Spencer Baum Son of a Legend, Making His Own Name
Mel Baum is a respected figure in the Central New York golf community, known for his contributions both as a player and as a PGA professional. He is the head professional at Wanoa Golf Club in East Syracuse. Mel’s ongoing involvement in the sport, both as a professional and as a mentor to his son Spencer, underscores his significant role in the Central NY golf scene. Which brings us to Spencer Baum.
Spencer graduated from Liverpool High School in 2020, where he was a standout athlete, earning All-Central New York First Team honors five consecutive years. He set the Liverpool HS record by averaging 35.3 for 9 holes. He was also a standout at LeMoyne College and earned selection to the Northeast-10 (NE10) All-Conference Team. Just last season he finished 5th in the AIM Championship by posting rounds of 72-72-75-72. Spencer also won his first 72-hole amateur event when he won the Penn Masters Golf Championship in Binghamton in May 2024. I had the privilege of sitting down with him recently at Hafner’s for a couple of drinks and conversation.
Don Brown: Take us through your childhood experience and the early stages of learning this fascinating game?
Spencer Baum: For the first eighteen years of my life I grew at the famed Liverpool Golf and Country Club. The first place to open and the last place to close in Central New York. Ron Ajemian, the old owner, used to say the grass wants to live more than we do. They’d have carts out in February, they didn’t care. My Dad, Mel Baum, was the pro there for a long time; he had the club in my hand for a long time, since I was 2 years old. There’s a couple of great pictures of us on the range. I’ve got this big, puffy beach blonde hair; we’re just swinging away at the range together. So that is where I grew up and had the liberty of grabbing a golf cart at any moment and going out and bombing it around. They had the ‘Tiger Links’ which a lot of people remember growing up playing and the driving range at my disposal. That was awesome to have as a kid.
DB: Let’s hear more about your high school and college years?
SB: I was a five year varsity player at Liverpool High School. I was First Team All-County my junior and senior year, and I hold the scoring records at Liverpool that if they ever do get broken, would be a feat that I’d like to see (chuckles). I averaged in the mid 30’s, which is pretty nice. I never did make the State team, but we made up for it my freshman year in college. We won the conference championship for LeMoyne at the NEC. That was the highlight of my college career, that was pretty awesome.
DB: You are the son of a legend, Mel Baum, tell us some more details of your relationship both on and off the course?
SB: We get along great. Sometimes on the golf course, we can butt heads but it’s all good stuff. He’s just trying to make me a better player and sometimes I don’t see it that way. When I get home at night after the round, I’ll look at it and you know he was right. I should have done this or should have done that a little differently. But he’s been a huge part of where I’m today in my golf career, and definitely I wouldn’t be here without him.
DB: Let’s re-visit 2024, a very special year for you. You’re going to be defending the Brownie Jug at the 2025 Penn Masters. Tell us about your first Penn Masters experience where you walked away with the hardware?
SB: I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I first got there. I knew a lot of the guys playing in the tournament and I was a little nervous of one guy in particular, 2-time defending champ, Alex Town, but I handled him okay. But the tournament was great, I had a great experience and honestly it was a great way to start the year. I had a great year the rest of the section for the tournaments and we won a Mitchell Cup as amateurs, which hasn’t been done in a while, which was awesome.
DB: When I arrived at the 18th tee box on the final round of the Penn Masters, there was a lot of adrenaline flowing through all you guys…take us through that final hole where you pulled out the victory?
SB: I think Alex was within one shot of me after I missed a short putt for par on 17. I was a little rattled and Alex hit a good one down the center of the fairway. I knew I had to follow him up and I hit a good one right down the middle too. Then both me and Alex kind of blundered our way to the green from there. I ended making a bogey and getting him by one and winning and hoisting my first Brownie Jug. It was awesome.
DB: You mentioned to me last year after you won the Brownie Jug, that it was the first 72 hole event in your career that you had won, which propelled you to a great run in the AIM championship. Take us through last year’s AIM Championship.
