The Corner Office With Don Berry (Edinburgh USA)

Tee Times introduced a new column last year where we provide readers with an insightful look into the thinking and personality of the people in golf leadership roles. This issue we feature Don Berry, Director of Golf and Head PGA Professional at Edinburgh USA in Brooklyn Center. Don is one of the most decorated players in Minnesota Golf History as a 16-time MN Section PGA Player of the Year. His deep knowledge of the game both on-the-course and off provides our readers with some great perspective on the game and plenty of inside thinking. We hope you enjoy it.

1. How long have you been in the golf business and how did you get your start? I started working at Gross Golf Course when I was 15 years old and just started hanging around there every day working, playing and practicing with all my friends that grew up there also. Craig Waryan then hired me as an assistant professional at Edinburgh USA in 1988 and I’ve been here ever since getting the Head Golf Professional job in 1996.

2. Was there an ‘aha moment’ when you realized this is a good gig? On the playing side that happened the first time I won the Tapemark in 1988, which is one of our majors in the state for professionals. I was battling Dave Tentis who is a good friend and rival for the past 40 years. I birdied the 17^th hole to go up by a stroke and had a 15 footer for birdie on the last hole, which was a par 3 then by the clubhouse. I only had to two putt to win, but I made it and when that went in the hole it was definitely an ‘aha moment.’ I’ve gone on to win that tournament 7 times, but none of them felt like that first win.

3. Is there a pet peeve about the game you would like to get off your chest? Two things actually! One, when people spit sunflower seeds on the putting green – yuck, do you want to pick those up if they’re in your line? Two, cart riders who insist on driving their cart about two feet off the cart path around greens and tees like that’s somehow going to shorten their walk significantly – can’t tell you how much damage that does to the course!

4. Do you have any heroes in the game? Well my favorite player of all time is Jack Nicklaus, the two best players I’ve ever played with are Tom Watson and Phil Mickelson, who were both extremely awesome to be with, I had a drink with Clint Eastwood at his restaurant in California when I was playing the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, I really look up to my two bosses growing up a lot (Steve Walters at Gross, Craig Waryan at Edinburgh), but I don’t think I have a ‘hero’ mostly because my Dad didn’t really play golf.

5. Is there a trend or pattern in the game of golf you would like to see changed? I hate to sound too much of a traditionalist, but I do think the distance the ball is going could really become a problem, if we aren’t there already. It’s a tough issue for me because for every Dustin Johnson who hits it 350, you have 100 members who are struggling to hit par 4’s in two shots. But if you envision 20 or 50 years from now, how far will the best players hit it then? 400-420 yard drives makes the game not sustainable in my opinion.

6. What is the strangest player mishap or misstep to take place at your course? Oh boy, we’ve had many; I watched two employees drive their cart into the lake on the 3^rd hole – no, I didn’t fire them on the spot. We had a guy play here who thought he was at Bunker Hills the whole time (came in after the round and said he’d always heard that Bunker Hills was a good course, but didn’t realize just how good). We’ve had our share of fights on the course, one member threw his putter in a tree then got four more clubs stuck up there trying to get the first one down. The original club was in that tree for weeks until a windstorm blew it down. Before we lined the pond on our 17^th hole it was really dry one summer and you could see the balls out there, one guy decided he was going to walk out and get some of the balls, well his first step the mud went right to his knees and as he was trying to get out, the mud literally sucked one of his golf shoes off his foot, he never got that shoe back, I’m sure it’s still out there as we speak.

7. Who do you consider the greatest golfer of all-time and why? Jack Nicklaus and it’s not even close! The longevity that he played and won was ridiculous. He won Majors 24 years apart, most of the other all-time greats won them 8 or 9 years apart from the first to last.
8. The single best reason for spending 4+ hours chasing a little white ball? Golf is the greatest game there is; yes, it’s difficult, but that makes it even more rewarding. What other activity do you do where you can tell all your friends that you are quitting it one day but eagerly choose to do it again the next day?