By Gary Shorts, Palm Aire Member

Dennis J. Fantaski, PhD (Monroeville, PA & Lakewood Ranch, FL) Gus Andreone, My First Boss…As a youngster growing up in the small steel town of North Braddock, Pennsylvania, employment opportunities were few and far between for teenagers. Working as a caddy at the Edgewood Country Club was one such opportunity. Caddy rates at that time were $2 per bag and $1 tip if you happened to get one of the “good” golfers. Six dol-lars in income for four hours of work was not too bad back then and a caddy typically got an assignment only 3 or 4 days a week because of the large number of caddies. Gus approached me one day to inform me that an “assistant club cleaner” job would soon become available. It paid $1 a day more than a caddy and was a 6-day-week, 10 hour-a- day position. I told Gus I would love to have that job but I had a transportation issue since there were no busses between North Braddock and Edgewood Country Club. That was not a problem, according to Gus, because he and Henrietta would drive the nine miles from their home to pick me up in the morning and drop me off at night. This job afforded me the op-portunity to save enough money to attend college.

During my sophomore year of college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, I had to drop out of school to have back surgery. During my recuperation, Gus and Henrietta would stop by the hospital to check on my progress. The conversations lead to a discussion of my plans for the future. I informed them that I planned to work at the pro shop that summer and save enough money to return to college in the fall. “That will put you a semester behind,” Gus said, “therefore, I want you to come work for me this winter so you can return to school in the summer.” For those of you that haven’t experienced northern country clubs, there is very little work to accom-plish in a pro shop during the winter months when the course is closed due to weather. “That does not matter,” Gus continued, “your education comes first.”

I owe a great deal of my personal accomplishments to my association with Gus Andreone. My work ethic and desire to further my education, to name just a couple, were influenced a great deal by Gus.

Thanks, Gus, for everything!

October, 2011

Bob Valentino, (Gus’s nephew): Bob recalls one of Gus’s best saves ever. “We were down in the match by a half-point coming into the 9th hole. We needed the hole in order to win the match and stay in contention for the flight. Gus holed out a 70 or 80-yard shot to win the match out-right. That is his bread and butter—his short game. He has always been like a surgeon with the short irons and the putter.”

Ken Geddes, (Pinehurst, NC): As a new summer member and my first time at the range, I no-ticed someone slowly maneuvering a golf cart near the 16th tee of the Lakes Course. After several minutes an elderly gentleman very carefully made his way to the ball box where he leaned inside to fill two baskets. As he made his way painstakingly to the range I recall think-ing, surely this man is not going to be able to hit those balls. As I stepped back off the teeing area to let him pass by, the man said "let me see you hit some." Well, I hit a few and he re-marked "I like your tempo." At that point I introduced myself and he proceeded to tell me he

is the third oldest golf pro in the U.S. and his name is Gus. I uttered "wow" and let him know I had heard about him. I was thrilled to meet and talk with Gus and will always have a fond memory of my first experience at Palm Aire Country Club.

Joe Beggs, Palm Aire Member: About eight or nine years ago shortly after I had joined Palm Aire, my good friend Jim Massey suggested I should play golf with him and his good buddy. Jim being the gentleman he is, I of course accepted. But then again, Jim being Jim, I did not know what to expect. This is how I first came to Gus Andreone. We played golf and had a wonderful time and of course we had the obligatory couple of drinks at the 19th hole. I did not fully realize what had happened to me that day until later that fall I was sitting with a bunch of my golfing friends in my club up north. I was telling them how I had

met and played golf with this wonderful guy with a “silky golf swing” and, at the time, was nearly twice my age and he had kicked my butt. They immediately rationalized everything away by saying it must have been the handicaps or he must have played the way forward tees or something. Then I had to humbly tell them that he had played the same tees as I had ... that he had shot below his age.... and that he had shot a lower gross score than I had. It was truly one of the most memorable, while humbling and very enjoyable experiences, ever.

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Gus Andreone on his second worst experience in golf: We had an annual ladies’ event at Edge-wood. We kicked it off with a fireworks display; I had an assistant pro who set it up the night be-fore. One year it rained overnight and he’d forgot-ten to cover the fireworks, so the powder got

damp. When we tried to light the fireworks they just smoldered for a second or two—then they exploded all over the place; we had shrapnel and dirt everywhere….

Gus Andreone on winning the lottery: “That was the longest putt I made in my life!” Gus was one of the early winners of Pennsylvania’s scratch off lottery tickets. He won $600, which qualified him to travel to Harrisburg to participate in the draw-ing for one million dollars. In those early days ten lucky winners spun a wheel to see who would win the grand prize. Each par-ticipant spun the wheel and where it landed determined how much they won. Prizes varied in size up the grand prize of $1,000,000. As each person spun the wheel and the grand prize was still available, Gus got more and more excited. He was the next-to-last person to spin, and when the spindle stopped at $1 million, he nearly col-lapsed. Confetti dropped from the ceiling and former Governor Bill Scranton came on stage with an oversized check (a fake) to present to him on air. Later, he would get his first installment of $10,000. He was so excited he left the studio without it and Scranton had to chase him outside to give it to him. Gus continues to play the lottery to this day. During his tenure in Florida, he and a partner won the Fantasy 5 game for $21,000. Later on, he won Fantasy 5 for $18,000. He also won a $3,000 Lotto, missing the million-dollar prize by just one digit.

Gus Andreone on his worst experience in golf: I had been working with a Dr. Grubbs at Edgewood. He loved to play the game and took it very serious; he always practiced and had a regular group he played with on weekends. He had a lesson every Thursday. One day we were out playing and he had an awful day: took an 8 on par 4 number one; then an 8 on number two; then a 7 on number 3; on number 4, a par five, he missed by four shots. He took out every club in his bag and broke them one by one—including a special two-wood I had lent him. I don’t think he played again for about 4 months!