SB: The AIM was a good tournament for me; that was the next big tournament I played in after the Penn Masters. In years past I hadn’t been able to make the cut in that event which is strange for me, but this was my first year making the cut and I had a top five finish, which was really good. I think a lot of that had to do with having a good finish at the Penn Masters.
DB: Penn Masters Championship, top five in the AIM, Mitchell Cup Champs…any more highlights from 2024?
SB: The Gerry Ashe…we got cut short a round. I think if I got to play three rounds in that tournament, I might have been able to come out of there with a win. But another top five finish for me; it was a really good summer and I’m looking to use the Penn Masters again to propel myself to another great one in 2025.
DB: You mentioned 2025, golf season is coming quick. What are your goals for the 2025 season?
SB: For the last couple of years, the thought of potentially turning pro eventually and seeing if I could make some money playing in the game, has been in my foresight. I would like to win one of the major amateur tournaments in 2025 in the area before I make that leap. Considering the fact that my Dad has his name on a lot of those trophies, I would like to get my name on there as well.
DB: So Spencer, what are you, like a zero handicap? Give a guy like myself or many amateurs out there, one or two simple golf tips…give some wisdom to our readers here at Table Hopping?
SB: Right now I’m a +1.1 on the GHIN index. I think a common problem with most amateur golfers is they think they should be better than they are way too early in the stage of their game. With a lot of players just getting into golf, I think that taking it one day at a time, one practice session at a time is big. And also having fun with the game. If you’re not having fun doing it, you’ve got to find a way to make sure that you are having fun, otherwise, you’re not going to enjoy this at all.
DB: You’re a great player, you are really coming into your own, but tell us some of the things you struggle with out on the golf course?
SB: So when I’m not playing very well, it all stems from not hitting the ball in play. A big thing that my Dad and my coach at LeMoyne, Joe Tesori, have preached about is getting it in play off the tee. If you’re struggling with that, you’re going to have a lot harder time making a decent score. When I’m not doing that, that’s when golf is hard.
DB: So Spencer, we’ve talked a lot about golf. What are some of your interests and hobbies outside of golf?
SB: I’m a huge Yankees fan, I don’t know if you can tell (chuckles – as he’s all decked out in Yankees garb during our interview). I like to try and travel and watch them as much as I can. I went down to Pittsburgh to see them play the Pirates last weekend and I’ll probably try and make my way to Fenway in September to see them play the Red Sox. Other than that, if they’re not playing, I’ve got a golf club in my hand. I’m going somewhere to chip and putt or do something around the game.
DB: So you’re in a relationship? Tell us about that. How’s it going?
SB: It’s great, she’s a first grade teacher down in the city school district. It’s nice because she has nothing to do with the game. She plays and she knows what golf is, but I can come and talk to her about other stuff or golf and she’s something different, something fresh. So if I’m struggling and I want to talk to her about anything but golf, we can talk about stuff like that. Or if I’m playing really great, she’s my biggest fan, so it’s awesome.
DB: This has been a pleasure Spencer. One final question…your last name is Baum, which is legendary in Central New York golf. Tell us more about your last name and what it means to you?
SB: My Dad was a really good player in the section. He’s played in a handful of PGA Tour events; he’s played in four majors in his time, a couple of PGA Championships and a US Open at Pebble Beach back in the day. He’s won the Met (Metro NY) PGA Championship twice, and the Section Championship in Central NY a couple of times too. When I take a look back at what he’s done, and what I would hopefully like to do someday, there’s a lot of milestones, that I would just like to play in at some point, let alone potentially win, so it’s really cool. One of the great things he says to me all the time when I have a bad day out there, is that you’re going to fail a lot more times than you’re going to succeed in this game and that’s just something you’ve got to be okay with.
What’s in Spencer’s Bag?
Titleist TSR-3 driver with an extra stiff shaft
TMB 718 irons, Tungsten TMB’s
TSI 3-wood
2-iron with 7.0 project X shaft
A set of Volkey wedges – SM 10’s
Scotty Cameron 5W putter
