Adrian “Bud” Foley

The co-recipients of the 2013 NJSGA/NJPGA Distinguished Service Award are two past presidents of the NJSGA, Adrian “Bud” Foley (1986-87) and Robert “Bob” Cronheim (1992-93), who have each been a driving force in golf in New Jersey.

Foley and Cronheim were both outstanding during their respective tenures and continued to work tirelessly on behalf of golf in New Jersey well after their terms ended.

Together, Foley and Cronheim became the impetus behind the creation of NJSGA headquarters at Galloping Hill Golf Course, a project that began nearly two decades ago. It is impossible to tally the number of hours these two astute gentlemen have devoted to supporting golf in New Jersey.

“Aside from being extremely successful individuals in their respective fields, Bob and Bud have been guiding forces behind what the NJSGA has evolved into today,” said NJSGA president Frank O’Brien.

“They were certainly the major thrust and laid the foundation to what we see today as our beautiful office accommodation at the Galloping Hill Golf Course,” O’Brien added.

Both have been quiet dynamos behind the scenes and out of the limelight, but actively growing the game and the NJSGA over the years. Both are lifetime sustaining members as two of the most generous donors in the history of the NJSGA Caddie Scholarship Foundation.

Foley influenced the revision of NJSGA by-laws to remove any reference to public or private facilities within the membership of the NJSGA. In addition, Bud was active at the state and national level as a member of the USGA Regional Affairs Committee.

Foley served as legal counsel for the NJSGA starting in the 1980s. He became a member of Essex Fells Country Club in 1959 and served on the board of trustees for six years. His personal mission was to encourage juniors and children to participate in golf at the club, at which he was highly successful.

Foley, a former New Jersey State Bar Association president, served on the Board of Governors and in the House of Delegates for the American Bar Association. He was the first New Jersey attorney to serve as chair of the ABA’s largest entity, the Section on Litigation.

In 2004, he received the Daniel J. O’Hern Award from the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law. The award recognizes commitment to professionalism, career achievement, and service to the profession and community.

He was appointed by Gov. William Cahill as the first treasurer and chief financial officer of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and was reappointed to that post by Gov. Brendan Byrne. Foley was instrumental in devising the bond issue that generated funding for Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack.

A native of North Dakota, Foley is a decorated veteran of World War II where he served in the Army Air Corps. He graduated from Columbia Law School and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 1948. He is also a graduate of St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark and Seton Hall University.