Cronheim, Foley Receive Distinguished Service Award
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 they have continued to work tirelessly on behalf of golf in New Jersey well after their terms ended.
They will be honored at the NJSGA/NJPGA 10th annual Celebration of Golf on Thursday, October 24, at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. Also honored will be NJSGA Player of the Year Pat Wilson of Panther Valley and members of the championship New Jersey State Team, which won the USGA State Team Championship in September, including Alice Chen of Neshanic Valley, Tara Fleming of New Jersey National and Cindy Ha of Valley Brook.
Champions from each of the NJSGA’s 23 tournaments and from each of the NJPGA 10 championships will also be cited. Also honored will be NJPGA Player of the Year Frank Esposito Jr. of Brooklake, NJSGA Caddie Scholarship Club of the Year (Upper Montclair) and the NJPGA’s Club of the Year (Trump National-Bedminster), Golf Professional of the Year (Scott Paris, Plainfield) and Hall of Fame Inductees.
Tickets to the Celebration of Golf are available HERE
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.
During Cronheim’s tenure as president, the NJSGA Youth Foundation was created, including the Challenge Cup Pro-Am, today known as the NJSGA Youth Foundation Pro-Am. The Pro-Am is the fundraiser for the charity.
Today, the Youth Foundation is stronger than ever and has supported and continues to support youth-based programs throughout the state, including the various First Tee organizations in New Jersey.
As former owner of Twin Brooks Country Club and a past president of Deal Golf and Country Club, Cronheim was instrumental in having both clubs support NJSGA, New Jersey PGA, and MGA tournaments over the years. He has been extremely generous with both his time and in giving of his courses for multiple golf organizations in New Jersey.
Cronheim is also chief executive officer of the David Cronheim Company in Chatham where he specializes in commercial brokerage, managing and financing, He consults with landlords on problem properties, advises lenders on mortgage placement and problem loans, manages industrial, office, retail and apartment properties for a variety of investors and corporations, and assists builders and developers in determining the feasibility of future projects.
He is a graduate of Princeton University , where he was class president, and then served in the U.S. Air Force (1950-53).
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 has served as legal counsel for the NJSGA since the 1980s. He has been a member of the Essex Fells Country Club since 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, is a partner in Connell Foley LLP in Roseland. He has long been active in the American Bar Association where he served on the Board of Governors and in the House of Delegates. 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.
