BY TRAVIS CRAM

AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

There are changes being made to The Rawls Golf Course.

No, the long, usually into-the-wind, par-5 18th hole will not get any easier.

Effective Monday, Troon Golf took over management responsibilities at the Texas Tech course.

Troon, established in 1991 and based in Scottsdale, Ariz., stepped in to manage The Rawls under Tech, which still owns the course. Troon manages more than 70 other private and public courses in the U.S. and more than 100 courses worldwide, according to the company’s Web site.

Greg Winter took over Monday as the director of golf operations after being at Rose Creek Golf Course in Edmond, Okla., for more than seven years. Troon recently sold the course and Winter took the opportunity to move to West Texas.

“I stayed in touch with my senior vice president at Troon and he let me know of the course being added under Troon,” Winter said. “My interest was to stay with the company and after I met with Bobby Gleason and Gerald Myers, fortunately it worked out.”

Winter brings 20 years of experience in the golf industry with him — 14 with Troon. And it’s also a homecoming for his wife, Callie, who grew up in Pampa and graduated from Tech.

Winter said there will be only minimal changes over the course of the next few months while Troon re-evaluates the course, its structure and policies.

Although the majority of the more than 100 properties Troon manages worldwide are private, Winter said there are no plans to make The Rawls a private course.
The only changes thus far have been at the management level of the course.

Winter steps in for Jack North, who retired as managing director after seven years at The Rawls.

Head professional Robert Salazar is starting a new career and Lex Webster left earlier last month as the food and beverage manager. The positions have not been filled yet.

All current employees, with the exception of department manager Paula Garner, will now be employees of Troon Golf. Garner will still be employed by Tech.

The course still plans to be home to the Tech men’s and women’s golf teams. Winter said if anything, he and Troon hope to make the course better for its competitive college and junior golfers, as well as the general public.

He said there is also a fundraising project already set in motion by Tech to help build a full clubhouse for the course.

“That is already high on the priority list for the university,” Winter said. “I think it will help tie the golf course in even moreso with the university.”

Troon manages three other courses in the state of Texas; The Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Teravista Golf Club in Austin and The Golf Club at Champions Circle in Fort Worth.