Mercy College Athletics Remembers: Anthony Macellaro, Men’s Golf Coach

November 13, 2009

Mercy College Athletics Remembers:
Anthony Macellaro, Men’s Golf Coach

Macellaro’s teams won six NYCAC men’s golf championships.

• Photo Gallery

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y.  – Anthony Macellaro was a staple at the Ardsley Country Club. He was also the face of the Mercy College men’s golf program from the early 1980’s until his retirement in 2004. A friend and colleague of former Mercy College Athletic Director and Inaugural Hall of Famer, Neil Judge, Macellaro, along with long-time assistant coach, Carol Strobel, led the Mercy College Flyers through a terrific run in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC).

“He was just an absolutely terrific guy,” reflected Judge.

Born Jan. 3, 1918, Macellaro was a long time resident of Westchester County. Born in Yonkers, N.Y., he resided in North White Plains, N.Y., until Nov. 9, 2009, when he passed away at the age of 91.

Macellaro left behind a legacy of men’s golf success at Mercy College. With their home course the scenic Ardsley Country Club, Macellaro was the third-ever coach of the Mercy College golf program. Under his tutelage, the Flyers won six NYCAC golf conference championships, including four-straight from 1991-95, and two more in 1998-99 and 1999-00. He also had individuals qualify and succeed in the Metropolitan Golf Association Tournaments (MGA) and the NCAA Championships at that time.

“He had a steady approach to teaching the game of golf,” reminisced Dr. Darryl Bullock, Assistant Athletic Director for Business Affairs for Mercy College, and former cross country and track & field coach, who was also one of Macellaro’s colleagues. “He could show a young man that a powerful first shot off the tee wouldn’t position the ball in the best place for a second shot.”

In 2000, one of his final season’s with Mercy College, the golf team went 9-0 in match play and took home the first place trophy in their first ever appearance at the Manhattanville Invitational. They won their sixth conference title, even after it was moved from their home course of Ardsley Country Club to the home course of Philadelphia University. At the Championship, the team combined for a 325 to edge Philadelphia by four strokes and third place Dowling by just nine. Mercy College’s Bryan Lanza won the individual title with a low medalist score of 77, even with a sore wrist.

As a golfer, Macellaro has won the New York State Amateur Championship and won the C.H. Smith senior Trophy in 1976, out of Atlantic City Country Club to name a few of his achievements.

Macellaro was the son of the late Angelo and Rose (nee Vino) Macellaro of Yonkers. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII. He worked for the New York City Water Department in Valhalla, N.Y. as a water treatment operator, while also a proud member of the North White Plains Fire Department, attaining the rank of Assistant Chief. The husband of Camella Maratto Macellaro, he had two children, Ronald Macellaro and Rosemarie Iannibelli. Macellaro also had five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.