MARBLEHEAD — Jake Leech wasn’t quite born yet when Bob Green was named the head golf professional at Tedesco Country Club in 1978. Now, 41 years later, Leech is preparing to take over as Tedesco’s newest pro as Green approaches retirement.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity,” said Leech, 40. “It really is a dream job, and to be able to take over such a great club from a great professional like Bob is almost surreal. This is the place I’ve wanted to be for a long time.”
The opportunity to become the head professional at Tedesco is the reason why Leech left his post as first assistant at Charles River Country Club in Newton to take the same position at Tedesco a little over two years ago.
“I actually started speaking with Bob about it in the fall of 2017 about possibly coming to work under him,” said Leech. “Getting the opportunity to learn under Bob for the past two years has been invaluable.”
Leech — a native of Grand Rapids, Mich. — has served as an assistant pro at a number of clubs since 2003, starting with Evanston Golf Club outside of Chicago from 2003 to 2005. He then moved to New England and worked at Dedham Country and Polo Club (2006-2008) before moving on to Charles River (2009-2017). For Leech, getting the head job at Tedesco is the perfect situation.
“I love everything about this place,” said Leech. “I love Marblehead, I love that the club is just golf and nothing else and I love the membership. Everyone has been so welcoming to me over the past couple years and it really feels like home when I’m here. Once I got here, I knew I didn’t ever want to leave.”
After serving as an assistant pro under Green for the past two years, Leech will officially take over as head professional on January 1. With mentors like Green — who was named the New England PGA Golf Professional of the Year for 2019 — as well as Jim O’Mara (Charles River) and Jim Norris (Dedham), Leech feels he’s armed with the knowledge to make it an easy, successful transition.
“I’ve had so many great mentors over the years, and they’ve all helped me in so many ways,” said Leech. “Spending these last two years under Bob has been great, and I’m excited to get to work on the transition phase of it all.”
Leech plans to keep up with the tradition of the golf experience at Tedesco, which isn’t surprising for a course with such history.
“We are obviously going to keep up with tradition, the club was founded in 1903 and it has so much history,” said Leech. “The golf shop will remain open through the holidays and we’ll run sales on all of the inventory, and then I’ll get to work ordering the new gear for 2020. But first and foremost, my goal is to provide a great experience for our members and their guests. That’s what’s most important.”