Jason Ruschioni won plenty of golf tournaments with his father, Jim, one of the most successful amateur golfers in Massachusetts for the last several decades. 

They finished first in the Mass. Four-Ball, the Mass. Father-Son and the Wachusett Four-Ball twice each. They won the Pleasant Valley Labor Day Four-Ball, the Crumpin-Fox Father’s Day Two-Ball and the Eastern States Four-Ball at Oak Ridge CC four times in a row. They prevailed in the Father-Son at Oak Hill CC in Fitchburg about 15 times.

“I never had that competitive edge or that spirit that he had,” Jason said, “but I used to play in those tournaments just because I got the opportunity to play with him.”

Winning the Wachusett Four-Ball for the first time in 1994 in a playoff stands out.

“That was the first time I had really seen a lot of emotion out of him,” Jason said. “That was probably the most special moment we shared together, not knowing that there were going to be several other victories after that.”

Jim was diagnosed last August with pancreatic and liver cancer and started chemotherapy shortly afterward. Tuesday night, he died at age 76 in the Leominster home where he had lived with his wife, Lynne, since 1974.

Jason played his final round with his father on Aug. 14 at Wachusett’s sister course, Kettle Brook GC in Paxton. Jason’s son, Colin, joined them just before he headed off to his freshman year at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina. Colin shot 71, Jason shot 74, and Jim shot 76. It was the first time Colin had beaten his father and grandfather. Jim’s good friend, Jon Fasick, completed the foursome.

“I had a feeling deep down that that was probably going to be the last time that I played with him, and it was,” Jason said.

Jim’s list of achievements would be the envy of most golfers. Playing with Paul Nunez, he earned his 14th and final Mass. Golf tournament victory in 2021 in the Mass. Senior Four-Ball Super Senior Division for golfers ages 65 and older. He also won the New England Amateur in 1987 at Oak Hill and was twice a finalist in the Mass. Amateur.

He won the Wachusett Four-Ball seven times in all, and he captured three Worcester County Amateurs at Wachusett CC. He also won the Hornblower and the Cape Cod Senior Open. He shot his age more than 100 times.

Add to that the 18 club championships he earned at Oak Hill, the most by any man, the two at Monoosnock CC in Leominster and the three at Wachusett CC, becoming the club’s oldest club champion at 69 in 2019, 71 in 2017 and 73 in 2021.

No wonder he was known as “Mr. Oak Hill” at Oak Hill and as “The Legend” at Wachusett. The flags at both clubs were lowered to half-staff on Wednesday.

“He’s a legend in my opinion, not just for Massachusetts golf, but for New England golf in general,” said Nick Marrone, who owns Wachusett and Kettle Brook with his siblings and serves as director of golf at both. “Growing up, I looked at him like kids look at Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler. That’s how I looked at Jim Ruschioni when I was watching him play the four-balls.”

Jim O’Leary served as head pro at Oak Hill from 1964-2014 and still helps out at the club. He ranks Jim Ruschioni as the club’s greatest golfer.

“He was Mr. Oak Hill,” O’Leary said. “He was our club and he made our club better. He made every place better wherever he was. He made Wachusett a better place. He was a pied piper.”

Each year, the Marrone family awards a free membership to someone who represents the club well. It’s called the Don Marrone Quiet Man Award, named after the Marrones’ late father and one of his favorite John Wayne movies about his beloved Ireland. Last January, the Marrones emailed Jim to inform him they planned to give him the award in 2024.

In his email reply, Jim wrote in part, “I have always tried to treat people and the game of golf with the utmost respect on and off the course. I have had some of the best accomplishments and highlights of my career at Wachusett CC and I will never forget those times.”

Jason said his father had the proper attitude to be a great golfer.

“Just his temperament, the way he carried himself on the golf course,” Jason said. “His ability to not let bad shots bother him. He loved to compete. He had that edge to him. Everybody that he competed against hit it farther than him, but that didn’t bother him. If the weather was tough, he had that drive in him to compete, never give up and to take it one shot at a time.”

Jason admired his father even more off the course.

“He was great,” Jason said. “He was just the ultimate role model.”

Jim learned to play golf at Winchendon Golf Club where his father, Dino, was the superintendent. The family lived across the street from the 17th hole.

