Joe has been involved in youth coaching for nearly 20 years in a variety of sports, though he is most passionate about golf and basketball. For 27 years, he was the editor-in-chief of Pindar Press, an award-winning sports publishing company in Manhattan and is still a freelance writer/editor, but he has always made time to serve as a coach in youth recreational leagues, for youth travel teams and with an elite AAU basketball program. These days, however, he spends the majority of his time on golf. In addition to his coaching role with the TGA, Joe runs junior golf tournaments throughout the Northeast for the U.S. Challenge Cup Junior Golf Foundation and serves as a consultant for golfers pursuing college scholarships. He also helped coach Team New England to two victories over Team Florida in the annual Dave Adamonis Sr. U.S. Challenge Cup matches on the Doral Blue Monster at what is now Trump National Doral. Joe came to golf later in life. “I grew up on Long Island playing mostly basketball and baseball. Then after going to college at Syracuse, I lived in Manhattan for many years, and it wasn’t exactly easy to play golf. I didn’t catch the bug until I moved from Manhattan to Greenwich in my late 20’s, and then it quickly became something my son, Danny, and I developed a passion for at the same time, and it’s something we will always share together. He saw me playing and wanted to try it, so he started before he entered kindergarten.” Danny rose up through the junior golf ranks and became a star at Greenwich High School, leading the team to two undefeated seasons, two FCIAC conference championships and a state title. The team lost only two matches during his four years on the team. Danny was named the Connecticut State High School Player of the Year as well as the U.S. Challenge Cup Player of the Year. He was highly recruited coming out of high school and earned a scholarship to play golf at tradition-rich Wake Forest. Danny is now pursuing a pro golf career with the hope of eventually making it to the PGA Tour.

“I had an incredible time learning about all aspects of junior, amateur and college golf through my son, and I want to share that with other children so that they and their parents can become inspired about golf and all of its benefits, such as responsibility, dedication, sportsmanship and focus, just to name a few. I love teaching children the fundamentals of the game in an energetic and enthusiastic way, but it’s also important to give them a foundation about the rules, etiquette, history and traditions. Golf is a sport for life, and the TGA reaches out to children at a young age and helps them progress at the proper pace while developing their love of the game. We all know that today’s kids have so many options, and as a result their attention spans often are very short. The TGA introduces golf in a way that gives them an opportunity to become passionate about something, and I love being a part of that mission.”