HAMPDEN – Everybody these days is a critic.

But for Ross Giombetti of Hampden and Jason Randall of Granby the role of critic has evolved from a dream the two shared more than five years ago while students at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

While on an international trip to Ireland the two discovered that they shared one favorite pastime in common, golf. After hashing out their thoughts on courses they’ve played, the two started tossing around the idea that it might be nice if there were a website available where they could inform other golfers about their opinions, playing experiences and recommendations.

That dream was to not only play at as many golf courses as they could in their lifetime but to also critique each club so other players near and far would know what to expect from each of these courses. And so the birth of countryclubcritics.com was born.

These two young entrepreneurs transferred to American International College where they had the great honor of meeting a professor who would not only encourage them to follow their dream, but also lead them in the direction to achieve that dream. That professor, Marshall Epstein became their mentor, their sounding board and their biggest supporter.

"Brainstorming"
Marshall was one of 12 professors from area colleges and universities selected to take part in the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative program.

The initiative, now in it’s fourth year, was the brainchild of Harold Grinspoon, a local real estate guru. He enlists advisors from area colleges and universities to teach an entrepreneurial class to students who show an interest in starting a business. The advisors’ roles are to oversee entrepreneurship and business clubs, coordinate a host of additional outreach activities and to encourage the students to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. The initiative would then recognize more than 30 students who exemplified the “entrepreneurial spirit” with monetary awards ranging from $500 to $3,800 at the end of the school year. Both Giombetti and Randall received awards for their website.

“A lot of brainstorming, research and advice went into this website,” Giombetti said. “Mine and Jason’s goals were to cover every aspect of the golf experience so golfers knew what they were in for before they scheduled their next golf match. We rate courses on the overall experience with a rating of 1-10 for each trait associated with the golf experience and our opinions are all unbiased.”

Those traits include the friendliness of the staff; facility and pro shop; quality and value of food and snacks; fairway and greens condition; scenery; difficulty of course; value received; speed of play, design of course; 19th hole and, of course, the beer cart.

"Up and Running"
“We had the website set up upon entering AIC but the initiative grant allowed us to expand and improve the website. It’s come a long way,” Randall said. “We’ve visited more than 50 courses this past year and all the ratings are up-to-date. That’s important because some course are in the middle of doing major repairs and may be a surprise to people who have golfed there in the past and maybe had some issues with a particular course.”

One course Giombetti and Randall say has improved greatly is Veteran’s Memorial in Springfield. The two give credit to owner Kevin Kennedy for making the improvements and to taking their suggestions to heart.

“It’s improved 10-fold,” Giombetti said. “Kevin even thanked us for the first review because it opened his eyes to what golfers are looking for when they hit the tees.” He “gets it now” that it’s the entire golf experience and not just one aspect of the golf outing that people are looking for.

A course Giombetti and Randall say other clubs should model themselves after would be Blackstone National in Sutton. Blackstone received a 90 out of a possible 100-plus score and exemplified everything a true golfer looks for in a course.
“From start to finish, your experience at Blackstone will be everything you hoped for and more,” Randall said. “The fairways are in mint condition and the staff is not only friendly, but they have a guy who will take your clubs out of your car when you drive up and put them on the cart, and who will wash the club heads when you are done playing. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Clubs like Hampden Country Club are improving. With new ownership this course is coming back up to standard and countryclubcritics.com gives credit to the turn around. Giombetti states that the club’s pro Bill Tragakis has taken on a hands-on approach and is very involved with improving the course. “He takes pride in what he is accomplishing and it shows,” Giombetti said.

Golfers are encouraged to visit the website for up-to-date ratings and to leave comments and recommendations for club owners and for the critics themselves. These two critics hope to have all courses in Western Massachusetts critiqued by the end of 2008 and their first publication on the shelves by early 2009.

CountryClubCritics.com is maintained by both Giombetti and Randall, who currently hold full-time positions aside from the website.

Both critics say their dream would not have been possible without the support of their families, the initiative grant and the continuing support of local sponsors. To inquiring about becoming a sponsor or advertiser you can reach Ross or Jason via the website or by calling (413) 237-1487.