Jason has many great memories playing golf with his father. One of them that stands out is how he aimed almost backward to roll a 90-degree angle birdie putt up a hill on 17 at Wachusett and then he birdied 18 to win the Wachusett Four-Ball in 1995.

“His desire and his refusal to lose and refusal to quit,” Jason said, “that was one of my favorite golf moments playing with him.”

Jim also refused to quit after he was diagnosed with cancer.

“He battled for seven months of treatment,” Jason said. “The chemo really just took its toll on him. He was optimistic in March, and basically his wish was to get out there with Colin and I and play some golf whether it was nine holes or what.”

Unfortunately, he was informed later in March that his treatments weren’t working, and he entered managed care.

“He remained optimistic,” Jason said. “He wasn’t defeated. He has never been defeated in his entire life and just tried his best to get some kind of quality of life despite the fact that he had this cancer.”

Jason said the family received hundreds of text messages and emails of condolences the day after his father died, starting at 6 a.m.

Wachusett CC golf shop manager Don DiCarlo played a lot with Jim.

“Ridiculously consistent, probably one of the best putters I’ve ever seen,” DiCarlo said. “Definitely a great short game. Hit it consistently dead down the middle.”

Even when Jim didn’t play, he sometimes went to Wachusett to talk to his friends at the end of their rounds or walk a hole with them. He brought the pro shop staff doughnuts and muffins several times. 

Paul Spongberg also played often with Jim at Wachusett.

“He just made it comfortable to play with him,” Spongberg said. “He was just an ambassador of the game, but he was very relaxed, made you relaxed. As long as you respected the game as much as he did, you’d have a great time.”

Spongberg said higher handicappers played better when playing with him, and he enjoyed offering tips to them. 

Ruschioni worked for 31 years for General Electric in Fitchburg before retiring as a purchasing manager at age 51.

In addition to Jason, 50, of Princeton, the Ruschionis have another son, Michael, 46, who lives in Franklin. Jim is survived by five grandchildren.

“They said he dominated golf, but he dominated life as a father and a husband,” Marrone said.

Jesse Menachem, Mass Golf executive director and CEO, agreed that Jim was a legend.

“He’s a legend in the state, a gentleman, a friend,” Menachem said. “Partnering with his son, with his fellow club mates, and just always a consistent name and personality that people really enjoyed being around, being associated with.”

The Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame is an exclusive club with only 22 members, but Jim can’t be ruled out as a future inductee.

“I think he is absolutely part of that conversation,” Menachem said.

It was sad, but fitting that he died on the night of the final day of the Mass. Senior Four-Ball. His good friends, Jon Fasick of New England CC and his twin brother Carter Fasick of Westborough CC, won the Super Senior Division for golfers ages 65 and older. 

“I know it was quite emotional for them and also quite fitting,” Menachem said. “That’s a really incredible, ironic feat.”

Mike Kean played weekends with Jim at Wachusett for more than a decade. Kean said when he played in the Senior Four-Ball on Monday and Tuesday, about 50 golfers asked him how Jim was doing, and they all told stories about how gracious he had been to them.  

“He’s a legend,” Kean said. “The nicest guy in the world. Competitive. He wanted to win, but always the classiest guy you’d ever meet. Obviously, he won a lot, but he’d play with anyone.”

Kean said Jim set four rules when he played at Wachusett, called the four P’s, when they played for money. They were “play fast, putt out, post your score and pay up.”

O’Leary said whether your handicap was 1 or 31, it didn’t matter to Ruschioni. He wanted to get to know everyone’s name.

“He was a great golfer and a better person,” O’Leary said. “He was humble and kind.”

Ideas always welcome

You can suggest story ideas for this golf column by reaching me at the email listed below. Comments are also welcome.

—Contact Bill Doyle at bcdoyle15@charter.net. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @BillDoyle15.

Massachusetts is frequently listed as one of the top 10 states for tourism. Being a pivotal part of our nation’s founding and history, along with a rich cultural centers, this is not exactly news.

But destinations like Faneuil Hall, the Old State House, the New England Aquarium or Harvard Natural History Museum are on everyone’s list. These attractions will be on the front page of any tourist pamphlet or guidebook – and rightly so. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a wealth of other lesser known, unusual or weird things to check out in the Bay State that can be just as interesting.

