Bob Ross Gains Respect At Baltusrol & Hawk Pointe

Bob Ross has gained the respect of those in the golf community no matter where he has traveled. Since 1976, Bob has spent the bulk of that time in New Jersey, for 20 years as head professional at Baltusrol, followed by his current stint as Director of Golf at Hawk Pointe.

He has walked with kings, well, The King, Arnold Palmer, and even defeated him once, and been respected by all who have known him including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and many others. He’s attended a presidential inauguration (Jimmy Carter) and spent many an afternoon with Johnny McDermott, the first American-born U.S. Open champion.

Back in 1980, Ross was the first host professional to qualify in two decades for the U.S. Open championship when he did it, of course, at Baltusrol although he failed to make the cut at 76-78. To qualify for the event, he shot 144.

“It was a real thrill to play in the Open,” said Ross, who was playing in his third U.S. Open, having competed in 1962 at Oakmont and in 1971 at Merion.

Ross, who still shoots his age (82) or better, was truly one of those club pros who could have made his mark on the PGA Tour. “But I had to make a decision. I was married with two young children and didn’t want the family to be traveling around the country,” said Ross, who married Dolores in 1953. They added sons Bruce in 1954 and Brian in 1958.

“I had responsibility and a lot of those guys didn’t. I never regretted a thing I did in golf because of what golf has done for me.

“The difference was the time the touring pros put in. The full shots I didn’t worry about. I always had the length and the shots to the green. But those other guys and the touch shots, out of the bunkers and around the greens and knew had to adjust from week-to-week at places all over the country.”

Ross was good enough to play with the likes of Arnold Palmer and even defeated him by one stroke to win the Pennsylvania State Open in 1967 at Laurel Valley. Palmer, by then the game’s most popular player, was in the field for the 36-hole event to show support for golf in his home state.

Ross was born in Vermont, but grew up in Connecticut and learned the game of golf starting as a caddie at Shenecossett Golf and Country Club in Groton. He was a talented athlete at Robert E. Fitch High School who also excelled in baseball and basketball. He next spent a year at Billiard Academy and again excelled in athletics to the point where some highly-regarded colleges had offered scholarships.

He turned them down, instead, and following his passion for golf, enrolled at Pasadena City College, just outside the famed Rose Bowl in California. There, he was coached by two-time PGA Championship winner Paul Runyon. Bob had a pedigree, having won the local Chamber of Commerce junior golf title as a junior in high school and finished third in the William Randolph Hearst Junior Championship in the New England sectional.

At Pasadena C.C., he recalls placing third in the individual and helping the team to the Western Border Conference championship at Pebble Beach.

From there, he was drafted in to the Army and wound up in the 77thSpecial Forces unit at Fort Bragg, N.C.

“I didn’t play much golf at all. I tried to play when I could on weekends, but we were kept pretty busy in the unit.”

His old course, Shenecossett, was the first to hire him as an assistant, He moved on to another assistant position in Amarillo, Texas, before landing his first head job at the Susquehanna Valley Country Club in Selingsgrove, Pa., where he was hired to perform a dual role as head pro and head greenskeeper.

Then came a succession of head pro jobs: Valley C.C. in Hazelton, Pa.; North Hills in the suburbs of Philadelphia; prestigious Philadelphia Cricket Club, where he ran into McDermott, the 1911 and 1912 Open champion, and then to Sawgrass outside of Jacksonville, Fla.

“I always thought if I did a good job, the jobs would become available and luckily for me, I basically never applied for a job. People came to me and asked me if I would come to their club.

In a short span of time, Baltusrol came calling for Bob in 1976 after former U.S. Open champion Johnny Farrell had decided to retire after an illustrious career at the Springfield course that lasted 42 years.

He counted four interviews for the job, two in New Jersey, others in Florida and Texas and before he was finally appointed as Farrell’s successor. It was Joseph C. Dye, then USGA executive director, who had known Ross from his time at the Philadelphia Cricket Club and recommended Bob contact Baltusrol about the opening. Ross was also interviewing at Exmoor C.C. in Illinois at the same time.

“I didn’t have a resume and I needed one the next day for Mr. Dye. My wife was an excellent former secretary and I brought the resume to Joe Dye the next day.”

Ross was 44 at the time he took over at Baltusrol, where he is now an honorary member.

