Golf Job: Davey Evans - Porcupine Creek Golf Course golf director - Brief Article
AGE: 65.
HOMETOWN: Chattanooga.
WHAT HE DOES: Evans oversees anything that has to do with golf at Porcupine Creek–the private preserve of lumber tycoon Tim Blixseth, an amateur architect who designed his own course and then hired his gardener to be the greens superintendent. Evans is the only employee at Porcupine Creek with previous golf experience.
BACKGROUND: Evans got his start as a caddie in Chattanooga. After an unspectacular stint on the PGA Tour in 1959-’60, Evans took the head professional’s job at La Quinta (Calif.) Country Club in 1965. He met Blixseth there after giving Blixseth’s wife a lesson.
A DAY IN HIS LIFE: Evans gets to the course at 7:30 a.m. (He doesn’t travel far; Blixseth provides him with a house on-site.) If Blixseth or his guests are playing, Evans arranges for caddies and makes sure the course is in perfect shape. Because the course does about 500 rounds a year (mostly during outings for Blixseth’s favorite charities), Evans has plenty of time to give free lessons to guests.
DOWNSIDE: “There isn’t one,” says Evans. “To be 65 and go to this beautiful place, I’d be hard pressed to find anything wrong. Edra and Tim Blixseth are wonderful people to work for.”
SALARY: “Well compensated,” is all he admits. But when your boss spends millions for a course in his backyard, it follows that the key employee gets along without having to dip into his Social Security checks. Topsy Siderowf