Kiawah Island Golf Resort: Brian Gerard: Director of Golf

Brian Gerard started at Kiawah in 1986 tending the snack bar, among other duties. Today, this likable gentleman is the Director of Golf and is  in charge of five golf courses … not to mention tennis and other recreational activities. How did he get there? Read on…

Learn more about this golf pro by clicking here.

Golf Conversations: What does the Director of Golf do here at Kiawah?

Brian Gerard: I try to ensure that every guest who leaves the resort says,”That was the best golf experience I’ve ever had.”

GC: Specifically, what does that entail?

BG: The main thing is coordination and communication from the top down to our five golf courses: The Ocean Course, Turtle Point, Osprey Point, Oak Point, and Cougar Point.

GC: Are you consulting with the head pros of the five different courses on a consistent basis?

BG: Absolutely. We have a joint golf staff meeting weekly with the five head professionals, the course superintendents, our director of retail, our director of instruction, and the resort’s HR representative. It’s a very structured format that we go through where everybody gets updates. At the beginning of the meeting, I provide an update from the executive committee which I sit on. The executive committee also meets weekly.

GC: What sort of things. for example, have you been talking about in the last month?

BG: We just did our “State of the Resort” with our president, where we reviewed our vision and our core values. It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day operations and lose your focus on the big picture. So it’s my job to make sure we don’t lose that focus.

GC: Do you have secret shoppers that come to the resort?

BG: We do. We have secret shoppers. We have a firm we work with that comes in and does it for the entire resort. I also have individuals on-site and off-site who do secret shops for me personally. There’s a couple of better amateur players in the Charleston area who I trust and have known for a long time, and I’ll have them come out periodically, bring three people and just play the golf courses. Then I’ll ask them to tell me about their experience at the bag drop when they pulled in, their experience in the pro shop, their experience on the golf course, their experience after the round. Tell me everything you see. And I want them to be brutally honest.

GC: And they’re not employees?

BG: No, they’re not. I’ve known them long enough and well enough so they’ll tell me exactly what’s on their mind. They understand golf, they’ve been all around the world playing golf, they’ve been to all the top resorts around the world, and they know what our expectations are. I’ve mapped that out to them: I have a critiquing form for them that they complete and email to me.

GC: Wow, you guys are smart, you should be running the country!

BG: (laughter) Another part of my job is to make sure that the things we’re doing right, we continue to do them right … and do them better.  And, of course, to find problems and solve them. I think you have to focus on what you’re doing right – and wrong – equally.  For one thing, it builds camaraderie: we always tell our staff to acknowledge employees when they’re doing it right as well as when they’re doing it wrong.

GC: What else does the Director of Golf do here at Kiawah?

BG: Well actually my official title is Director of Golf and Activities. So I oversee the tennis and recreation as well. I’m there for them in a support role and to watch over the financials. We have our director of programming, Liz King, and our director of tennis, Roy Barth, who’s been here for 34 years.

GC: I see they named the tennis center after him.

BG: Yes. And those two are very competent at what they do; they understand their business.  So my role is to support them from the executive level and watch over the financials.

GC: But you started in golf, correct?

BG: I did. I started in the cart shed and bag room and snack bar here at Turtle Point in 1986.

GC: How much was a Snickers bar back then?

BG: (laughter) Probably 30 or 50 cents.

GC: Was that plain or frozen, because the frozen ones you could charge more money.

BG: (laughter) It was a long time ago. When I first came here, there was just a two-lane road and a wooden bridge onto the island.

GC: So you were a pioneer?

BG: Yeah, I’ve been here for a while, I think I’m fifth or sixth on the list.

GC: Who’s first on the list?

BG: M.C. Hayward.  He’s a bellman and does the oysters at Mingo Point. He’s been here the longest and then there’s Betty in accounting who’s been here longer than me.

GC: Ok, let’s change gears: when did you first start playing golf?

BG: When I was six.

GC: Did your parents get you into it?

BG: They did. I grew up in Eureka, Illinois.  There’s a 9-hole public facility there called Kaufman Park golf course. My dad took me on the course when I was six with my two older brothers. I started swinging and playing, got the bug, and never looked back.

