Alpine becomes first RI country club with female director of golf

The Cranston Herald ·

Naomi Nesenoff has been forging a path for women in golf since she started the first girl’s golf team at her high school on Long Island, where she grew up. But even though she’ll soon be the first female Director of Golf in Rhode Island, she said she doesn’t really think about that – she’s just happy to be working in golf.

Nesenoff has most recently worked as the Director of Golf at a country club in upstate New York, but will be moving to Cranston this month and officially taking over as Alpine Country Club’s golf leader. In her role, she said, she’ll be focusing on all the things she loves about the golf profession: player development, tournaments, increasing involvement/participation, and managing all affiliated golf operations at the club.

A graduate of Penn State’s PGA Golf Management program, Nesenoff has been working as a golf professional across the East coast since graduating in 2009. Her recent positions have been at Bonnie Briar Country Club, Traditions at the Glen Resort, and Turning Stone Resort Casino, all of which are in New York. She started her career in Rhode Island with a college internship at the Shelter Harbor Country Club in Westerly.

At Shelter Harbor, she said she was exposed to female PGA professionals, such as Susan Bond, who ended up inspiring her to pursue a career in golf.

After Shelter Harbor, Nesenoff said she bounced around the East coast at clubs in Massachusetts, Florida and New York. She said through her different positions she’s gained experience running golf tournaments, dealing with membership, merchandising, tournament operations, and doing something she’s always loved – teaching golf to amateurs.

At Alpine, Nesenoff hopes to grow Cranston’s biggest country club for the future.

“I’m able to do that at Alpine,” she said about bringing her passion for golf operations to the club. “They were looking for those aspects and they’re encouraging positive change to their club with player development programs, merchandising operations, and golf events.”

Nesenoff also wants to focus on increasing involvement for all levels of golfers in Cranston and Rhode Island.

“Member engagement is something that everyone I spoke to really emphasized,” she said about the process of being hired at Alpine. “We wanted to make it more of a family experience. I love running events and networking and being there at different events to connect members with each other. Being a liaison to the club. I’m looking forward to that aspect.”

Nesenoff also aims to initiate clinics to bring in and develop new golfers, especially younger people. She said that these clinics, in her past clubs, have helped bring in families and friends to get into golf more as well.

Despite not focusing on the fact that she’s the first female Director of Golf in the state, Nesenoff said that “women involvement in golf is increasing, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

She hopes to continue mentoring other female golf professionals and to increase the flow of female professionals into the sport, both here in Cranston and around the “golf hub” that is New England.

“The Alpine country Club looks forward to how Naomi will enhance the foundation of the club and we are thrilled about the future of golf at Alpine,” President of the club Ernest Ricci Jr. said in a press release.