Published: 8/6/2020 2:33:34 PM
GREENFIELD — Todd Cromack decided to take a swing at operating a second small business and opened the Franklin County Golf Center for the season in May.
Cromack owns the Liberty Tax location on Federal Street and on Sept. 15, 2019, he started leasing 8 acres of Samuel Kaeppel’s land at 1245 Bernardston Road, previously Sammy K’s driving range. He opened to the public that day to test the waters and closed for the season Oct. 31.
Cromack opened back up for the state’s second phase of economic reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic and he said golfers have been appreciative.
“Business has been very good,” he said this week. “Customers are very grateful that there’s a driving range here in Franklin County.”
The range has seven artificial mat tees and eight grass tees. It can accommodate drives up to 300 yards. He chose to call the business a golf center because he also offers club repairs and regrips and area golf pros will hold lessons there. He also area high school golf teams have contacted him about using the range for practice if the season is held, though the pandemic has put that in question.
Cromack, 59, said his father got him interested in golf when he was 14. He played on the teams at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School and Bentley College. He said he enjoys the sport’s camaraderie and the scenery and challenges of every golf course.
“Short of owning a golf course … this was the next best thing,” he said.
He also said that unlike football or lacrosse, golf is a sport someone can play “for a lifetime.” He said he tries to instill that fact into the minds of young people.
Cromack, who lives in Hadley, said he plans to close for the season Oct. 31.
He also said Kaeppel has been instrumental since September, offering pointers and suggestions.
Kaeppel said he opened Sammy K’s in 1991 on what had previously been an open field on his property. He said it seemed like the perfect location for a driving range, which the area did not have. He said he still owns the driving range’s land and has lived in the house next to it for 48 years.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.