Bill Doyle
| Special to the Telegram & Gazette
Alliance Golf of Farmington, Conn., has purchased Shining Rock Golf Club in Northbridge, and the new owners plan to retain Shining Rock as the name of the club and to keep the course open to the public.
Alliance Golf founders and partners Joshua McKim, Bryan Barrington and Albert Tomasso purchased Shining Rock GC from Joe Pasquale and Dan McLaughlin. The sale was finalized on Monday. McKim said the purchase price was “undisclosed.”
“Shining Rock really fits our long-term strategic vision,” McKim, Alliance managing partner, told the T&G on Friday. “It’s a newer-build golf course from the turn of the century. It’s a new style. It’s inside of a very nice housing development. It’s a high-end public and we really enjoy the public side of the business because we get to be a lot more flexible with internal events and programming and that’s what our on-site staff are really passionate about, creating amazing events and championing a modern golf lifestyle.”
McKim said Alliance plans to learn as much as it can about Shining Rock over the next six to 12 months to determine how finances should be invested into the club.
“We want to develop a working relationship with the on-site managers,” he said, “to give them the tools to succeed in the short term while creating a long-term vision for the facility.”
Asked what he would like to say to Shining Rock’s members, McKim replied, “We can’t wait to welcome them back for the start of 2026.”
Alliance also owns Red Tail GC in Devens, The Golf Club at Oxford Greens in Oxford, Conn., and Silo Point CC in Southbury, Conn. Alliance manages Tunxis CC in Farmington, which is the largest golf facility in New England with 45 holes and two driving ranges. The Tomasso family owns Tunxis CC. Alliance recently sold Blackhawk CC in Stratford, Conn.
Barrington serves as vice president of agronomy of all Alliance courses. Barrington was superintendent at Red Tail, a Brian Silva design, from 2001-2003 and at Shining Rock in 2003. Since 2004, he’s been the superintendent at Oxford Greens in Oxford, Conn., which was designed by WPI graduate Mark Mungeam of Douglas.
Silva and Mungeam worked for noted golf course architect Geoffrey Cornish before opening their own design firms. Barrington said he’s stayed in touch with Mungeam and worked on some recent projects at Oxford Greens with him.
“He’s always a great asset,” Barrington said. “He thinks about playability in golf and affordability in his work. So he’s great to work with. Him and Brian Silva are great to work with in their own ways because they’re so different in their thoughts and designs.”
As superintendent at Red Tail, Barrington oversaw the original growth of the fairways, rough and greens.
“That was pretty special,” Barrington said. “My first superintendent job happened to be a grow-in. To work with Brian Silva on that piece of property and then going back 20 years later and seeing it again, that was pretty special.”
Barrington was superintendent at Shining Rock during the early stages of the construction before the grass was planted. He likes how Shining Rock has matured.
“I think it came out very well done,” he said. “The natural outcroppings of rock and ledge are a good characteristic for that property. I think it came out great.”
From 1998-2001, Barrington was assistant superintendent at Worcester Country Club. One of his most vivid memories was getting the chance to see the Ryder Cup that was brought to Worcester CC from The Country Club in Brookline, which hosted the 1999 Ryder Cup. Worcester CC hosted the first Ryder Cup in 1927. Another memory was Worcester CC celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2000.
“It was a great place to be at, for sure,” he said.
Pasquale and McLaughlin purchased Shining Rock from Norwood Bank late in 2009 and the course opened the following year. Howard Maurer, who has designed several golf courses with housing communities, designed Shining Rock, but when the housing market crashed in 2007 and 2008, the project went bankrupt and he left. Patrick Sullivan was hired to be Shining Rock’s superintendent and he completed the design.
“Dan McLaughlin and Joe Pasquale have done an extraordinary job building not only a course but a community,” McKim said. “We’re excited to build on their legacy, enhance the guest experience, and invest in the long-term success of this property.”
Vince Forte, who became head pro at Shining Rock last March, has been promoted to director of golf and operations lead for the 2026 season.
“These guys are very successful at what they do,” Forte said of Alliance. “That’s the goal of everybody – to be successful. I love it. I’m very excited about the transition and what’s to come with Shining Rock.”
McKim said Patrick Gleason, who joined Shining Rock in the fall of 2023, will remain as superintendent.
Lou Pappadellis retired on Tuesday after serving as general manager since Shining Rock opened in 2010.
“The sale had nothing to do with why I’m retiring,” said the 65-year-old Pappadellis. “My plan was to retire at the end of this year.”
Under Pappadellis’s leadership, Shining Rock opened as an 18-hole public course in 2010, the clubhouse opened in 2012 and a new driving range and nine-hole par-3 course opened last year.
“For me, it was a fantastic job,” he said. “You meet so many great people and the membership we had here was phenomenal. They were a great group of people and they were very good to the club.”
Pappadellis said he hopes to find a part-time job at another golf course or in some position outside of golf to keep somewhat busy.
Prior to working at Shining Rock, Pappadellis owned and operated a retail golf shop called, “Golf Unlimited,” in Ashland for 20 years.
For more information about Alliance Golf or Shining Rock Golf Club please visit www.alliance.golf.
–Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net.