“I could see the potential at Baltusrol that others couldn’t see. They had a large membership but for the income, it wasn’t that big of a job. The funny part was I couldn’t understand why none of the New Jersey pros applied. I said to myself, with 700 members.

“I knew what the numbers of sales were the year before and I felt I could improve on that and that if I did a good job, I would be rewarded. I knew that U.S. Open was coming in 1980 and part of my remuneration would be the pro shop concession for the Open. I put out a tent and did well.

“The beauty of going to a club like Baltusrol is that it is a golf club, not a country club. There is no pool, no tennis courts.

“The members have joined to play golf and that’s what makes Baltusrol one of the great clubs in the country and now it is a National Historic Site. I’m very pleased to have been the pro there. I never had to look for a game. The membership made it great at the time. It was just pick up and play if a member needed someone to play with.

“At Baltusrol, it didn’t matter if it was Mr. Smith or Mr. Jones who was the head of this company or AT&T. It didn’t matter what their station was in life. They didn’t want to be singled out. They just wanted to relax and be in a different environment.

“You would never know that some of these people were the head of a company. That was not who they were. The thing was they were gentlemen and the club was a change for them, some place they could let their hair down and be like everybody else.

“That would be like Arnold Palmer, surrounded by his army. But once inside the club, he would just want to be himself.

“Being a head pro at a place like Baltusrol was a demanding job because during your time there, there is a lot of pressure. I gave lessons when I could. Why did I retire? The job changed from golf pro to administrator. You had to do budgets. I needed the assistants to give lessons.

“There were outings every Monday. The job changed. It got more demanding. That changed my comfort level. At Baltusrol, there are 36 holes and there’s something going on at each course.

“When I was there, I encouraged the juniors to play there. Now they are very active in junior golf there. Eventually, they go on to be successful and come back as members once they establish themselves in the working world. Baltusrol is very good on tradition and keeping families there.

“When I retired, I thought about it a lot and wanted to do it on my terms, if possible,” said Ross, who taught golf in both Japan and Italy and helped coordinate the defunct Caribbean Tour.

Doug Steffen, who took over for Ross as head pro at Baltusrol in 1997, was first hired by Bob to run the bag shop at Batusrol in 1977. He had known Bob’s brother, Ron, at Susquehanna Valley. By the time of the 1980 U.S. Open, Steffen had ascended to first assistant under Ross. He then became head pro at two Long Island clubs, Middle Bay C.C. (1981-94) and Fresh Meadow (1995-96) before returning to Baltusrol where he has been ever since.

“Bob would just let you do your job. We had a great relationship. He was like a second father to me,” Steffen said. “We never had an argument, no harsh words. We still play golf together to this day. What I learned from him was to just treat people the way you wanted to be treated, and to service the members and guests the way they should be treated.

“Bob has an endearing personality. He makes everybody feel warm, like you’ve known him for years. He grew up working in the trenches. He’s old school. He’d never ask anyone to do anything he wouldn’t have done. I learned that from him and hopefully conveyed that to my people who have gone on and worked in the industry.

“Bob was a very good player who beat Arnold Palmer in his hey-day. He found his niche in being a club pro and that goes back to the way he is. It comes natural to him and is not manufactured. There’s no phoniness in Bob. Everybody knows where they stand with him. It is ironic that I go back to Susquehanna Valley and worked with Bob in the 1970s and then followed him at Baltusrol. I’ve been very fortunate.”

Besides Steffen, other current head pros mentored by Ross include George Deitz (Canoe Brook), Al Sutton (Paradise Valley, Az.), Mark Hartfield (Sankaty Head, Mass.), and Larry Dornish (Muirfield Village, O.).

“He’s a pro’s pro. Bob really taught the assistants and wanted them out there. I like the fact that so many of his assistants stay in contact with him and want to talk with him. He’s one head pro who did more than please members. He’s always wanted the assistants to go to good places,” said Baltusrol member Dot Paluck, the head of the USGA Women’s Committee, who along with husband Tom, often dined with Bob and his late wife Dolores.

“It never ceases to amaze me in how many places I’ve been across the country, there are who know him. Everywhere I go, and I’ve been doing a lot of traveling with the USGA, people know him and ask about him.

“I can’t think of anybody who would say a bad word about him. He’s been a fabulous pro with the membership. He’s always the same personality and nice with everybody. He keeps his cool, knows his stuff, plays the game well and doesn’t overdo it. He’s just a neat guy. For Tom, he’s a really good friend and has been since we joined Baltusrol in 1976, and Bob had just started,” Dot Paluck recalled.

