide variety of state and national events.
"John is still one of the top five senior players in our PGA section," says Fiddler’s Creek head golf professional Ben Bryant. "He’s just a fabulous player, one of the best ball strikers I’ve ever seen. Better than that, he’s a terrific guy, a perfect fit for what we’re doing here. We’re very lucky to have him."
As a much younger man, Calabria tried to play the PGA Tour in 1980 and 1981, qualifying for most events he attempted and making several cuts. He went to the tour’s qualifying tournament seven times trying to earn his full-time playing card and made it into the final stage several times, only to miss out in the end.
"I hate the word mediocre," he says, "but that’s the best way to describe my tour career." He had full-time jobs as a club professional as a safety net for all those years, and when he turned 50, he also thought about trying to qualify for the senior Champions Tour, owned and operated by PGA Tour. Still, with so many responsibilities at Naples National, he never had enough time to get his game to a level that might have improved his chances of qualifying to play golf full-time.
But Calabria more than sated his competitive urges over the years by qualifying for a number of national senior events run by the U.S. Golf Association and the PGA of America. This summer, he played in his fifth U.S. Senior Open at Whistling Straights in Kohler, Wis. A month before that, he qualified for his fifth Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, S.C. He’s also played in several Senior British Opens and a dozen events on the Champions Tour, and he participates in PGA tournaments at least twice a month in Southwest Florida PGA, as well.
"I’ve made the cut in the Senior PGA twice and the Senior British Open once," he says. "I haven’t made a cut in a USGA event since the 1969 Public Links, but as long as I can keep playing, I’m going to keep trying. I’ve got my own perspective on it. To me, just to qualify to get there and compete against some of the greatest players in the world is an accomplishment." He also has been highly successful as Fiddler’s Creek’s ambassador, hired by president and CEO of Gulf Bay Group of Companies and project owner Aubrey Ferrao to spread the word on the growing community.
"Mr. Ferrao wants it to be a real golfing mecca," Calabria says. "When we’re done, it’s really going to be a special place. How long can I keep playing? As long as my body lets me. All of it is willpower at this point, and as long as I have the desire, I’ll keep it up."
No doubt walking all the way.
Now 59, he has added another title to his résumé, serving as director of membership sales and golfing "ambassador" for the Fiddler’s Creek golf community in south Naples, a 4,000-acre work in progress that now includes 2,000 homes and an Arthur Hills golf course, with plans to grow to 6,000 homes and a total of three championship courses about four miles north of Marco Island.
Calabria’s ambassadorial portfolio means that he is often the public face and voice of Fiddler’s Creek wherever he goes—out to dinner with his wife, Dawn; out to the golf course to play with the members every Wednesday; or out to a number of state and local tournaments he still competes in—almost always wearing the community’s logo on his shirt or blazer. He’s clearly a gregarious fellow skilled in the fine art of driving, putting and schmoozing, and all those attributes have served him well, particularly since he moved from his club professional job back in Rochester to become the first director of golf at the then fledgling Naples National course in 1991.
"That was a very big adventure for us," Calabria says. "I was 44 years old and had lived part-time over the winter in Palm Beach. But the job at Naples National became available, and I decided to give it a shot. I had always wanted to be part of a great golf club and work with a guy who had great vision."
That guy was Dr. Charles Benton, a native of Baltimore who had it in his mind to build a world-class golf course and club modeled after Augusta National. Calabria heard about the job opening through a friend who knew Benton and urged him to apply. The owner liked what he saw, and Calabria stayed for the next dozen years at a club that attracted more than 200 members willing to put up a $200,000-plus initiation fee.
Almost immediately, Naples National made Golf Digest’s prestigious list of top 100 courses in the country. Calabria also established a model caddie program that still flourishes. Somehow, he also found just enough time to keep his own game sharp enough to stay competitive at a wide variety of state and national events.
"John is still one of the top five senior players in our PGA section," says Fiddler’s Creek head golf professional Ben Bryant. "He’s just a fabulous player, one of the best ball strikers I’ve ever seen. Better than that, he’s a terrific guy, a perfect fit for what we’re doing here. We’re very lucky to have him."
As a much younger man, Calabria tried to play the PGA Tour in 1980 and 1981, qualifying for most events he attempted and making several cuts. He went to the tour’s qualifying tournament seven times trying to earn his full-time playing card and made it into the final stage several times, only to miss out in the end.
"I hate the word mediocre," he says, "but that’s the best way to describe my tour career." He had full-time jobs as a club professional as a safety net for all those years, and when he turned 50, he also thought about trying to qualify for the senior Champions Tour, owned and operated by PGA Tour. Still, with so many responsibilities at Naples National, he never had enough time to get his game to a level that might have improved his chances of qualifying to play golf full-time.
But Calabria more than sated his competitive urges over the years by qualifying for a number of national senior events run by the U.S. Golf Association and the PGA of America. This summer, he played in his fifth U.S. Senior Open at Whistling Straights in Kohler, Wis. A month before that, he qualified for his fifth Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, S.C. He’s also played in several Senior British Opens and a dozen events on the Champions Tour, and he participates in PGA tournaments at least twice a month in Southwest Florida PGA, as well.
"I’ve made the cut in the Senior PGA twice and the Senior British Open once," he says. "I haven’t made a cut in a USGA event since the 1969 Public Links, but as long as I can keep playing, I’m going to keep trying. I’ve got my own perspective on it. To me, just to qualify to get there and compete against some of the greatest players in the world is an accomplishment." He also has been highly successful as Fiddler’s Creek’s ambassador, hired by president and CEO of Gulf Bay Group of Companies and project owner Aubrey Ferrao to spread the word on the growing community.
"Mr. Ferrao wants it to be a real golfing mecca," Calabria says. "When we’re done, it’s really going to be a special place. How long can I keep playing? As long as my body lets me. All of it is willpower at this point, and as long as I have the desire, I’ll keep it up."
No doubt walking all the way.
