Every year, Linksouldiers across the country find their way to the Sierra Nevadas to take part in the Burning Man of golf... The LS2Man Championship. And every year, one man has to deal with this group of misfits. The head pro at Grizzly Ranch is Van Batchelder, and he’s about as cool a guy as it gets, which figures considering every day he wakes up in one of the most beautiful landscapes California has to offer, and gets to care for one of our favorite courses. If you ever get a chance, Grizzly Ranch is golf as it was meant to be... and just one hell of a great trip through the forest. We threw a few questions Van’s way recently, just to get an idea what it’s like to wear a cowboy hat and run Fort Awesome everyday.
Let’s start with the obvious… What’s with the cowboy hat and boots? You don’t see much of that from a PGA Golf Pro?
The cowboys boots in the shop was pure accident...I needed some good boots for myself and I found a good quality boot in Boulet that would let me place a little order to try out. Because they were one of the most expensive items in the shop I wanted to make sure everyone saw them so I placed them by the front door...I cannot begin to tell you how many customers picked up the boots and looked at the sole and said " where's the spikes?"...dang near every person that walked through the door--damnedest thing I've ever seen...that was 15 years ago--and they're still doing it!
We sell about 25 pairs of cowboy boots every year and now have people coming in annually to get their boots.
As for the hat...there is actually not many better hats for sun protection than a cowboy hat and they stay on in the wind while still having some style to them. I've worn them for so long now that my members don't recognize me without them and when they get too wore out for the golf course I can use them when I get home to the ranch
How and when did you take up the game of golf?
I took up golf as a sophomore in high school...I played football, basketball and baseball but never tried golf until a buddy talked me into sneaking through the fence of the nearby country club and trying it...I still remember the first hole we played---174 yard par 3 over a ravine...he gave me a 3 wood and said try this...first two swings were whiffs, next one I knocked on the green. Later in the evening (we kept playing the same hole because it was farthest from the club house and closest to the hole in the fence) I pitched one in the hole from 40 yards out...I got to thinkin' this isn't so hard, with just a little practice this might be pretty fun--here I am 40+ years later still trying to figure it out.
When did you decide to make being a golf professional a career?
I didn't play very much Junior golf, maybe a couple events and I wasn't on a team until college but I kept getting a little bit better each year and was able to make the traveling team at Fresno State the year we finished 10th in the country at NCAA nationals hosted by Ohio State. After school I played the mini tours and South American tour for a season but that's a tough way to make a living. My first job in a golf shop was at Fort Washington CC in Fresno and it was the year we hosted the finals for the PGA Tour School...notable because some pretty good players came out of that school such as Fred Couples, Mark Weibe and Mark O'Meara to name a few.
How did you end up running such great golf courses in the Sierra Nevada's - Whitehawk Ranch and Grizzly Ranch?
I have been fortunate to work at some really nice places starting with my first head pro job at Los Caballeros GC in Wickenburg, AZ through which I met the owners of Whitehawk Ranch GC. I was associated with Whitehawk for 10 years and thought I had retired when I approached Grizzly Ranch about teaching a few days...5 years later I'm still looking to 'just teach a few days'
Who influenced your golf game the most and which players did you most enjoy watching as a kid?
I've always been a big fan of Tom Watson...he went to school at Stanford which was just down the road from San Mateo Community College where I first played on a team. I would go down to the Crosby Clambake at Pebble and watch him play.
Which golfers that you played with or against do you have best memories of of about? Any you can share?
I played a couple times with Fred Couples and had seen him at a couple of events I qualified for. Actually, it was rather discouraging--once in a practice round at Fort Washington, I was trying to work my tee shot under a tree on the corner of the first hole so I had a chance to reach the par 5 in two...I managed to be somewhat successful and then watched Freddie blow it over the top of the tree I was trying to go under--with his 3 wood! Then he flew a 5 iron to the back of the green and was putting for eagle...that was where I pretty much learned I might not be playing full time for a living.
How do you remember meeting and getting to know John Ashworth?
John and I met through a mutual friend, Mitch Thomas, while in college...John was at Arizona and I was at Fresno State and we played a lot of similar college events. Years later, I was working at Denver Country Club as an assistant and John walked into the golf shop peddling this new clothing line that was all cotton and had graphics--Ashworth Clothing. We were one of their first accounts...then years later again, through Hank, we met up again with one of the first gatherings of the Linksoul 2-Man with a practice round at Whitehawk Ranch
What's special about Grizzly Ranch and why is it so damn fun to play?
Grizzly Ranch just has its own ambience...there is no other way to describe it. It has hard holes, easy holes and medium holes...they go left, they go right, they go straight...they are long, they are short, they are medium...just seems like you rarely hit the same shot on the same hole if you play different days or even different times of the day. And Grizzly Ranch has the purest greens, day in and day out, that I have ever seen in 30+ years in the golf business. They are always the right speed for everyone without being too fast for the average player. You get over a 30 footer and you really believe you can make it! And then after golf there are few settings that are more relaxing...overlooking the 18th green, the covered bridge and waterfall with the sun going down is unbeatable! It is just a cool place...
Your thoughts on the LS2Man Championship?
The LS2Man is just what the course is built for and deserves. We love sharing our facility with everyone because there is a little something for everyone but the fact of the matter is that this is a 'big boy course' and you better bring some game. At some point Grizzly Ranch will expose your weakness...again and again. The beauty of hosting the LS2Man is all the players appreciate the golf course for what it is...a fair, challenging course that is doable on every hole and undoable on every hole. The course doesn't beat you up but you can beat yourself up on the course...there is not a hole that can't be birdied and there is not a hole you can't double. The LS2Man is truly the highlight of our season--from the golf staff to the grounds crew to the Lake House staff this is the event we look forward to the most--it's the best players on a great course at a great time of year!
Isn't Hank awesome?
Unfortunately my computer is about out of ink so I will not be able to elaborate past 'YES'! Thanks for bringing the LS2Man to the The Grizz Hank!!