I started working at Kaufman when I was sixteen. It was a three-man operation: my boss, another guy, and me. I watered the greens. We didn’t have an electronic watering system; there was a creek that ran down the middle of the golf course and we pumped our water out of it.  At night I’d go out, turn on the pump, take the sprinkler and put it on the green. 45 minutes later, move the sprinkler to the next green and so on. I also cut greens and fairways and set the cups. I’d get up at 5:00 am, do that, and then close the shop at sunset.

I worked there all summer and throughout my college years. I’ve always kept that in perspective. I came from a nine-hole public facility where we didn’t have a whole lot but we made it good with what we did have. It’s quite different than the facilities we have at Kiawah … it’s a pretty dramatic change. But I try to never forget my roots and where I came from. I can never lose sight of that. If things aren’t going so well, I’ll think back to where I came from and suddenly things look pretty good.

GC: It seems everyone here at Kiawah started at the bottom and has risen to the top.

BG: I think it’s important to come up from the bottom and understand all of the jobs. I’ve done all the things that these guys out here are doing now.  I understand what they’re doing and how they feel. I was an assistant professional here for three years, and I was the head professional at Turtle Point, and head professional at the Ocean Course, so I can understand where each one of those individuals is coming from when they’re doing their job.

GC: Getting back to when you were working at Kaufman golf course in Eureka, did you have time to play?

BG: I lived at the golf course. Here was my summer routine: get up at five o’clock, drive  to our maintenance shed, cut greens and set cups, do all nine, then open the shop. Then the other guy would come in and we’d take turns on who would cut the fairways. When we were done, I’d go out and play golf. In the summer time I could play to nine o’clock or so.

GC: Did learning the game come easily to you?

BG: It did. I never had any formal instruction, country club instruction. My dad taught me how to play; then I really just picked it up. My boss at Kaufman Park was a very good player and he helped me along the way as well.

GC: Any instruction fundamentals that your father passed along to you?

BG: The main thing that has always stayed with me, and I still struggle with it today, is staying level and keeping your lower body quiet. I have a tendency to raise up on the back swing, it’s something that goes back to when I was a kid.

GC: You would come out of your stance?

BG: I’d lose my posture and that kills the golf swing. When things go awry for me, that’s what happens. I stand up and hook. It’s something I work on all the time.

GC: Is it possible to take a young kid, start him the right way with instruction, and that would prevent him from developing bad habits?

BG: Oh, I think so. I think if you get youngsters at an early age and show them the right way to do it fundamentally, then they’re going to be much better off in the long run. Now things are going to happen to them, bad habits will get created, but if they do continue to have someone working with them that understands their swing — because no two swings are the same — then they can play the game successfully the rest of their life.

GC: Do you ever get the time here to play?

BG: We play on Fridays as a group which is something we started a few years ago. It’s our president, Roger Warren, the head pros, and whoever wants to play. They know there’s a Friday game and we get out when we can to play. It’s a nice release to get away from the day-to-day things and be able to play with fellow PGA professionals and whoever wants to play. Everyone’s welcome.

GC: I’d be welcome?

BG: You can play if you want. All you have to do is throw in $20 on the first tee.

GC: (laughter) Gambling is illegal at Bushwood, sir! You guys would have to give me 10 shots a side! Okay, on to more realistic things… can you remember what your first set of clubs were?

BG: Absolutely. I had a set of Wilson Staff forged blades. 1977. I still have them. They’re on my wall at home. I look at them now and I say good gosh, how did you ever play with those golf clubs?

GC: Persimmon woods?

BG: Yeah, persimmon woods; they were my dad’s. They were cut down. When I was really little, he cut some clubs down for me. Because I wouldn’t play 18 holes with him; I’d just go out and hit shots. When I started to play he gave me one of his older sets. And I used those clubs all throughout high school. I finally broke down and got a set of Pings.

GC: And how did those feel?

BG: It was a totally different feel. Not knowing exactly where you hit the shot. But with the Wilson Staffs, if you hit it on the toe you knew you hit it on the toe. But the Pings, I never got that feedback and I never could get accustomed to their feel. I also had an old MacGregor driver; when you look at it today you can’t believe how small the head was. It’s amazing how things have changed.

