By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
This fall, Joanne Gagnon stepped into a new leadership role within Mass Golf. Nominated and selected as the next president during the Annual Meeting on October 16, she succeeds Megan Bearce, the organization’s first female president, and brings years of institutional experience that includes multiple terms on the Board of Directors, service as vice president, and leadership as chair of both the Championships and Finance committees.
A longtime member of Renaissance in Haverhill, Gagnon’s commitment to the game extends well beyond governance. She’s become a friendly and familiar face as a Rules Official at Mass Golf, NCAA, and USGA Championships, and remains deeply engaged with programs that nurture young players and broaden access to the game. That includes completing the 100 Hole Hike three times to raise money for Youth on Course, a unique membership that gives youth golfers ages 6-18 access to play at any participating course throughout the Bay State and across the country for only $5 per round.
“I just want to be a part of driving success for the organization, reaching more kids, more people,” Gagnon said. “More than anything, I’m excited that I’m in retirement and that I have something that I’m passionate about and that’s keeping me engaged. What more could I ask for?”
The source of that passion to give back stretches back to her childhood. Growing up in the area around Danbury, Connecticut, Gagnon navigated a home life that made stability hard to come by. A charitable trust stepped in at a critical moment, sending her to Milton Hershey School, a boarding school for underprivileged youth and eventually helping her attend Cornell University. It was there that she discovered golf, through a boyfriend on the men’s hockey team and his best friend headed straight for the course as soon as their season ended.
“I was one of those kids,” she said. “I was an at-risk kid from a really dysfunctional, broken home. Kids can’t help what they were born into, and so it’s about giving them an opportunity to separate themselves from that situation.”
That early lifeline shaped everything that followed. It powered a successful career in financial management and services, inspired her to become involved with the Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts as a Rules Official, and now motivates her as she tutors underserved children at the Edna Runner Tutorial Center in Florida.
She also has a competitive running background. In 1999, still living in Connecticut, she was the second-fastest woman in the state (44th overall) to finish the Boston Marathon (3:01:29) and later that year finished the Chicago Marathon under 3 hours (2:59:25). Around that time, she began taking lessons and later competing as her husband John was and still is an avid golfer.
“Joanne brings an energy that lifts people,” said Jesse Menachem, Mass Golf Executive Director/CEO. “She’s thoughtful, she’s driven, and she has this way of turning ideas into action. That combination of passion and urgency is exactly what will help us grow the game in meaningful ways.”
Gagnon’s vision for Mass Golf is built on creating those same opportunities for others. She believes strongly in strengthening junior pathways, ensuring programs like First Tee – Massachusetts and Youth on Course work in tandem, so those lessons learned at First Tee, for example, can be taken onto the golf course in more places for an affordable rate. She also wants to ensure sustainable depth can be built through junior events that can potentially feed into the United States Development Program through Team Massachusetts.
“It all begins at the junior level,” she said. “I’m seeing what else is happening out there with other associations, and I realize that we’re much more impactful than you would think based on our size, but that there’s still plenty of room for growth.”
Her officiating journey also reflects her belief in fairness and access. After receiving incorrect rulings in several tournaments early on, she dove into the Rules, studied them, and found herself captivated by what they reveal about strategy, pressure, and respect between competitors.
She has also become a vocal advocate for protecting public golf, playing Richter Park in Danbury, Connecticut, before moving to Massachusetts. She played at Red Tail Golf Club, George Wright Golf Course, and the old Colonial Country Club in Lynnfield) (near the current King Rail Reserve Golf Course.Growing participation, she says, should be met with equally strong protections for municipal courses, “so that they’re never tempted to give up the green space,” Gagnon said.
Gagnon is also encouraged by clubs like GreatHorse that have shown great interest in foresight into hosting Mass Golf championships far into the future. George Wright & Franklin Park, Country Club of Pittsfield, Walpole Country Club, Franklin Country Club, Thorny Lea Golf Club, and Cape Cod National are among several clubs that have agreed to serve as future sites for multiple championships.
And, looking regionally, she is hoping New England can match the USGA’s leadership on inclusion by organizing its own adaptive open.
Overall, the work ahead feels personal, and Gagnon steps into the presidency determined to help Mass Golf create more of those life-changing moments in any form they come.
Mass Golf is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing golf in Massachusetts by building an engaged and inclusive community.
With a community made up of over 145,000 golf enthusiasts and over 360 member clubs, Mass Golf is one of the largest state golf associations in the country. Members enjoy the benefits of handicapping, engaging golf content, course rating and scoring services along with the opportunity to compete in an array of events for golfers of all ages and abilities.
At the forefront of junior development, Mass Golf is proud to offer programming to youth in the state through First Tee Massachusetts and subsidized rounds of golf by way of Youth on Course.
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