Ross discussed the relationship between the host pro and the touring pros has changed over the years.

“In 1980, it was a different environment. The pros came in and introduced themselves and talked to you. When you hosted an Open, you became friends with the Nicklauses, the Finsterwalds. The fact that you played with them in practice rounds meant you’d get more acquainted.

“My association with them became gratified after Jack won that tournament. Three days later, I got a note from his wife Barbara for being so nice to Jack and the rest of his family. You got letters from pros after helping them get comfortable.”

Ross had only been way from Baltusrol for a year when a former member, Pat Welsh, reached out to him and told him about a project he was involved in – the building of Hawk Point Golf Club in Washington, N.J., in Hunterdon County along with real estate developer Richard Cotton of Asbury Farms Real Estate.

“I worked in the development of the golf course along with the architect and the superintendent. We developed it in 1998-99 and in opened in 2000. I liked being involved because it kept me busy. There’s always a challenge in designing a project like this.

“I also felt I could help Hawk Pointe with the marketing. I could help get the word out.”

Ross lives in one of the 120 homes that surround the course. Another phase is planned that includes 100 senior apartments, a wellness building and more lodging.

“My experience from Sawgrass and other places helped Hawk Pointe get started,” he said.

Bob took over at Hawk Pointe as director of golf in 2000. He helped hire a golf pro and helped in the design of the clubhouse.

“We tried to minimize the labor in and around the clubhouse. We put the cart room nears the pro shop. We put the kitchen and the food service in the middle of the clubhouse. We put offices upstairs. On one side of the kitchen was formal dining and on the other side informal dining and a bar. We also put a nice deck outside facing the golf course to people can sit, eat and enjoy the views.

“We also put the putting green in front of the pro shop and the driving range 75 yards from there. I think it’s all very functional and convenient for what the owners wanted to do.

“We placed the homes, but them in a position where they don’t encroach on the golf course, but the course is visible and that’s part of the marketing strategy regarding the real estate values. We also have a swimming pool and tennis courts.

“I tried to help create a membership program. We have 240 members now and would like it to be 300. It’s so nice being out here in the country. When you come out here, you turn your motor off. I’ve liked the job change. I play here and Batusrol. “

Cotton said he knew very little about golf when he and Welch decided to pursue Hawk Pointe.

“Really, Bob was my sounding board and the visionary of our golf course. He is an innovator. He was a course architect who made sure to not make it so challenging that only low handicappers could enjoy it. He made sure it is for all golfers,” Cotton said.

“Bob was a real help in building this place. When it comes to integrity and his style of interacting with people, There isn’t anyone in the world that doesn’t universally admire and respect him. He has an energy and passion about whatever he does that is an inspiration to everybody around him.

“His input and help with the whole thing was incredibly valuable. What I’ve always loved about Bob is how he can relate to the caddie or the world’s most sophisticated CEO. It’s the way he connects with people. He’s been an inspiration for me and my family. Without Bob in the building of Hawk Pointe, we would have struggled through. But it would never have been the same place without him. He still brings people here now.

“Hawk Pointe is something special to us. It’s like a piece of art signed by Bob Ross that is a tremendous asset to our area, all the people that come here and all the people that work here,” Cotton surmised.

Ross, who is in both the New Jersey PGA and Philadelphia PGA sections Halls of Fame and has two tournaments named after him, looks back on his life in golf in the most positive way.

“When I was at Baltusrol, I did the club fitting and the gripping, all the intricacies that went into it after a five-year apprenticeship before you could even join the PGA. They don’t do that anymore. I was the one who put the Baltusrol logo on the irons and sold a lot of sets of irons that way. The members loved them,” said Ross, whose hobbies include collecting antique golf clubs.

He is also passionate about thoroughbred horse racing and makes an annual trek to Saratoga Race Course each summer.

“The members were your bread and butter. If you served them correctly, you’d be rewarded. There wasn’t enough you could do for them. They’d bring in guests and you made them feel special. You’d give them a couple of shirts. I always felt it was a service industry. Baltusrol would get people from all over the world,” he added.

“I was a lucky guy because I got to do what I wanted to do. I’ve done it since I was 12. I’ve had the best of times in the golf business.”