WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Sunday not only marked the end of the 101st Watertown men’s City Golf championship, but it also marked the final day for the man who ran the Thompson Park Golf course for the past 2 and a half years.
Sunday was a bittersweet day for Thompson Park Golf Course general manager Jordan Northrop.
It was the culmination of the 101st City championship and his final day running operations at the course.
Northrop will be moving on as his wife has accepted a job out of state, leaving the place he has called home for the majority of his life.
“Yeah, it is. You know I don’t want to get emotional, but I grew up playing here, got into the business because of Stu Jamieson. Bittersweet, happy with what I’ve done here, but a little sad to move on. Excited for my family, really proud of my wife. What she’s accomplished. Looking forward to the next chapter,” said Jordan Northrop.
Northrop was instrumental in holding a number of clinics at the golf course and implemented a number of positive changes.
One of those changes was to the City Golf tournament, where he changed a format that needed a facelift and a change to the qualifying and match play concept.
“Well, when I got the job here, Bobby and John Bufalini got a hold of me and said, hey, our city championship is really kind of losing its luster. So they really wanted me to focus on that, and I did. I think 3 years ago, I left it in the same format, and had some challenges with that, with the lower flights not getting as competitive, not getting players to show up. Last year, we celebrated 100 years. I changed the format, went to one bracket of 64. We had 91 qualify, and then this year I kept it the same way, and we had 96 sign up this year. I was able to really grow the tournament and hopefully next year it keeps building on it and keeps getting bigger and bigger,” said Northrop.
One of the highlights of his tenure as general manager was helping celebrate the 100th anniversary of the tournament.
“It was awesome. I didn’t know that coming in. I was just looking at the trophy one day, and I was like, oh, we’re coming up on 100 years. It was awesome. My first year here, John Bufalini won it, my best friend Woody won it last year, and then Bobby, who I’ve looked up to forever, won this year. Just 3 great guys to win it in my time here, so it’s been really special,” said Northrop.
Jordan Northrop, leaving his mark on the Thompson Park Golf course and the Watertown Men’s City Golf championship.
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