David C. Catalano (2011)

Longtime Director at Bethpage State Park, David C. Catalano received the 2011 Distinguished Service Award for more than 40 years of service to the game’s public sector and for helping to bring the benefits of public golf to a worldwide audience through his administration of two U.S. Opens at the Black Course.

David Catalano started working at Bethpage State Park in the summer of 1967, picking up litter and cleaning bathrooms, but by 2002, he had helped orchestrate one of the most successful U.S. Opens in history at the park’s Black Course. In 1976, Catalano was named superintendent of the Green Course where he served for 2 years. He then stepped away to work in the greater Long Island area, and returned to Bethpage in 1995, just before the USGA announced Bethpage would host the 2002 U.S. Open.

Hiring Craig Currier as Bethpage’s header superintendent in 1997, the two worked together preparing for 2002. Catalano focused on the countless logistics and business affairs, while Currier handled on course operations. The two exceeded expectations and facilitated one of the most successful U.S. Opens.

Catalano’s devotion to public golf extends to the local level. The MGA, Met PGA and LIGA have held many championships at the facility, and he takes pride in sharing the story of Bethpage to a new generation. He enthusiastically serves as a speaker at junior events and clinics and talks to young people about Bethpage’s history as a Works Progress Administration project and its continued recreational importance.

In an age when golf is working hard to become a more accessible game, Dave Catalano has done more to elevate the image of public golf than any other individual.