During the presentation lunch at the IWS Grange Foundation Day last Friday, a tribute was made to the late Tony Mazzone by Club Pro Warren Mercer. We thought many members would love to read it and wanted to take the opportunity to share it and remember a much loved member and great supporter of junior golf at The Grange.
Tony Mazzone joined The Grange Golf Club in July 1980 and was one of the club’s most influential and very popular members.
Tony was well known throughout golf circles in Australia and a highly respected member at The Grange. A past Club Champion and a member of the winning 1991 Simpson Cup team, Tony gave an enormous amount of time and energy to The Grange Golf Club.
My first encounter with Tony was whilst working in the Pro Shop at the Riverside Golf Club. I was 17 and I didn’t know too much about Tony back then. I knew that he was a very good golfer and he was always playing golf. Who would have thought that some 20 years later we would meet again and start our journey together at Grange? Tony was a great mentor to me, I do miss our conversations at Pennant practice, during the week in passing, or if I needed some advice on how to take care of someone – oops sorry something.
Tony assisted some SA greats. Shane Robinson the 1994 New Zealand Open winner, Nick Cullen the 2014 Australian Masters Champion, Professional golfer Stephanie Na and the most prestigious of all the 1995 Grange Open winner, me.
Tony was instrumental in setting up the inaugural Grange Classic now known as the IWS Grange Junior Foundation Day, which raises $40,000 a year for golf development. Tony was Pennant Manager for in excess of 10 years delivering many Pennant flags. He was a member of Junior Development and High-performance Sub Committee. Tony was the founder and sponsor of The Grange Senior Open which brought the best senior golfers from around Australia to Adelaide and The Grange. He assisted the Club with many construction and maintenance projects and was such a generous sponsor and financial supporter of numerous Club activities.
Tony was a passionate, hardworking man that loved his family very much. It is these qualities that I have very fond memories of and I was extremely proud to have called Tony a friend and mentor.
Tony passed away on Wednesday 5th February 2014 at age 70. He was a very kind-hearted and highly valued member of The Grange Golf Club for 33 years.
To honour Tony’s contribution to Junior Golf at The Grange, the Tony Mazzone Trophy was created in 2018 and is awarded to the best and fairest junior member who has excelled in their performance on and off the golf course over the past 12 months.
Warren Mercer