The ball of choice when I was in high school was the Pro Staff. If you got a sleeve of Pro Staffs, you were on top of the world

GC: And yet with all of the new equipment and technology they have today, studies have shown that the average golfer hasn’t really improved over the years.

BG: Score wise, yes.

GC: Why do you think that is?

BG: I think time has a lot to do with it. Time to practice, time to get better. People have  kids and they are playing soccer and baseball, and it’s difficult for them to find four hours to play 18 holes. That’s something that we in the golf industry are talking about. All PGA professionals have to find a way to address the time needs of today’s families. For example, we have a family tee program here at Kiawah.

GC: Is that the late-afternoon thing?

BG: Yes, everyone plays from the family tee and you play nine holes.

GC: And no gambling is allowed!

BG: (laughter) It’s a way to cut the time frame down to make it a family experience. The other thing is the price of golf clubs has made it more difficult for everybody so we have to find ways to make it available for people to enjoy the game again. And having a strong junior program is very important, having someone that takes an interest in juniors, spends time with them, and gets them interested in the game. It’s a game they can play the rest of their life and it’s a very addictive game. Once you start to play, you can always do one shot better. We’ve got to get the youth in America playing golf again with strong programs.

GC: Does your wife play golf?

BG: She tried for a while but now she doesn’t play. The main reason is, I was the one trying to teach her. I think I’m a pretty good instructor but that’s something you just can’t do… teach your wife to play golf. If you got another professional here to start working with her, she would probably play.

GC: What do you think most high handicappers misunderstand about the role of a PGA professional?

BG: That’s a good question. I think the diversity, the number of different hats that a PGA pro wears. And a lot of times I think they don’t understand how much the PGA professional wants to help them. They want to take the time to spend with people to help them enjoy the game more. Because that’s the core of what the PGA professional does. I think at times maybe we view the PGA professional as more of a player and not so much as a friend. And all the best PGA professionals that I’ve ever come in contact with try to be a good friend to people..

GC: Can you remember your playing aptitude test?

BG: Yes, I can. It was in Lake City, South Carolina. A public golf course, tough golf course, but I didn’t pass the first time. The second time at Pinehurst, I made it.

GC: Where in Pinehurst?

BG: Number one.

GC: That’s the easy one.

BG: That’s the easy one; that’s the short one. But that’s when the PAT was 36 holes in one day.

GC: It’s not that way anymore?

BG: No, it’s 18 holes and then 18 holes the next day. But it was 36 holes the same day when I played at Lake City; I actually played with one of our head professionals at Osprey point, Jim Kelechi. He wasn’t working here at the time; he was working at a club in Charleston, but that’s how I met Jim. And me and another guy from here — my roommate at the time, who’s in the golf business in West Virginia now — we played a threesome with Jim and none of us made it. And to be honest, I can’t remember how many I missed it by. But at Pinehurst, I made it. And it’s a good feeling when you pass the PAT, because it really starts your golf career.

GC: Do you remember what the winning score had to be?

BG: I think it was 149 at Pinehurst and I shot 147.

GC: Those are numbers you never forget, right?

BG: Did you ask Stephen Youngner [head pro at the Ocean Course] that question?

GC: I did.

BG: Did he remember his PAT score?

GC: He did not.

BG: But he passed it the first time. Where did he make it?

GC: I think it was somewhere in Georgia.  (pause) But he said he was putting Vaseline on his driver.

BG: (laughter) The PAT, that was a grind for a lot of guys. I knew guys that tried passing it five, six, seven times and every time they’d go there’d be more pressure … and the worse it would get for them.

GC: Have you ever been back to Kaufman golf course … back to your roots?

BG: It’s been a few years since I’ve been back there. My parents have moved to a different town in Illinois, so when I go back home now, I don’t get a chance to go to Kaufman. But when they still lived there, I’d go out and walk the golf course. It changed through the years.

GC:Did it look bigger or smaller?

BG: It actually looked smaller, the distances were a lot shorter. The first hole is a 404-yard par-four and when I was growing up, it was like 490. But I haven’t been back in four or five years.

GC: Every par-3 I play these days seems like it’s 490.  Brian, thank you for your time.

BG: You’re welcome.