Combining aspects of woods and irons, hybrid clubs are a relatively recent addition to the game of golf, but hybrid golf professionals like Don Underwood have been around much longer.

In fact, Underwood – who serves as the head coach for Grand Valley State University’s men’s golf team and as the PGA professional for The Meadows golf course – has worked at GVSU for several years.

After growing up around the greens and caddying at his local golf course, Underwood enrolled in the professional golf management program at Ferris State University out of high school. Upon graduating, he apprenticed with a PGA member while fulfilling the required training to become a PGA pro.

That training, he said, prompted his initial hire at the university.

“When I showed up at Grand Valley, I was hired to be the golf pro at The Meadows,” he said. “At that time there was not a men’s or women’s program for college golf. So that wasn’t really part of the hiring process other than knowing there was going to be a team that was going to start up, and if that was something I was interested in having involvement with, then the opportunity would be there.”

Since that hire, Underwood’s responsibilities have grown two-fold as this year marks his 17th as Lakers men’s golf coach. In that span, Underwood – a four-time GLIAC Coach of the Year – has guided the golf program through its own growth, including ten NCAA Tournament appearances and four GLIAC championships.

While Underwood’s mark on the program is evident in those accolades, he remains uncertain as to whether the burden of two roles in the golf program has affected him.

“I don’t know, maybe my hair’s a little grayer,” he joked.

As the head coach, one of Underwood’s chief responsibilities is building relationships with and managing all of the team’s personalities – no small task, but one that he said is made easy by their shared passions for the game of golf.

“Most other coaches, maybe with the exception of a couple, once they get into coaching are really removed from being able to go out and participate in the activity with the players,” Underwood said. “That’s something that with the game of golf, I can go out and play and compete with these kids. I think that helps build up a different bond and a common ground for us.”

Even so, the gigs are not all games for Underwood. Because of his two purposes at GVSU, he finds little time to play golf. This, he said, runs counter to the perception that golf professionals play golf at their leisure while working.

“The reality is actuality quite the opposite,” he said. “If you look at it, we’re running a business and there’s revenue and expenses and all the things that go into operating that business. There’s a fairly sizeable amount of revenue that can be generated out of a golf operation, and you need to be able to make sound business decisions.”

Just as golf courses present their own array of hazards and challenges, Underwood faces his biggest obstacle in time management. In order to fulfill both of his duties effectively, Underwood often has to prioritize his time – even in the midst of seven-day work weeks. Often, this means focusing on his operational duties.

“Luckily for me, with the sport of golf, much of what needs to be learned can’t be taught,” he said. “The way you learn is to put the time in – there’s a trial and error side of it – and they need to find out what works, and they need to be the ones to put the time and effort into it. The nature of the game eliminates some of the challenges that might come on with it if I wasn’t able to be there with them.”

Aside from budgeting priorities at work, Underwood admitted there are busy times during the season when he has to budget his personal time carefully because he is out of the house quite a bit.

“That’s difficult on my family and my wife. She’s been great and very supportive of it. It’s probably more difficult on her at times than it is on me,” he added. “I’m fortunate I’m doing something that I love, but my wife and kids at times are going stretches where I’m on the road traveling or I’m out on campus doing something for the operational side of the course.”

Ever the competitor, Underwood laughed and said that winning is what makes the challenges of his jobs worthwhile.

“That’s the ultimate goal, but also watching the players develop, watching the kids get better, watching them have success, being part of that – those are things I like. I like the competitive side of it, that’s a huge part of coaching.”

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