John Baldwin (2004)

John Baldwin has had two golfing lives in the Met Area, both of them extraordinary. One has been as a player good enough to earn his PGA Tour card shortly after college and then to excel as an amateur when he decided that life on the professional circuit was not for him. The other has been as a volunteer, serving the MGA and golf world in a number of various positions, including serving as MGA President from 1993-1994.

Baldwin is one of few people whose name is seen both on lists of past tournament winners and on lists of MGA administrators. In his playing days, Baldwin captured two Met Amateurs (1967 and 1990), two consecutive MGA Player of the Year titles (1990 and 1991), The Ike, The Travis Memorial, The New York State Amateur, four Long Island Amateurs and a Richardson Memorial, among others.

In 1984, he joined the MGA as a member of the Junior Committee. He was elected Treasurer three years later and became president in 1993, serving two terms. Golf was evolving immensely at this time and it was up to Baldwin to help grow the future of the game. He became one of the key players in the formation of a new MGA Foundation that would set the state for many innovative programs like GOLFWORKS and First Tee.

Baldwin also set up one of the Foundation’s first Fundraising Campaigns. Using his financial background, congenial manner and passion for the game, he became one of the foundations most effective spokespersons.