For years, I’ve written and talked about the GCSAA and its overlooked importance in golf. Those guys have the most pressure-packed, underpaid and thankless jobs in the whole business. The guys out there growin’ and cuttin’ grass (and repairing all the damage) are the true revenue generators of the golf operation. Face it: design and prestige and service all go in the crapper when the golf course isn’t in good shape.
So I’d like you to meet Ricky Heine. And no, I’m not going to tell you how to pronounce his last name…you’re too immature to handle it. (Borrowed that one from Jim Rome.) Ricky has been at Star Ranch since before it opened. That’s him in the middle there with his family, posing for a shot that ran in an industry mag last year.
Ricky is a good man, a great employer and a great leader. Most of his staff have been with him for 10 years or more. The fact that Ricky was president of the GCSAA is testament to that group. Rarely does the guy who should be the boss actually get the job. Then again, maybe it happens all the time in the GCSAA.
I’m sure Ricky is glad to be done with it, too. Miles and miles of travel, being away from his family and his golf course. But hangin’ with golf’s Big Dogs at the majors and the Ryder Cup wouldn’t be a tough assignment for most.
Tags: austin golf, gcsaa, golf course superintendent, greenskeeper, hutto texas, ricky heine gcsaa, star ranch, texas golf, thorndale texas