Here’s a list of 11 things to see and do in Massachusetts that you may not have heard of, from passing curiosities to hidden daytrip destinations.

Places to spend an afternoon in Massachusetts

Places where you can go to spend an afternoon:

1. Dr. Suess Museum, Springfield – Theodor Geisel, or better known by his pen name, Dr. Suess, was born in Springfield in 1904. In the summer of 2017, the city of Springfield opened a museum dedicated to the famed children’s author and his quirky, colorful books. The museum discusses the writer’s connection to the city, especially during his childhood years along with of course, interactive exhibits for kids based around his various stories and characters. Nearby is the Dr. Suess sculpture garden, featuring his most famous characters and the author himself.
2. Hammond Castle Museum, Gloucester – A prolific inventor and personal friend of Thomas Edison, John Hayes Hammond Jr. was the quintessential wealthy eccentric. Some folks collect stamps, others collect…buildings? Hammond was known for picking any bits of buildings he liked while on his travels, which he would then put on display in his courtyard. The collection includes an ancient church archway of carved lava from Mt. Vesusvius. Oh, and someone’s house. With his love all things medieval, he built himself a literal castle in Gloucester – complete with drawbridge and secret passageways. Now a museum, visitors can explore his home, and the antiques and architecture he gathered from around the world.
3. Whydah Pirate Museum, West Yarmouth – Named for the pirate ship of Captain Samuel Bellamy, this Cape Cod museum is home to the only authenticated pirate treasure on exhibit in the world. The loot, as well as about 200 other pirate artifacts, were collected in 1984 from the sunken wreck of the Whydah off the coast of Wellfleet, having been capsized in 1717 by one of Cape Cod’s famous nor’easters. This is currently the largest collection of pirate-related artifacts ever found on a single shipwreck.

Where you can go in MA for hidden history

For a state so steeped in history, it’s not surprising some things fell through the cracks. Here are few spots to stop by dedicated to historical factoids for the history buff and trivia lover in your traveling group.

4. Dinosaur footprints of Holyoke, Holyoke – This spot takes historic landmarks one step further into the realm of the prehistoric, dating back to the early Mesozoic era. Back then, the climate of this area was hot and semi-arid (think Arizona) rather than temperate like it is today. The valley here offered an important source of water to the animals, as well as ideal conditions to leave behind fossilized footprints. Now, it’s a seasonally open space, from April 1 to Nov. 30, free to the public, where you can literally follow in the footsteps of dinosaurs.

5. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord – Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is the resting place of a number of Massachusetts’ most famous residents, such as Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathanial Hawthorne, many of whom can be found in the section of the cemetery known as Author’s Ridge. But there are more recent historical figures entombed here who often get overlooked – Anne Rainsford French, the first woman ever to get a driver’s license in the United States. French received a license to operate four wheeled gas or steam powered vehicles when she was 21 years old on March 22, 1900. Anyone interested in the history of women’s rights or even automobiles should pay their respects. Her headstone is located near the intersection of Vesper Circle and Division Avenue, next to a small bush.

6. Telephone marker, Boston – A rather unassuming historical marker near the corner of Cambridge and Sudbury Street, on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Federal Building, honors an event that had massive ramifications not only for national history, but human history. Especially if you’re reading this story on your smart phone. On June 2, 1875, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson were managed to transmit sound over wires for the first time in history. This initial experiment in Boston set the stage for the modern telephone. And everything else it has become.

Slightly creepy spots to visit in MA

If you feel your sightseeing tour isn’t complete without a dash of the macabre, there’s more than Salem out there.

7. S.K. Pierce Mansion, Gardner – Built by a wealthy furniture factory owner, this Victorian mansion has seen more than its fair share of death and tragedy, which many think has seeped into the very foundations of the building, with various reports of ghostly voices and other paranormal activity. As recently as 2011, a couple fled the house, having moved in two years prior, reporting frightening paranormal experiences. As of 2015, it’s been restored to its original state and is open for guided tours. Visitors and guests (because yes, of course people will pay to spend the night in a haunted house) have reported voices, screams, moving furniture, slamming doors, foul odors, strange shadows, sudden temperature changes, and more. 

