Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2011 - 13

(mga profile
)
I'm a Golf
Professional
Phil Reith
Golf Pro, Woodhill CC
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ix generations of Reiths have
been golf pros, and three family
members have been golf pros in
Minnesota. Phil Reith, who has been the
head professional at Woodhill CC since
1964, will retire at the end of the 2012 season,
ending the family link to golf.
Everybody wants to come play at my
office. That's one of the things I like about
my job. I know I couldn't go to a cubicle in
an office building every day. That's why I
love driving into my office every day. I get
to the entrance to the club and make sure
never to speed. I want to see everything-
the trees, ponds, everything.
I'm part of the sixth generation of Reiths
to be a golf pro. It goes way, way back to
Scotland. My dad, Bob Reith Sr., worked as
assistant pro to Horton Smith at the Detroit
CC, then succeeded his father at Winnipeg.
He applied to be the pro here at Woodhill
but was turned down. He became the junior
pro at The Minikahda Club instead
and finally became the pro there.
My mother didn't want me to be a golf
professional. I thought about being an
accountant, because I liked math. When
I graduated from high school at St. Louis
Park, I went to the University of Minnesota.
But I wasn't a very good student. I
discovered the student union and all the
things you could do there-especially playing
pool. I only lasted one quarter at the U.
That was it for being an accountant.
My first job was working at the Minikahda
practice range for my dad. I was 10 or
12 years old, and you had to pick up the
range balls by hand. We didn't have one
of those motorized carts. I used to take a
" I get to the entrance of the club and make
sure never to speed. I want to see everything. "
5-iron and swing with my right hand or
left hand and knock the balls from the
edge of the range into the middle so I
could pick them up easier. I would hit high
shoots, low shots, all kinds of shots. I got
to be pretty good at hitting shots like that.
I was never as good as my older brother,
Bob, but I got to the semifinals of the old
Star Tribune city tournament four times.
When I left college, I needed a job. I
worked at a truck stop in Shakopee that
some neighborhood buddies ran. I almost
froze to death that winter having to be
outside, climbing up and wiping the windshields
on semi-trucks. I promised myself
I wasn't going to do that any longer than I
had to. In the spring, I asked my dad if he
could help me find a job, and he got me an
interview here at Woodhill.
The club was going through a change in
head pros, and they offered me a job as
an assistant pro. They said the pay would
be $700 a month, plus whatever money
I could make giving lessons. That sounded
pretty good to me. The next year the club
let the head pro go, and they asked me
to take over. I was only 22. I said 'Sure.'
That was 1964, so I'll be finishing 46 years
this year.
Because of the people I've met and gotten
to know here at the club, I've been able
to play just about all of the great courses in
the United States. There aren't very many
places left that I would like to play. I just
hope that when I retire after next year, I'll
be able to play a couple of times a week
with some of the biddies that I've had for
all these years, and just enjoy life.
www.mngolf.org
Fall 2011 MINNESOTAGOLFER 11
PHOTO BY MATT SEEFELDT
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2011

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