Woods Hole golf pro Glenn Kelly honored by NEPGA

Glenn Kelly was a young teenager from Pembroke when he got his first job in golf as a caddie at the local country club. That ignited a passion for the game that has taken him to the pinnacle of his profession.

The longtime head professional at Woods Hole Golf Club headlines the New England PGA section award winners for 2024. Beginning his 40th year at the storied club, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this season, Kelly, 62, has been honored as the NEPGA Golf Professional of the Year.

“I just love being around the game,” Kelly said. “It’s been that way since I was a kid at Pembroke Country Club, first as a caddie and then working around the pro shop. As I’ve gotten older, I want to help others enjoy golf the way I do."

Kelly said he likes being the first one there in the morning six or seven days a week, and staying until the last golfer comes in.

"Serving the members, putting on a good event, teaching, seeing the look of a young player get the ball airborne for the first time…all that is very gratifying,” Kelly said.

The Golf Professional of the Year Award recognizes overall performance, level of service to the section and to the association, leadership ability, image, the ability to inspire fellow professionals and promotion of the game.

“I am as delighted as I am honored – and I am truly honored,” Kelly said. “You don’t start a career in golf with the goal of winning an award as prestigious as this one. It’s for notable people who have accomplished so much throughout their careers…so I find myself truly speechless."

Kelly thanked the board of governors and the membership at Woods Hole Golf Club for their support.

"I am so fortunate to work at the most wonderful facility in New England with the kindest, most generous group of people," Kelly said.

Kelly’s peers say he is the definition of what a PGA professional should be: a student of the game, a mentor to his staff and a valuable employee to his club.

“Glenn is a people person who connects with everyone and that’s level one of being a good golf professional,” said Rick Johnson, a longtime member of the Cape Cod golf community as head pro at the Hyannisport Club and now at Paul Harney GC. “He reaches out and builds and keeps friendships and you enjoy being in his company.

Johnson, who is a past recipient of the NEPGA Professional of the Year Award, said that Kelly has all the other qualities as a good businessman, and is spectacular at orchestrating tournaments and managing a staff.

"Glenn’s passion and desire to make it all work is something to admire,” Johnson said.

Kelly joined the golf Industry as an assistant to Andy Froude at Charles River CC in 1981. Along the way, Kelly worked for Les Kennedy at Pawtucket CC, Don Ross at Glastonbury Hills in Connecticut, and came to Woods Hole in 1985 as an assistant to Herman “Dutch” Wessner.

Kelly attained his PGA of America professional membership in 1988 and has served on several NEPGA committees. He also has twice been honored as the NEPGA Cape Cod chapter Professional of the Year and earned the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund Professional of the Year award. He has also participated in 18 Golf Fights Cancer Marathons, raising close to $250,000.

Now in his fifth decade at Woods Hole, Kelly’s passion hasn’t waned. He enjoys playing, but does not like playing "bad golf.” Kelly said the most rewarding part of his job is conducting events at the club.

“It can be a member-guest, a member-member, a scramble, a charity tournament,” he said. “It’s kind of like producing a never-ending Broadway show. The curtain goes up at seven in the morning and we have to know all our lines and hit all our marks. Then the curtain goes down at the end of the day and you hope you’ve put on a good product. It’s never perfect, but you always have another chance to do it again.”

Kelly credits Mel Cowe and Frank Brown as mentors when he was young and helping to guide him. Cowe was a golf sales representative, and Brown the green's chairman at Woods Hole.

“Mel was like a career whisperer who knew everyone in golf and helped set me on the right path,” Kelly said. “And Frank was influential in hiring me at Woods Hole. They were both so kind to me. Without a doubt, those two were the most impactful and I wouldn’t be anything without them.”

Bill Higgins is the retired sports editor of the Cape Cod Times. He can be contacted bhiggins54@gmail.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Glenn Kelly is honored as the 2024 NEPGA Golf Professional of the Year