text: GOLF NOTES: New book details rise of PGA Tour under commissioner Deane Beman
  July 2, 2011 Updated: July 28, 2017 2:04 a.m.
  There was a time in golf before Tiger Woods, before Tim Finchem was the PGA Tour commissioner and before tour players earned $1 million-plus for winning an event.
  That was when Deane Beman was the commissioner. His innovative thinking has helped shape what the PGA Tour has become.
  Freelance journalist Adam Schupak was promoting his new book, "Deane Beman, Golf's Driving Force: The Inside Story of the Man Who Transformed Professional Golf Into a Billion-Dollar Business" at the Travelers Championship last week. It came out in late April.
  The book details the 20 years Beman served as PGA Tour commissioner (1974-94), how he helped the PGA Tour break away from the PGA of America to become its own entity; the advancement of corporate title sponsorships; and how he placed an emphasis on charitable giving.
  Another Beman idea that was a huge hit was the idea of stadium golf, giving spectators a better opportunity to watch tournaments in person. The tour's first event was at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in 1982.
  Two years later, the current Travelers Championship, then known as the Greater Hartford Open, moved from Wethersfield Country Club to the Tournament Players Club in Cromwell. It has since been redesigned and renamed TPC River Highlands.
  "The whole idea of stadium golf is something Deane had in the mid-60s," said Schupak, a former senior writer at Golfweek, now a freelancer. "He bought that land of 415 acres for $1."
  Schupak, who is a 1992 graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, said the idea of stadium golf began to catch on when tournament directors saw the success of what became known as The Players Championship.
  "Other tournament directors came (to Sawgrass) for an outing," Schupak said. "After that, a whole bunch of them saw the potential for such larger galleries to attend tournaments."
  Schupak said he and Beman "spent 300 hours together easily" in two years. One day was spent in the locker room at TPC River Highlands.
  "For me, it is not really an autobiography," Schupak said. "Everyone knows the tour is a big success. This book will tell you the story when he transformed it into a billion-dollar business. Golf used to get lower (TV) ratings than bowling."
  The second annual RE/MAX Long Drive Contest is scheduled for July 16 at Fairways Driving Range in Branford.
  The contest runs from 7:30 a.m. to noon. The entry fee is $40 for six balls. Half the fee goes to the Veteran's Housing Assistance Fund in New Haven.
  The day will also include a $1 million hole-in-one contest, two $1,000 putting contests, food, raffles, clinics and club fitting services.
  For more information, email drivingrange@comcast.net or call 203-481-0400.
  ALLING MEMORIAL WINS NEPGA SENIORS
  Len Cagggiano's round of 1-over-par 73 helped Alling Memorial GC win the New England Public Links Championship held this past week at Alling Memorial GC.