Thomas Fernandes joined Worcester Country Club last year as senior assistant golf professional, and it’s safe to say he made quite an impression.
After only one year with the club, he was named in March as the 2024 New England PGA Assistant Golf Professional of the Year as well as the Massachusetts Chapter Assistant Professional of the Year.
Fernandes will receive his award at the NEPGA awards banquet Oct. 19 at The Haven CC in Boylston.
“It was flattering to be nominated,” Fernandes said. “Any time you are acknowledged by your peers, it’s obviously a positive thing, but to be awarded the chapter and the section award is hard to put into words because I’ve only been here a year.”
Fernandes, 37, said he was caught off guard when NEPGA president Chip Johnson praised him while informing him of the award.
“I know how difficult it is to receive these things,” Fernandes said, “and to be acknowledged, I was really happy. It was flattering. I was surprised. I cried a bit.”
Fernandes was named the Northern Texas PGA Metro Chapter Assistant Golf Pro of the Year in 2020 when he worked as an assistant pro at the Northwood Club in Dallas. He was a member of the PGA LEAD Class of 2020-21, which helped guide PGA members from diverse backgrounds into leadership positions in the PGA of America.
He moved last year from Dallas to Worcester. His daughters, Madeleine, 10, and Charlotte, 6, live with their mother in New Mexico where worked before taking a job in Dallas.
Fernandes said he was ready to leave Dallas after 3½ years, and he turned down an offer to become a head pro at Coronado Country Club, a private golf club in El Paso, Texas, to join the staff at Worcester CC. He appreciated the rich history of Worcester CC, which hosted the U.S. Open in 1925, the first Ryder Cup in 1927 and the U.S. Women’s Open in 1960.
Fernandes replaced Nick Rossoll, who left Worcester CC to become head pro at San Antonio Country Club in Texas.
Fernandes thinks his work at Worcester CC and outside of the club created more awareness about who he is, what he does and his commitment to making golf accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and walks of life.
“I grew up playing at a municipal golf club,” he said. “There really wasn’t anybody who really looked like me when I started playing golf, and I got funny looks.”
Fernandes grew up in London, England, but his ancestors are from India, and he’s proud of it. In fact, he believes he is one of the very few members of the PGA of America who is of Indian heritage, if not the only one. Two-time PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia is an American of Indian descent, but he belongs to the PGA Tour, not the PGA of America.
“It’s more like a responsibility that I have, that I’m a face of representation,” he said. “Like the PGA of America is diving deep into making sure that golf is accessible to all, that our leadership committees are representations of America as well.”
Fernandes is pleased that the PGA has more women and minorities now.
While growing up, Fernandes was more interested in playing soccer, but at age 12, he began pushing a golf cart for father, Agnelo, a recreational golfer. Then he started playing, and he fell in love with the sport. At 16, he began working part time in the pro shop at a golf club. He went on to become an all-conference golfer for Bethany College, an NAIA school in Lindsborg, Kansas. He then worked as an assistant pro in New Mexico for eight years and managed to find time to play on a mini-tour in Phoenix for three of them.
Fernandes is a member of two national PGA committees, the PGA Junior League Committee and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Last year, he volunteered at a Brighton Marine golf clinic for veterans at Newton Commonwealth GC as part of the PGA Hope program.
“Golf should be accessible to all,” he said. “That hasn’t always been my perception of it. That hasn’t always been what I’ve experienced personally, but golf is very different now, and it should be enjoyed by all.”
Fernandes is normally reserved and quiet, but he feels the responsibility to be more of a leader and connect with golfers of all ages.
“I have a huge responsibility as a minority professional,” he said. “I’m very well aware of that. So I understand the position of power that I have, the responsibility that I have. There’s a lot of love for it as well. I enjoy doing it. It’s long hours, it’s a lot of sacrifice, but I’ve made some of my best friends in the golf industry.”
Fernandes said based on how he looks and his British accent, he’s often asked what his favorite soccer team is. He’s a diehard Arsenal FC fan.
As senior assistant golf pro at Worcester CC, Fernandes manages the assistant pros and the merchandise operation, and he assists head pro Andy Lane in hiring interns and other staff. He also teaches, heads the junior program for youths from age 3 through high school and runs the men’s twilight league.
“His story, his journey is amazing,” Lane said. “The accomplishments he’s had, his contributions to Worcester and to myself are incredible, but what he’s done outside our circle here in Worcester, in New England and beyond New England at the national level with his involvement has inspired a lot of people and will continue to inspire. His story, as amazing as it is, is just beginning, which is going to be fun to watch.”
Fernandes also helps Meghann McDonald coach the Worcester High School girls’ golf team, which Worcester CC women supply with bags, jackets, caps and clubs. He appreciates the varied backgrounds of the team and enjoys helping them have fun.
“I’m really blessed,” he said. “I’m fortunate to have had a career and continue to have a career in golf outside of my initial passion to play golf for a living. I’ve transitioned into this, and I love it.”
“Thomas’ dedication to our membership, operation, and development of our team is on display every day” WCC president Jim Collins said, “and I am extremely proud of this remarkable recognition from his peers.”
“The Assistant Golf Professional of the Year is one of the highest honors an assistant professional can receive from the New England PGA,” said Mike Higgins, NEPGA executive director and a Worcester CC member. “We are so proud of Thomas’s impressive accomplishments and the impact he is making through the game of golf. We are fortunate to have him as a member of the section, but I am even more fortunate to have him on our professional staff at Worcester Country Club.”
Whitinsville GC head pro Mark Aldrich won the NEPGA Assistant Professional of the Year in 2015 when he worked at Worcester CC.
Moison to receive Patriot Award
Green Hill Municipal Golf Course head pro Matt Moison will receive the NEPGA Patriot Award at the NEPGA annual banquet for his work with military veterans.
Moison has run golf clinics for veterans for several years in partnership with the PGA of America’s PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere), which introduces golf to veterans and active duty military to enhance their physical, mental and emotional well being. Twenty-three people took part in free, 90-minute clinics each week for seven weeks in May and June.
“It’s humbling that somebody thought highly enough of what we do here,” Moison said, “to say that it needed to be recognized. It’s the golf course, it’s not me. It’s a golf course award.”
Moison pointed out that assistant pro Matt Strzepa, pro shop worker Logan Kiley, clubhouse manager Art Flagg and others helped with the program.
Green Hill also offers veterans discounted greens fees and memberships.
Moison received the NEPGA Junior Golf Leader Award in 2001 and the Thomas S. Green Public Service Award from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau in 2022. He modestly keeps both plaques face down on a shelf in his office. He also has received honors from U.S. Kids Golf.
—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @BillDoyle15.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Senior assistant pro Thomas Fernandes already making difference at Worcester CC