8. Dungeon Rock, Lynn – Hidden pirate treasure, ghosts, seances? Sounds like the trifecta of spookiness. Dungeon Rock itself is a rock formation in Lynn Woods reservation, where in 1852, a man excavated a cave looking for pirate treasure supposedly guided by the ghost of the treasure’s original owner. The area got its name from the story of pirate Thomas Veale, who hid in a cave with his loot, until he was killed in an earthquake that filled in the cave. Originally known as Pirate’s Dungeon, it was eventually shortened to Dungeon Rock. Enter Hiram Marble, who upon hearing the story, moved there and began searching for the treasure. He held seances to receive digging directions from the ghost of Veale himself. He never found any treasure, ghostly guidance or no, but it’s still worth checking out.

Odd spots in MA that you should visit

Random, strange things – good for an Instagram or Tik-Tok post – or postcard.

9. Webster Lake, Webster – A fairly unremarkable, if pretty, lake, Webster Lake’s official name is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. The lake has the honor of being the longest single-word place name in the country, and third in the world. Originally bearing the slightly shorter name of Chaubunagungamaugg, or “fishing place at the boundary” in the language of the indigenous people, it was a prime fishing spot. When settlers arrived, the name was expanded to its current version, which additionally described its status as a neutral fishing spot for both the settlers and the native people. If you’re wondering if anyone has tried to change the name in the intervening years – yes, in the 1950s. The town shut that down hard. Just about all standard lakeside recreation is available here, and if nothing else, you’ll make your conversation about the day at the lake slightly more interesting.

10. Museum of Bad Art, Boston – You’ve heard of New York’s MOMA, but what about Boston’s MOBA? The Museum of Bad Art is clearly predicated on the concept that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – even if said beholders are quite rare. The collection of, shall we say, unique paintings, began in 1994 when the founder took a painting out of a trash heap. Currently can be found at the Dorchester Brewing Company.

11. Head of the Egopantis, Shirley – Apparently, Massachusetts has – or had – its own cryptid. The egopantis was large creature that supposedly terrorized the settlers of the area, before being shot and killed by a local soldier. Now, its head is on display at the Bull Run Restaurant. Whether or not you believe you’re looking at the head of a mythical creature, the Bull Run is certainly worth a visit. The tavern was originally built in 1740 and allegedly got its name from an argument and brawl that broke out among the patrons shortly after hearing news about the First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia during the American Civil War.

Fatal opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts decreased by over 10% in 2023, marking the first annual decrease in four years, preliminary data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show. 

Overdose fatalities decreased from about 2,647 in 2022 to 2,373 reported between December 2022 and December 2023. Nationally, reported deaths decreased by 5.1%. 

Opioids like fentanyl and morphine remained the most deadly threat to residents of Massachusetts, but deaths involving opioids decreased significantly from December of 2022, according to the CDC. Deaths caused by cocaine and methadone increased slightly, data show.

The state’s Department of Public Health (DPH) said it continues to invest in harm reduction programs like expanding access to naloxone, fentanyl test trips, and sterile consumption supplies. Just in 2023, more than 262,100 naloxone doses were distributed through community-level naloxone distribution programs and more than 9,100 overdoses were reversed using the medication, DPH said. 

Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, binds to opioid receptors and rapidly reverses the effects of other opioids. In March 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Narcan nasal spray for over the counter use.

Communities of color facing outsized impact

Despite the overall decrease in deaths, DPH said that more needs to be done to protect communities of color, which suffer the brunt of fatal overdoses. 

In 2022, overdoses rose by about 2.5%, with Black, non-Hispanic people making up the largest increase, according to DHP data.

To combat inequity, the state plans to continue operating peer recovery support centers and funding Mobile Addiction Service programs in Brockton and Lowell, which provide medical care and harm reduction services to individuals at high risk of overdose.

In March, the Healey-Driscoll administration also launched a grant program for substance abuse prevention, targeting historically underserved communities.

2023 is the first time annual opioid deaths have decreased in the state since 2019. The latest figure is still an increase of about 7.9% when compared to 2019, according to CDC data. 

This is the eighth year the Commonwealth will surpass 2,000 opioid overdose deaths per year. It surpassed the figure for the first time in 2016. 

All New England states saw a drop in fatal overdoses in 2023. In Connecticut, deaths dropped by 10%; New Hampshire by 13%; Maine by 16%; Vermont by 8%;  and Rhode Island by 15%.