Alpine C.C., continued

There is an excellent team leading Alpine. Michael Degnan has recently been appointed club manager. He comes from a restaurant and organizational background having been co-owner of Providence Oyster Bar and Providence Prime. “I was formally a member here and I love the beautiful, serene golf course and its surroundings. It was a natural for me to want to come to this wonderful place,” said Degnan who grew up in Providence and graduated from Our Lady of Providence High School and the University of Las Vegas. “I pride myself on my integrity and reputation for honesty and want to do what is best for all the members, not just some of them.”

Degnan is proud of his staff. Melodi Caruso has been the Director of Sales and Catering since 2001. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, she oversees the members’ dining room and reserves and coordinates all banquet and members’ events. “Our beautiful ballroom can seat up to 350 and we host hundreds of weddings and parties each year,” added Caruso.

“Terry Saccomagno, executive chef and assistant manager, went way above the call of duty to keep this place running smoothly after the last club manager left,” said Degnan. Saccomagno has been chef for over 20 years and is universally praised by all the members and party attendees.

Scott Gabrielson of Blackstone, Mass. was appointed as the new superintendent last year. A Certified Golf Course Superintendent, Gabrielson has supervised an extensive upgrading of the course. “We strive to constantly maintain championship conditions with a process of maintenance, routine and structure,” said Gabrielson, adding that there is a five-year plan for course improvements and tree removal to help circulate air.

“Mark Mungeam, who teams with original designer Geoffrey Cornish, was recently at the course giving recommendations and making suggestions to keep with the original course design,” commented Gabrielson.

Plans are currently underway to increase the driving range and make another practice tee at the end of it. The swimming pool is being remodeled and a new pool bar is being installed so golfers can order lunch after leaving the eighth hole and have it ready on the turn.

“Alpine Country Club is a very pastoral place. There is no housing or roads around it. It’s just golf the way it should be,” said Degnan. “There is a very active membership who fill up tournaments and enjoy the members’ functions,” he added. “We are almost full, but there are spots for a few more members,” said Degnan who said that anyone wanting information about Alpine could call him at 401-943-2672.

Early History

Alpine Country Club in western Cranston had its beginning much differently than
most clubs. When we decided to feature Alpine for this issue, we were given a sixty-page hard cover book entitled The Alpine Country Club-A History-1946-1988 written by Anthony DiPetrillo and Richard J. Colardo to use for research.

1946? We knew that Alpine C.C. was designed by Geoffrey Cornish and opened in 1961. Where were these members playing for the previous 15 years? Here is the rest of the story.

In 1946 a small group of friends, mostly business and professional men, all of whom were residents of the City of Cranston, met and organized a men’s social club called the Cranston Alpine Club.

In 1948 the group formally organized and received a charter from the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Office as a non-business corporation with the objective and purpose “To promote and perpetuate good fellowship, advance community progress, and to assist in worthy charities.” The names on the charter were Amadeo Galli (who became the first president), Alfred Cardi, Americo S. Cardi, Lawrence A. Paolino, Romeo S. Picerne, John Mansolillo and Nazarreno Meloccaro. All were well-known and successful businessmen in Cranston.

The group began meeting in different members’ homes, but in 1948 Nazzareno Meloccaro, a building contractor and member of the Cranston Alpine Club and reputable building contractor, had the great vision to build a self-contained city within a city off of Reservoir Avenue. The area would be called “Garden City” and it would have single- family dwellings, apartment buildings and a huge diversified shopping center. Mr. Meloccaro offered the Club the use of the basement of his office building as a meeting place.

With their own meeting place the group started to hold regular social gatherings each Friday evening. They even set up a little kitchen and members took turns cooking.

The club stayed at this location until 1952 when the rising membership dictated that they find a larger space. Mr. Meloccaro had recently purchased a large parcel of land on Oaklawn Avenue, now called Garden Hills. He sold a large dwelling at 760 Oaklawn Avenue to Cranston Alpine Club at a price substantially below market value and this became the club quarters. The group hired their first full-time chef, John Lisi, and the club was open daily for lunches and dinners for members and their guests.

The Cranston Alpine Club continued to occupy the quarters on Oaklawn Avenue until 1958 when Bishop McVinney, Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Providence, approached them. He wanted to purchase the club and surrounding land in order to build a Catholic Church. The club sold it to the Diocese that built Immaculate Conception Church.

Needing a new meeting place, member Joseph Scungio, owner of Cranston Oil Co., offered the use of the basement of a new building he had just purchased at 1196 Cranston Street Membership kept rising and often the group had to meet in a larger building on Fletcher Avenue owned by member, William San Antonio.

Having paid off all its mortgages and still having some money in the treasury, the Cranston Alpine Club members had larger visions. It was decided by the membership to look into purchasing land to build a golf and country club. In June 1959 the club purchased the approximately 205-acre Macera Farm on Pippin Orchard Road for the sum of $50,000.

The goal was to build a lavish country club and championship golf course and in January 1960 the new Alpine Country Club was voted on and approved by the 112 members. Plans for the golfing phase were immediately undertaken by club president John DiBiase. Geoffrey Cornish, a highly renowned architect from Amherst, Mass., was hired to design the course out of a heavy wooded area on fertile land with natural hazards and ponds. The course would measure 6,800 yards (long for its time) and have a par of 72.

It was hoped that the course would be ready by the summer of 1960, but all agreed that they would not play until given the word by superintendent Robert Hunter, a recent college graduate with a degree in agriculture who was invaluable. A practice green was built and a driving range with lights was also installed. Tennis courts were also built with space provided for other sports also.

In 1960 the name of The Cranston Alpine Club was formally changed at the Secretary of State’s Office to The Alpine Country Club. A drive was undertaken to get new members and a plan was introduced to obtain sufficient financing to complete the course and construct the clubhouse. The projected cost for the course, a large multi-use clubhouse, ballroom, swimming pool and all other building was projected at $855,000, but the final total was just over one million dollars. The financing and banking expertise of member Ralph Papitto, who served as president in 1963 and 1966 and was founder of Nortek, Inc. that became a Fortune 500 company, was instrumental in solving the financial crisis.

Pictured in the book are Alpine President John DiBiase, Anthony Porreca, Governor of Rhode Island, John Notte, Mayor of Cranston Francis Dailey and Dr. Ray DePetrillo at the ribbon cutting to open the course in 1961. Other pictures include the schematic of the holes and the surrounding property and celebrities who played at the Alpine C.C. including pro golfers Tony Lema and Ken Venturi.

In 1967 the final transition of the Alpine Club was completed when it became The Alpine Investment Company, a business corporation in the State of Rhode Island. In 1974 Alpine purchased 5.5 acres of land adjacent to what was the fourth hole for $10,800.

Bruce Vittner is a member of the Golf Writers Assn. of America and the Golf Travel Writers of America.