This will be post #50 and my last one until I start doing something interesting again. I want to thank all of you for following along! Family responsibilities are going to keep me on the Monterey Peninsula for the foreseeable future, so my planned trip Down Under has been tabled. If my life takes me on another shareable adventure, I will be sure to chronicle it by resuscitating the Where’s William Now blog!

I was three years removed from my career at Pebble Beach when my good friend, Dale Taylor, called. We’d shared a small office at Spyglass Hill for a couple of years, and in 2016, he’d been named the new Head Professional at Tehama Golf Club. I was involved in a private travel club at the time, but having a steady job and specific growth goals intrigued me. I accepted Dale’s kind invitation to become the Membership Director.

I didn’t like the course in 2016. I thought it was quirky and too severe. Seven of the first 11 holes were uphill, with the green complexes blind to the player from the fairways. There were a few “false fronts” on the greens that would return a perfectly acceptable approach shot back to your feet. Missing long wasn’t advisable as you couldn’t keep a downhill chip on most of the greens. And the greens were slick–rolling Augusta National speed– on a daily basis. These were some of the challenges I faced when I evaluated how I was going to add members at Tehama. But all of these issues were softened for prospects when I mentioned the owner– Clint Eastwood.

Clint had first come to the Monterey Peninsula as a soldier stationed at Fort Old. The area resonated with him and he is quoted as saying, “If I ever made a buck, this is where I would live.” Well, he ended up making a few bucks. He played in the Bing Crosby Clambake, served as Mayor of Carmel, owned a bar in town along with The Mission Ranch, and was part of the ownership group at Pebble Beach. He also boarded his horses on a ranch I lived on for many years when I moved here in 1996. I’d engaged Clint on several occasions and he was always a gentleman. But he also had an aura as someone you didn’t want to f*** with, as his character in Gran Torino famously said. Now I was working for him at his private club, which raised the stakes considerably. My internal messaging was, in effect, “don’t piss off the big man.” And I never did, thankfully. If I had, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog because everyone’s seen the end of the movie when Clint’s pissed off.

I had some success selling memberships, and I’m proud of my project naming the Tehama holes after Clint Eastwood films. But the most special part of my time at Tehama was being part of the “family” environment there. Tehama has a vibe and a culture that is totally unique to private clubs. And I give all the credit to Clint Eastwood because he built the club as a place where he could just be a regular guy–not the world-famous movie icon. As such, members and staff are all regular people as well. Regardless of your own life’s accomplishments, you will never surpass Clint Eastwood. And that reality meant everyone that came through our gates checked their egos and personal agendas at the entry. Because pissing off the Silverback Gorilla was not going to work out well for you. Peace through strength is the best way I can describe it.

I had many interactions with Clint over the years and I am going to share some of my (PG rated) favorites:

1. He’d just been recognized at the Cannes Film Festival for the 25 year anniversary of Unforgiven. People kept congratulating him, but mispronouncing Cannes (properly pronounced CANS, but members were calling it CONS). Before our Clint Eastwood Invitational, he took the mic and said “I appreciate the well wishes, but it’s pronounced CANS, not CONS. Cons are what you guys are with your handicaps.”
2. I was hitting balls on the range next to him and emptied my crate. I slid around him to get more. He asked if I was done, but I said I was just out of ammo. He growled, “you gotta plan better–you can’t ever run out of ammo.”
3. I was playing a few holes with him and wiped a shot to the right and didn’t see where it finished. He slid up next to me, squinting, and said, ” I think it stayed on the bank.” I replied, “you can see that?” In the classic Clint voice he said, “I can see, I just can’t f***ing play!”
4. Clint’s publication of choice is the Carmel Pine Cone. He came into the pro shop one day asking for “a Cone.” One of our longtime staff members took it literally and drove down to the 4th fairway and grabbed an actual pine cone and presented it to him.
5. Clint was playing with his pals and one of them squibbed his opening tee shot down the fairway. It wasn’t great, but playable. Clint said, “I call that a son-in-law. You were hoping for a little better.”

I will finish with this. I have a Scottish friend that won the British Amateur and subsequently played in the British Open and The Masters. He’s a legend in Scotland and he and Clint were both members at Loch Lomond, near Edinburgh. They were hitting balls together on the range and having a grand time. My friend is an amazing public speaker and entertainer–one of those people that always has something witty to say. But as I’ve said repeatedly, Clint has an aura. According to him, the conversation turned to films and went like this:

Friend: “Clint, I can’t tell you how much fun this is. I am a real admirer of your films.”

Clint: “Oh yeah? What’s your favorite Clint film?”

Friend: For the first time in my life, my mind went completely blank and I could not think of a single Clint movie. In a panic, I said “Die Hard?”

Clint: “I wasn’t in that one. Try again.”

Friend: I blanked again. After another embarrassing silence I asked, “Die Hard 2?”

I will show myself out. It’s been a pleasure!

I kept this image on my phone to remind me who I was working for.

Standing alongside “The Logo.”