About Me

Golf has been an important part of my life since my baseball coach moved me from catcher to right field as a high school sophomore. My longest and best friend, Ken Woods, encouraged me to try out for the golf team instead. I won a playoff for the last spot on the JV team with a 9-hole score of 50. I was hooked. The practice didn’t seem like work, so I improved quickly.

I also enjoyed the social scene around the club–especially playing with a regular member group on Saturday mornings. I liked listening to the successful people talk about life and they made me feel included even though I was just a kid. I realized being able to hit a golf ball earned you a certain amount of respect–and I still can’t figure out why. I was a loner at this point–still searching for my personality and social skills. No dates, proms, or cliques I naturally fit into. I played sports and studied and that was about it. An athletic nerd.

I went away to college but never away from golf. I thought I wanted to be as far away from home as possible, but things didn’t quite feel that way once I was there. Golf again provided an outlet for my homesickness while I was slowly blossoming socially. I earned a walk on spot at Wake Forest, where I played and practiced with the team and coached the kids in the Summer programs. I learned the technical side of the swing through teaching, and the important skill of “less is more.” I also figured out that kids liked being around me, which increased my confidence when talking to people my own age.

I tried the professional ranks for a few years with some success, but I met a girl, fell in love, and traveling to tournaments didn’t seem quite as appealing. So I made the natural switch to the business of golf. By this point, I had settled into my grove socially and I was around the game I loved. My first big break was getting hired at Spyglass Hill Golf Course in 1995. From that point forward, I was committed and my focus was to be “the dude they had to promote” every time a job became available.

Fast forward 30 years and golf has been very good to me. I have spent time with some incredible people I would have never met otherwise.

My goals now are to use the lessons I have learned over the years and expand my horizons in the later stages of my life. I want to honor my father. I want to be a good role model for my sons. And I want to finish my life with no “what if’s?”

I am a creature of habit and a voracious planner. The challenge of this trip is to lean into the discomfort because I don’t have much experience winging it. I like to be in control of everything. But good golf requires the player to give up some control to gain more control.

It has been said that golf is a great metaphor for life. Great golf is riding the line between not caring and caring too much. You need to try, but not try too hard. You need to be technically sound, but not think of technique. Most importantly, you can’t waste any energy reminiscing about past successes or ruing past failures. You can’t get too far ahead of yourself and think about the tough 15th over water when you are playing the 12th. Staying in the present allows you to be the best player you can be. I have found being present allows you to also be the best person you can be.

This is an adventure outside of my comfort zone. I hope to learn a lot about the world and myself in the process. And I hope you choose to come along for the ride.

Let’s head to the first tee.

Bill