From the Clubhouse
by Randy Dodson
Randy Dodson is the publisher of Fairways

Winter - March - 06
Golf, It's About People

For the past few years it has been our pleasure here at Fairways to call Thanksgiving Point Golf Club – “The Club.” As in, “Let’s head over to the club for lunch.” Or, “Let’s get in nine holes at the club before we call it a day.” Our office is a located a long par five from the course. In fact, from the third hole tee box, with a strong wind, you might be able to land a well struck drive on our front door.

We have spent many lunch meetings in the club’s Hall of Fame Grill. We have shopped more than a few times for gifts in the golf shop and we have played many times the front nine on a late summer day.

More often than not, the first to greet us either formally or with a smile and a wave was Dick Rooklidge. As the Director of Outside Services, Dick was usually not far from the front door. It was also our pleasure to work with Dick has he served as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Nokia Champions Challenge. There wasn’t a day gone by that Dick didn’t make us feel like we belonged at the club and that we were, in some way, important people in his life.

You will have noticed that I have used a lot of past tense words in speaking about Dick. Within the last month Dick Rooklidge was diagnosed with cancer which spread throughout his body with unimaginable speed. Those that have known him have shook their heads in disbelief at his demise.

Dick’s passing has given me the chance to stop and think about what it is that I really like about golf. With nearly every thought I’ve ended up thinking about people. I have been guilty more than a few times of saying, “There are not a whole lot of bad people in golf.” What Mr. Rooklidge leaves the golf community is an important reminder on how we should treat others. We are a community, one that is active on many different levels in the golf industry. Weather you are a club pro, playing professional, sales rep, course marshal, drink cart girl, media member, top amateur or hacker — we all have the occasion to interact with each other and how we do that matters.

I understand tournament golf and the spirit of competition. I have, believe it or not, been at the top of a leader board or two. Okay, it was in the sixth flight, but still I acknowledge the focus and dedication required to sign for a record round. I believe there is plenty of room for focus and drive as well as respect and dignity. When it’s all said and done its “how we treated those around us that matters most” as the late Jeannie Goddard once said.

Tiger Woods won the Buick Championship this year in a playoff. The camera showed the disappointment in his face as Jose Maria Olazabal missed a playoff putt, handing Tiger the win. The cameras caught that same emotion when Tiger beat John Daly in the American Express Championship playoff last year. I believe he is sincere in the feeling that it’s good to win with dignity and with empathy for those you beat. People matter.

Arnold Palmer may have stated it best when he said, “My dad taught me that I was not the only person to inhabit the earth, and that I should treat everyone with the same respect and dignity with which I hoped they would treat me. He taught me the value of hard work, commitment, dedication, and loyalty. He helped me to see that no man stands alone, and that the day you start to believe that you are better than your fellow man, well, then I guess you truly are alone.”

As you make your goals for the coming golf season remind yourself that it is okay to make others feel good about whom they are and what they do, for who knows how long you will have the pleasure of being in their company.