One in a Million

This past week, Bill Roberson, one of Laurel Creek's original members, and a friend to so many, passed away.

Through business, his love of sports, and his extensive charitable work, Bill knew thousands of people.  But one thing most of these people likely weren't aware of, is that Bill knew way more than your average golfer when it comes to turf management.  Over the last quarter century, I had the privilege to speak with Bill on many subjects.  However, not surprisingly, most of these conversations tied into the golf course in some way. 

I'd like to share a few of my memories about Bill.  I'll preface this by saying that, as a rule, I do not refer to Club members by their first name.  However, I also don't make a habit of addressing friends as "Mr." and I consider Bill Roberson a longtime friend.

• Seeing how the sausage is made--While many golfers prefer not to encounter the Grounds staff, Bill never minded this--in fact, he seemed to truly enjoy watching the team prepping the course.  Often being in the first group of the day, he would run into the crew, and never once asked them to stop.  Typically, he would say hello, and praise the work that we were doing.

• An easy choice--When asked a question, Golf Professionals and Golf Course Superintendents won't always come up with the same answer.  However, in 1999, when the Club was first forming a Green Committee, John Tyrell and I were asked independently who we felt would be valuable, contributing members of this Committee.  Without knowing the other's answers, there was one name that we both had on our lists:  Bill Roberson.

• Life of service--Bill was incredibly generous in many ways, particularly with what may be a person's most valuable commodity--their time.  It would have been easy for him to pay his dues to the Club, and just come here and play.  Instead, he wanted to help.  From the inception of the Green Committee in 1999, Bill has been a member.  2018 marks his 20th year of serving on the Committee.

• A plant on the Green Committee--Whether it was participating in the golf course Master Plan process, or discussing equipment needs, as a Committee member, Bill was always knowledgeable and engaged, often asking some tough questions.  There were many times when I'd see him on the course, and we'd talk about some current issue in golf course operations.  Odds were good that at the next Committee meeting, without any prompting from me, he would bring up the topic, trying to ensure that others were aware of what we might be dealing with.

• No payback--Another great thing about Bill was, in the 25 plus years I've known him, I never once received a call, text, or email, asking for something special.  Never the old, "I'm bringing a guest next week, can you give the greens an extra roll that day..."  That wasn't his style.

• Talking turf--Bill's interest and knowledge of fine turf probably came from a couple of things, one being his leadership role in the LPGA Championship. However, I'm sure the stronger tie he had to my end of the business, was the fact that he has had a Bentgrass putting green at his home since long before we met.  If there's one thing we didn't agree on, it was this green.  I tried for years to convince him to plow it under, and go with a nice artificial green, but he didn't want to hear that.  He enjoyed being able to discuss turf problems--we talked air movement, shade issues, irrigation practices, and turf diseases.  Bill knew that Dollar Spot was largely an annoyance, but Pythium Blight spells disaster.  Undoubtedly, his owning a green helped give him the deep appreciation he showed for the work we do on the golf course.

• The grass is always greener...or maybe not--Bill played golf all over, including many top 100 courses, but whether it was after a trip to the Monterey Peninsula, or playing someplace closer to home, when he got back, we'd talk about the conditions.  It seems probable that he was showing his bias to his home course, because he'd always tell me that while these other courses were good, they were no better than Laurel Creek.  

• The joy of giving to others--Besides giving of his time, Bill was generous in other ways, as well.  During his many years of running the McDonald's LPGA Championship tournament, he seemed to truly enjoy having people attend, and treating them like VIPs.  Whether it was heading to DuPont Country Club, or a bit further to Bulle Rock, my family and I always tried to get there for at least one day.  (There was nothing like the McDonald's restaurant on wheels, to get the kids excited about going to a golf tournament.)

• He made us feel like stars--Bill clearly loved Laurel Creek, the staff, and the golf course.  Over the years, when he had well known public figures as his guests at the Club, he would go out of his way to introduce us to them--but even this was done in a special way.  He lavished praise on the course, to the point that his guests may have felt they should be asking for our autographs, instead of the other way around. 

• A family man--It was easy to see that Bill cared about family.  Countless times he asked me, "How are the boys doing?"   Many years ago, my family and I went to the Spectrum in Philly to see a show.  As the performance ended, I heard someone calling my name.  I looked around, and saw Bill going out of his way to say hello in the crowd.  I hadn't seen him, and never would have known if he didn't shout to me.  But the fact that he made a special effort to say hello to us, is something I have always remembered.  That's just the kind of man he was.

Thank you for everything you've done for the Club and for me, Bill.  You have always been there, had my back, and listened closely when we talked.  If you've ever got any thoughts or advice about the course, I'll be listening.