[ HAWAII AT WORK ]
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Golf pro is driven
to teachChuck Davis swears the job
isn't as cushy as its soundsI'm assistant golf pro at Waialae and I still play competitively.
The pro shop does a lot of clinics, we run the tee. We organize a lot of tournaments for our members.
I've been working with the PGA setting up the golf course for the Sony Open. We define all the boundaries and mark the course so there are no unanswered questions. We address every possible scenario.
The PGA officials are a joy to work with. It's fun because you get to learn more about golf.
I've been marking the course for a long time, because when I started it was a maintenance function and I was in maintenance.
I do a lot of teaching. I still have aspirations of playing on the senior tour for one year, but after this next year I would like to concentrate on teaching. It's become a passion for me.
Playing on the tour has been a lifelong dream. I feel I can still compete with them. I'm not saying I'm going to camp out for 10 years, but I want to give it one year. I'm 54, and I've played with a lot of those guys. They are the ones who have encouraged me. They want to know why I'm not out there.
I started off as a caddy in junior high school. Then I went into the Army.
After Vietnam I started working here in maintenance. I've worked on designing some of the greens here. I had fun with that. I also spent some time on tour.
I'm a left-hander, but I started off right handed. In my first two years I had to borrow clubs and the friends I borrowed from were right handed. I couldn't afford my own clubs.
When I was really getting into it, my dad offered me his old clubs. He's left handed, and I've been playing left-handed ever since.
That was my most enjoyable experience; walking to Waialae as a 14-year-old with my own set of clubs. I was a peacock.
As a left hander when I'm teaching, I can mirror the person.
People think life is a bowl of cherries on the golf course, but it's not. We have a great membership, but we have a demanding membership. Everybody wants to play and our job is to get them out there and keep them happy.
We run tournaments for our members where they invite friends from all over the world. We organize the whole thing out of the pro shop.
You have to be a real people person. That's what we look for at Waialae whenever our head pro is hiring. We have a great staff with great personalities. It's not enough to be a good golfer, but have to love golf. You have to have a passion for it.
There are so many golf programs in colleges now. You can study it just like you would history or some other subject. Anyone who wants to be a golf pro should take that and see if they really like it. They didn't have that when I was going to school.
Hawaii At Work features tells what people do for a living in their own words. Send submissions to: business@starbulletin.com
