THE WESTCHESTER WAG: Tee Time: Hitting The Links At Home


What’s the new golfing hotspot for Westchester and Connecticut’s elite? Believe it or not, it’s right in their backyards. Thanks to Armonk resident Michael Lehrer’s Home Green Advantage, courses are coming home.
Just ask Greenwich resident Ahmad Rashad. “I love that I can go home, go outside, and practice my golf game,” says the former NFL All-Pro. “Any time I feel like it, I just go out there and putt,” he says of his four-year-old green. “Its large, private, and convenient,” stresses Rashad. “Plus, there’s no upkeep. I’ve improved my putting accuracy seventy to eighty percent.” Lehrer, who Rashad calls “a golf fanatic,” graduated from Scarsdale High School and lived in Larchmont before settling in Armonk. He began his career as a certified public accountant, at first working for a large accounting firm and ultimately starting a private practice. On the side, he was always an avid collector of sports mementos. “I’ve been collecting baseball cards, football memorabilia, anything sports-related, since high school. But its wasn’t until the early ‘90’s that I became a golf addict,” says Lehrer, who owns over 500 wooden shafted clubs. In 1995, Lehrer took his passion to the next level and started Fairway to Heaven, a golf apparel business, outfitting the Women’s Classic at Wykagl Country Club, the Buick Classic at the Westchester Country Club, and the PGA Championship at the Winged Foot Golf Club. Lehrer soon closed his Larchmont accounting practice and became a designer for the golf championships full-time. That same year, he also built a course in his own backyard. “Its dramatic,” says Lehrer of his 2,500 square foot natural green with three to four different tees and a rock-face ledge. And, before he knew it, his neighbor Steve Saccriponti wanted a green too. “I was his guinea pig,” says Saccriponti. “He’s very creative; he knew that he had a theory, so I let him try it out on my property.” As it turns out, the 20’x18’ freeform green, which Saccriponti calls “attractive and very low maintenance,” marked the birth of Home Green Advantage.
