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Show The greening of Vilven began in a caddyshack ' , - . f OaveAdler Head pro at the Park City Golf Course since 1982, Doug Vilven seeks to maintain golfing traditions while adapting to new demands of the game. by DAVE ADLER Record staff writer In an age marked by the proclivity to abandon tradition in favor of , modernism, Doug Vilven stands at the drawbridge of time. Vilven, the 37-year-old head pro at the Park City Golf Course, straddles the gulf that divides The World of Golf Past from The World of Golf Present and Future. Steeped in, and cut from, the cloth of tradition, he is yet aware of the changing weave of the game and its demands. His introduction to, and involvement involve-ment in the game is the stuff of which golfing lore is made. Indeed, his career from the caddyshack to his computer-run pro shop reflects the metamorphis in golf from a game to a business. . A broken arm steered Vilven toward the golf range when he was 14 years old. A Kansas transplant, Vilven was a high jumper at Highland High in 1962 and his performance seemed to evidence much promise. But he suffered a broken arm during a track meet that sidelined him for the remainder of the season. As he recuperated at his home across the street from the Salt Lake Country Club, his boredom drove him to watch the caddymaster hit practice balls on the range. One day Vilven approached the golfer and the next thing he knew he was shagging balls for him. "The first night I think I made 50 cents," said Vilven. "Then I started caddying for him and a little later I got a job at the country club as a caddy." Life as a caddy was pretty accurately mirrored in the 1980 movie, "Caddyshack" starring Ted Baxter, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield. . "We did a lot of gambling and smoked cigarettes while we hung out at the caddyshack," said Vilven. "We played basketball while we "That was a great experience," said Vilven. "At that time Goalby, who would go on to win the Masters, was at the peak of his game and one of the leading players on the tour. I decided that day that I wanted to be a pro." But not a playing pro. Vilven wanted to be a teaching pro. "I already knew then what life was like as a touring pro," he said. "Living out of a suitcase at motels around the country with all that pressure was not my idea of a good life." Despite his clinical interest in the game, Vilven showed he could also play it in 1966 when he won the state high, school championship while playing for Highland High School. "That was good enough to earn a scholarship to Utah State and pay for my education," he observed. That same year, he quit being a caddy and joined the grounds crew at the Salt Lake Country Club for the next eight years. "That was an invaluable experience," exper-ience," he said. "It gave me at least a bookkeeper's knowledge of what greenskeepers do, which is obviously very important in my present role as a golf professional." When he graduated from Utah State, he served a oneyear stint in 1971 with the Utah Stars basketball team in public relations, sales, and advertising. It proved to be a valuable experience for a head pro, and it was not the last time that he wore several hats while in his professional role. "That time probably was the only point in my life that I wavered at all in trying to decide whether I should become a golf pro," Vilven said. "That job was high pressure and there were no milk and cookies there." He made the decision for good in 1972 when he took a position as assistant pro at the Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park, Calif. He held several similar posts until 1979, when he took a job at Oquirrh Hills in Tooele and stayed there until he came to Park City in 1982. "Park City is the most enjoyable job I've ever had," said Vilven. "I love the people and I love the town. " Of course, not everything is perfect. He laments the fact that, for most of the summer, the front side of the local golf course has been under construction. "Putting in the new sprinkler system has made this a long summer," he said. "People have been very good about it, very understanding, but it's been a headache. The project should be completed in early August, Vilven said. High school golf coach, Paul Willard, has credited Vilven with "bringing a real quality program to our school" in rejuvenating the golf program. "He's been very generous with his time, and everyone really appreciates his contribution." He also has initiated a junior golf program. Vilven describes golf as a "fantastic" game. "It's great because you don't get close to becoming good at it," he explained. "No matter how hard you work at it you'll never play a perfect game. But it's addicting." It's that addiction that Vilven says he tries to serve as a pro. It's a role that is neither easy nor unchanging. "It's been made more difficult by the fact that the game has become a big business," said Vilven. "Today's "To-day's pros can't be just players and teachers, as they used to. Now they have to be businessmen. In fact, a pro wears several hats. He is an accountant, teacher, merchandiser, player, tournament director and an agronomist." The job of a golf pro, according to Vilven, used to be much simpler. "In the old days, a club pro was expected to play with the members, have drinks with them, wear a smile and do some teaching." ' "But with the need to wear all these other hats, the pro doesn't have the same kind of job," he said. "Because of all these changes, a lot of pros who came out of the caddy ranks have just dropped it all and gotten out of golf." The business aspect of running a pro shop has induced older pros to leave the game. "Discount stores have really affected our pro shop business," said Vilven. "It's very hard to compete with them because they're so good at what they do. So it really cuts into a pro's concessions." But the battle is far from lost, as far as Vilven is concerned. "What the pros have is the golf course and the golfers. Until the discount stores get a golf course, we'll survive. But you have to adapt. Adapting is a big part of the life of today's golf professional. To stay current in all aspects of the game and business, Vilven attends workshops work-shops and seminars throughout the year across the country. "It's necessary to keep up with computer developments and so forth," he said. "Pros must do it. I'm going to attend a seminar this year on calligraphy. Twenty years ago who would have thought it necessary or even desirable to have golf pros learn about calligraphy?" he asked, rhetorically. "But I'll tell you, having a good-looking good-looking scoreboard is an important part of running a good golf tournament," he said, "So I'll be there." Vilven prizes the history and tradition of the game. He wishes, for instance, that caddies would, somehow, some-how, again be a part of the game. But he knows that they have been permanently displaced by golf carts. But while he cherishes golfing traditions he is not about to deny the future its role, either. As well as he can, he will continue to straddle them both. were supposed to work and we looked for golf balls in the water and brush to sell back to the members. Sometimes we were a pretty rowdy crew." His work as a caddy also afforded an opportunity to carry the bag of PGA tour professional Bob Goalby, who in 1963 played in the Utah Open at the Country Club. |