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Meet your Local Club Pro
Jay Frank
Head Golf Professional
SpurWing Country Club
Meridian, Idaho
What's the most enjoyable aspect of being a club professional?
I get to go to a job each day that I truly love to do, not many people in the country work at jobs that they love completely. We get to perform a great diversity of jobs during a work day including, but not limited to the following: teaching, merchandising, tournament operations, budgeting, staff management, playing, and a lot of other duties that are always challenging and rewarding in more ways than just monetarily.
What do you think you'd be doing if not a golf professional?
First, I would be playing a lot more golf than I currently do (one misconception about being a club professional is that we play all the time). As a career I would be working for a software company, probably IBM, the company I turned a job down with after college to become a golf professional.
If you were king of the golf world for one day, what would be your top priority?
To build golf courses around the country that would be exclusively open only to children under the age of 18. All players would be required to walk and learn the rules and etiquette of golf without the corruption or intervention of their parents.
What could the average male golfer have learned from watching the USGA Girls' Junior at BanBury that could help his own game?
It does not take a 350-yard drive to shoot 63 (as two of the players did during the qualifying rounds), just desire and a tremendous short game, especially the ability to make putts.
What could you have learned from watching the USGA Girls' Juniors that would help your own game?
Unfortunately I did not get to attend the girls' championship, but I would have liked to watch how they played during the match-play competition and how they played match play compared to stroke play. I have not quite found the secret to performing well at match play and would have liked to watch the girls in that format.
How would your club champions or yourself have done against In-Kyung Kim in the title match of the USGA Girls' Junior?
I'm quite positive we would have all been beat especially at the level at which she played during the event. The intimidation factor of her small size to her ability to hit the ball would have definitely intimidated me.
What's the most challenging aspect of being a club professional?
Being asked for a tee time while I'm standing in line at Albertson's buying a gallon of milk on my way home from work. Being a golf professional is a job that seems to be 24/7 job even though the members seldom know that we are here more than 90 hours a week.
What's something interesting about yourself most of your members don't know?
Most members do not know that I was a high school and college basketball referee for more than 20 years. This experience helps me deal with difficult situations that arise at the club every week, and allow me to make the right decision and stay calm during the heat of the battle. It taught me to be confident and be able to approach crowds without being intimidated, along with keeping me in good physical shape ... maybe I should start up again ... ha, ha.
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