Four-time NJSGA Open Champion David Glenz reflects on Unprecedented Success

Photo: David Glenz (r) with Bill Raftery, representing title sponsor First Fidelity Bank

David Glenz enjoyed one of the greatest decades of any golfer in New Jersey history. It began in 1981, when after six years of playing on the PGA Tour, Glenz was named head PGA professional at Morris County Golf Club. During his 10 years there, the native of Oregon won four NJSGA Open Championships, the Dodge Open, two New Jersey PGA Championships, and three New Jersey PGA Match Play Championships. He was voted NJPGA Player of the Decade for the 1980's.

When Glenz won the NJSGA Open title in 1990 at Plainfield, he became the second player to win the title four times behind Hall of Famer Babe Lichardus, compiling victories at his home club – Morris County – in 1984, Spring Lake in 1986, and Bedens Brook in 1988. For Glenz, his run of NJSGA Open success began inauspiciously in 1984, when he was struggling with his game.

“I had a case of the yips. That winter, I was playing in Florida in the PGA Winter Series for club pros. I had a Bulls-eye putter. If I was only a foot away, I would just tap it in left-handed. So, I decided in one of those tournaments, that I would switch and putt lefty. I shot 69 in the first round of that tournament and finished third,” said Glenz, who noted that being a switch hitter in baseball enabled him to make the turnaround with his putter.

By July of 1984 when the NJSGA Open came to Morris County, where he was entering his fourth year as head professional, he finally felt comfortable with his putting again – to the detriment of the rest of the field. With the added motivation of succeeding on his home course, Glenz shot a three-under-par 277 to win by three strokes. Wearing a stylish white Ben Hogan-style cap, Glenz netted an eagle on the par-4, 12th hole when his wedge from 115 yards found the bottom of the cup. He took a commanding lead which he’d never relinquish, and his win on home turf (now 36 years ago) is the last time a host club player won the NJSGA Open.

“I was on a definite high – I felt really comfortable with my putting. I could play without my stomach turning into knots over a two-footer. Now, I could actually roll them in.”

The night he won his first NJSGA Open, Glenz caught a flight to London to compete in the “PGA Cup”, a Ryder Cup-type competition for club pros. Before that event, he had an opportunity to play in a British Open qualifier at Scotland’s Leven Links, in which he shot 67-66 to win the medal and earn a berth into The Open. Over the next two weeks, Glenz missed the cut in The Open Championship at Turnberry by a single stroke, and the U.S. lost the PGA Cup to their rivals from Great Britain and Ireland. But he enjoyed the trip of a lifetime.

Glenz reflected on his mindset during his success of the 1980s. “I had a great job at Morris County. I was actively teaching six days a week, six-to-seven hours a day. I liked what I was doing. The competition was fun again. It’s fun to compete, and obviously fun to win. It was nice to experience that again. When everything is comfortable in your life, it carries over to how you perform on the golf course,” said Glenz, who before coming to Morris County had won the 1978 Met Open while an assistant at Winged Foot.

In the 1986 NJSGA Open, Glenz found himself in a playoff at Spring Lake with Bill Burgress of Arcola and Steve Sieg, then an assistant pro at Essex Fells “I remember hitting it into the right bunker on the first playoff hole. I hit my bunker shot to a foot and made par and the other two guys made bogey.” That same year, Glenz went on to win his second consecutive NJPGA Section championship.

In 1987, he won the Dodge Open and one of his PGA Match-Play Championships. But early in the summer of 1987, Glenz broke his collar bone playing softball. Six weeks later, he played in NJSGA Open at Essex County and managed to finish in the top 10.

He claimed his third NJSGA Open triumph in 1988 at Bedens Brook by a comfortable four-stroke margin over Gary Ostrega of Colonia. “It was nice to get back into the winners circle again. I remember having the lead going into the final day and I played two nice rounds and won comfortably,” said Glenz, who shot even-par 288 in that championship.

Glenz came close in 1989 at Alpine. He and future four-time champion, Ed Whitman of Knickerbocker, tied for second place, two strokes behind Sieg, who had just started his tenure as the head professional at Navesink.

The fourth and final NJSGA championship came in 1990 at Plainfield Country Club, where he bested Mike Burke, Jr. of Mountain Ridge by a three-stroke margin of 287 to Burke’s 290. “I had not played well at Plainfield over the years. I went there and mapped out a strategy to hit it into the middle of the fairway and the middle of the green. I might have had one three-putt in the 72 holes. I think I led most of the tournament.”

These days, Glenz, now 71 years of age, looks back with pride at his achievements in his personal golden era.   

“Winning four State Opens puts me in the record book. Each one is individual. You enjoy each one as it comes,” says the ever-humble Glenz. “I haven’t thought about the total number of events I’ve won in the state, but I do know that in the State Open, you’re always going against top competition. To come out on top, especially four times, is very rewarding.

“I’d also say that teaching helped me improve as a player. I was actively teaching during that stretch I had. In those days, I only played once a week with the members. What I was teaching and demonstrating all day was that as long as I could put the club in my hand, the  ball would go where I wanted it to.

“I just enjoyed what I accomplished. You like to hope it goes on forever. I remember when sportswriters would ask me about winning four Opens. I felt it was a gravy train, that I would ride it as long as it lasted. I never felt pressure. It actually got easier than harder. I was just so comfortable with my game. I didn’t try to add any pressure. I didn’t think about the significance of winning the Open four times. I was just going to keep playing golf the way I played and good things kept happening.”