“ They do call it work for a reason . But I really do love it . It ’ s something I always dreamed about . And the dream came true .”
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“ They do call it work for a reason . But I really do love it . It ’ s something I always dreamed about . And the dream came true .”
— Mike Tate
“ I spent a month or two after we closed the restaurant doing nothing really ,” Tate said . “ I guess I was trying to find a dream job in the golf business , for which I was supremely unqualified .”
Still , one of his old restaurant regulars knew one of the investors in a group that had recently purchased Bull Run Golf Club in Haymarket , a public course with a gorgeous layout at the foot of Bull Run Mountain that had been badly neglected under its previous ownership . Tate sent in a resume , and then spoke with the new head professional at the course , David Finocchiaro .
“ We hit it off ,” Tate said . “ He told me he didn ’ t have much available , but if I was willing , I could start off like anyone else — as a cart boy . It was minimum wage . You washed the carts , picked the range , got clubs out of people ’ s cars , cleaned their clubs when they were done and made some tips . For me , it was perfect . It gave me something to do . And it was fun .”
That entry-level job did not last very long . Tate eventually found himself working at the front counter , checking in players , taking tee times over the phone and selling merchandise in the pro shop . And when the new owners of the course — Raspberry Golf Management — found out he ’ d been in the restaurant business , he was soon asked to help out with the club ’ s food and beverage business .
“ I told them I really didn ’ t want to , but that I ’ d do it for a year ,” he said . “ Then it became another year . But I really enjoyed it . Some days I would come here to Bull Run , or work over at Raspberry Falls ( in Leesburg ). They had a course in York , Pa ., and the Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix , and I spent time at all those places . It was a huge change for me , but I loved it .”
Three years after he took that cart-boy job , there was an opening for the general manager ’ s position at Bull Run , a 10-minute drive from Tate ’ s home in nearby Aldie . This was a no-brainer , the very sort of “ dream job ” he ’ d envisioned when he left the restaurant business , and Tate jumped at the opportunity .
He was uniquely qualified in many ways , not only from his restaurant and cart-boy experiences , but as a golf consumer himself . During The Coach Stop ’ s ( pardon the expression ) “ salad days ,” Tate had joined Evergreen Country Club in Haymarket , a private facility only a few minutes down the road from Bull Run . In addition to getting his handicap into the high single digits , he also became an active member , serving on the club ’ s board of directors .
“ I was on the golf committee ,” he said , “ and I was able to get a peek behind the curtain of how a golf course operates . It was really interesting , and I had a great relationship with our head pro , Chris Hall .
The people working there were actually living the life I wanted to live , and it also helped prepare me for what I ’ m doing now .”
What he ’ s been doing in recent years involves a wide variety of responsibilities , including overseeing a staff that swells to more than 50 employees during the golf season . He works closely with all his department heads , handles personnel , focuses on generating more revenue , increasing the number of rounds and making sure the customer experience rivals just about anything a private club could offer .
When Tate first arrived at Bull Run in 2010 , the course only recorded 15,000 rounds played a year . These days , it ’ s up to as many as 33,000 , and there have been increases virtually every year . Tate modestly credits his staff as well as the management at Raspberry Golf Management ( which has seven courses under its corporate umbrella ) for Bull Run ’ s continuing success , and of course his leadership also has been a critical factor .
“ What I do is really not that much different from what I did at the restaurant ,” he said . “ It ’ s all about taking care of people and making them happy — your staff and the people who come here to play golf . It ’ s not fun every day . They do call it work for a reason . But I really do love it . It ’ s something I always dreamed about . And the dream came true .”
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