Around The Commonwealth
VG : Talk a little about your path into the
golf business .
TR : I ’ ve played golf since I was probably
12 or 13 years old and worked at Fredericksburg Country Club when I was in high school . Funny little story — I ’ ve only been fired once and hope I don ’ t jinx it here . I ’ m sure you know Karl Koons … I skipped a shift and couldn ’ t find anybody to cover . Basically , I got invited on an all-expenses paid trip to the 1991 PGA Championship . Not that I would have ever known it , but that was the year ( John ) Daly won . I ’ d never been to a PGA Tour event before … hell yeah , I ’ m going to do this . I worked for Karl for three years then went to school ( Virginia Tech ). I got an Environmental Science degree and for four years worked cleaning up underground storage tank spills . It was actually kind of a cool job — helping save the world . Got to use my science . But after a while , sniffing gas and diesel and kerosene got old . I thought about it ( a change ) long and hard and applied to three places and wound up at Shenandoah Valley with Richard Runyon in 2000 where I started the golf professional training program . I moved to Raspberry Falls in 2004 . In 2006 , I got moved to Old Hickory as the head professional and about 4-5 years later became the GM and have been here since . I remember interviewing with Steve ( Clark ) in a trailer here before the clubhouse was open . We ’ ve been working together almost 20 years — almost a little unheard of in the golf business .
VG : Impact of COVID on Old Hickory ? TR : In 2020 , it was crazy . On almost a day like today ( mid-March on a Thursday , cloudy and cool , moderate chance of rain ), I would kind of kid around how we had “ 240 player Tuesdays .” To put it in perspective , a busy Saturday in 2019 would maybe be 165-170 players . We were having people come out in droves . That lasted for about three months and then the other municipal courses opened back up around us and Maryland opened their courses , so it wasn ’ t as highly subscribed . It definitely carried over into 2021 . We didn ’ t quite have the round counts , but we did have more revenue . So far , we ’ re off to a solid start this year .
VG : Do you do any teaching through the
Raspberry Golf Academy ?
TR : We ’ ve got one instructor here . I actually do a little bit of teaching — more so in the last couple of years than I ever have . I am helping out a little bit at our sister facility — Virginia Golf Center ( Clifton , Va .) and they ’ ve got five instructors up there . Golf instruction is as popular as ever .
VG : Do you get a chance to play or practice
much ?
TR : Honestly , I play in our Tuesday night
LET ’ S RECONNECT
Reynolds doesn ' t play in a ton of MAPGA events but says " if I ' m having a good day , I ' ll keep it around par ."
league … I still love the game and like the competitive side to it . I also take about three member / staff trips each year — Pinehurst , Kingsmill , Myrtle Beach . I play in the Section championship whenever I can . I ’ m no ( Rick ) Schuller or ( John ) O ’ Leary , but if I ’ m having a good day , I ’ ll keep it around par .
VG : Anything else as we wrap up ? TR : We ’ ve got a lot of good members around here — a lot of blue collar golfers who made their money in service industries — roofing , flooring , drywall , electricity , plumbing , HVAC . They ’ re all good guys . One thing I really am proud of is the winter series we have here . This Sunday ( March 27 ) is the last event — our March Madness Superintendent ’ s Scramble . Guys shoot baskets to win mulligans . It ’ s really cool to see the way the series has grown over the years . We hold five events every winter — that includes our Turkey Trot , Toys for Tots , Polar Bear and Super Bowl outings . Our members are crazy enough and gritty enough to come out and play when it ’ s 26 degrees and windy .
If you or a family member is a former award winner , especially from the early years , we ’ d love to hear from you and possibly do a “ quick nine ” in Virginia Golfer or on
VSGA . org . Many early award recipients have moved away or lost touch , and we ’ d love some help in our ongoing quest to fill in a few blanks and figure out “ Where Are They Now ?”
vsga . org M AY / J UNE 2022 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 13