By Greg Ellison

(Sept. 10, 2020) Ocean Pines President Larry Perrone questioned the perspective of former OPA Golf Committee Chairman Larry Davies, who recently resigned his post, along with fellow member Olga Novy, over what they said were frustrations with substandard course conditions.

Perrone said despite persistent challenges, immense progress has been made in the past year to improve playing conditions.

“The general manager [John Viola] and the golf maintenance group have been working extremely hard since last year to improve several things at the course,” he said.

During this past offseason, the focus was on improving greens and reducing water retention.

“A lot of work was done over the winter and drainage was improved in several places,” he said.

Perrone said in addition to erecting the new golf clubhouse over the past year, numerous rough patches along the cart path were repaired.

Other changes were enacted to improve airflow and reduce often soggy course conditions.

“We removed a lot of trees throughout the course also,” he said.

Perrone said from his viewpoint, the Ocean Pines Golf Course is greatly improved.

“From my own personal experience, the course has not been in as good a shape as I have seen in at least the last 10 years,” he said. “The fairways are much improved and the greens were excellent until just recently.”

Speaking on Monday, Perrone said during a weekly meeting with General Manager of Golf Operations John Malinowski that morning, which included Viola and OPA Vice President Colette Horn, updates were provided on current efforts to address subpar conditions on four green sections.

Perrone said the concerns expressed by Davies have been brought forward for several years.

“I wholeheartedly disagree with his opinion,” he said. “There’s been tremendous progress on the course.”