Rackley racks up the title at Met Golf Open

Posted

Entering the final day of the Metropolitan Golf Association Open at the Hollywood Golf Club in Ocean Township, N.J., golf professional Joshua Rackley felt confident about his chances of winning. After scoring several birdies down the stretch, Rackley finished with a narrow two-shot lead to secure the title on Aug. 24.

“I felt like I was playing great golf throughout the Met Open so it was a dream come true to have my name on the trophy with guys like Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, and Tommy Armour,” Rackley said, who is the teaching PGA of America club professional at the Tam O’Shanter Golf Club in Glen Head.

Rackley, 27, said that although he bogeyed holes one and three, he still felt relaxed and poised.

“I didn’t scoreboard watch so I didn’t know where I was,” Rackley said. “I knew I had to be up there once I made birdies on holes 4, 7, 8, and 9.”

Rackley added that since his club’s head professional Mark Brown had won the Met Open last year, he thought it was a cool moment to know that he defended its title. However, he explained that getting to this point was not an easy task.

“It was very frustrating at times because some days my game was great, and other days it wasn’t, especially during multi-day tournaments,” Rackley said. “In the end, it was very rewarding when everything clicked because it showed that I was working on the right stuff.”

Tam O’Shanter’s PGA director of instruction Anthony Cancro had worked with Rackley for over a year, making several adjustments to his swing. Rackley explained that things started to click for him in March.

“Because of him, I’ve become a better player than I was when I won Player of the Year in the Philly section so I think that says a lot in itself,” Rackley said.

Working at the Tam O’ Shanter club for over a year, he explained that the membership also expects a lot out of the professionals.

“We play a lot of golf with our members, which is something that Mark encourages,” Rackley said. “They want us to come play because they know that we’re pretty good and they love to be with good players.”

Prior to becoming a golf professional, Rackley grew up playing baseball and soccer in his hometown, Wilmington, N.C. He started playing golf with his father when he was 15, playing 36 holes in total on Saturdays and Sundays. Although he never played on a golf team in high school, he did study professional golf management at North Carolina State University. And even though he didn’t play there either, he continued practice and play by himself, which eventually earned him a job as a golf professional in Philadelphia, P.A., working there for three seasons.

Now that Rackley has established himself at Tam O’ Shanter with a title of his own, he wants to rack up more championships, following in the footsteps of local golf professionals in New York such as Matt Dobyns, Brian Gaffney, and Brown as well.