TAHOE DONNER’S GOLF PRO

Jeff Hwang

TAHOE DONNER’S GOLF PRO

By ALI DICKSON

OUR NEW GOLF PRO HAS KNOWN THE TAHOE DONNER GOLF COURSE LIKE THE BACK OF HIS HAND SINCE HE WAS 8 YEARS OLD

A Swing of Fate

Jeff Hwang was a young boy in the late 1980s when he and his family, who lived in San Mateo, purchased their Tahoe Donner vacation home. They bought into the association for the typical amenities – skiing, hiking, swimming. While they enjoyed the outdoors, golf was never a sport the Hwang family played. One fateful day while at the Trout Creek Recreation Center, though, Jeff was introduced to both a new hobby and future career on the greens. “When I was seven-ish with my parents at the Rec Pool, I got a little bored and ended up walking by the driving range. Pete Smith, the director of golf instruction at the time, happened to pull me aside and convince me that I should try to golf. He put a golf club in my hand and gave me a free lesson. Seeing something that impressed him, I suppose, he sent me to the side of the golf course and got me in touch with Bruce Towle, who was the head golf professional at the time. From there, I fell in love with the game.”

Gaining the Skills

Jeff was originally a hockey player, but golf quickly became a staple in his life. “For two months every summer from when I was 12 years old to a high school graduate, I played every day on this golf course. It was my summer safe haven. Plus, I've worked on and off here since I was 16 – there's not one job on this golf property that I haven't done. When I graduated, I went to college for a couple of years, competing but not really enjoying the game. I realized I wasn’t good enough to play professional golf but still wanted to be in the business.”

While briefly returning to Tahoe Donner, Jeff felt the need to continue his golf education. “I headed down to San Diego to the Golf Academy of America. I graduated with the President's Award and as valedictorian, then did a lot of interning at Fujikura, Titleist and TaylorMade. After that, I got the opportunity to go over to PGA West Golf Academy for three years. I learned from the great instructors at PGA West. Then, at Indian Wells Golf Resort, I worked under Joe Williams, who is a multiple-time Troon Golf Professional of the year and a great mentor.”

Returning a Pro

Learning from highly skilled professionals and a variety of jobs helped to advance Jeff in his career, but his end game never veered far from his home course. “Joe Williams helped me find a job closer to home as the first assistant at Red Hawk in Reno, which turned into head golf professional over three and a half years. After corporate golf settings for another three and a half years, I wanted something that was a little more personal. I took a job at Petaluma Golf & Country Club in Northern California.” Once the pandemic hit in 2020, he set his sights back on the greens at Tahoe Donner, and the rest is history. Jeff has been quick to reestablish old relationships and create new ones. The life of a golf professional is anything but calm, but when you work where you play, it becomes a whole lot easier to embrace the lifestyle. From a fateful golf swing as a child to instruction under PGA masters to a destined return to the place that started it all, Jeff reflects, “It's really full circle for me. I took this job over other positions because this place matters to me, because it's where I got my start. Some of the members I've known since I was seven or eight. This course – Tahoe Donner’s course – is home.”

Future Junior Golf Opportunities

Not only is the golf course in the best shape it’s been in for decades, but Jeff has plans in future seasons to improve the junior golf school as well.

“In future years, my goal is to build a bigger golf academy and have a bigger junior program. It’s a personal goal because junior golf is my story and how I got my start. If it wasn't for Bruce and Pete, there's no chance I'd have picked up a golf club in my life. You really can find your career or your passion here in any of our amenities. Your child could just find their passion and turn it into a career.”

A Great Game Calls for Great Gear

If you’re looking to elevate your game this season, take advantage of top-of-the-line Callaway Golf gear stocked right in Tahoe Donner’s Pro Shop. “Our partnership with Callaway allows us to get the newest gear in your hands quickly. We will have all new gear in the shop every year to help you play a high-quality game!” On top of the best products in the industry, look for personalized Tahoe Donner golf balls, gloves and more. Learn more about golf opportunities on page 17 and at tahoedonner.com/golf.

FROM “AFFORDABLE” TO “ACHIEVABLE”

EXPANDING OUR CONCEPT OF HOUSING NEEDS IN THE NORTH TAHOE-TRUCKEE REGION

By THE MOUNTAIN HOUSING COUNCIL

When the Mountain Housing Council (MHC) was formed in 2017, the first task for the 25+ partners was to expand the definition of housing beyond the traditional concept of “affordable housing.” Affordable, or low-income, housing is reserved for those who make less than 80% of the area median income (AMI), which does not cover most of our workforce. “Achievable housing,” as MHC defined it, reflected a framework that embodied the range of unmet housing needs in the region – from homelessness to middle-income salary earners – and not just the lowest wage earners. By focusing on an expanded definition, the hope was that the region could better address a diversity of household needs and create additional opportunities across the economic spectrum of our community. The upper limit of Achievable Housing would be dictated by an annual housing needs assessment, since market forces and AMI change frequently.

In 2021, the MHC housing needs assessment highlighted that this new category of those making up to 120% of the AMI was now the greatest need. This shift was, in part, due to the pandemic, which led to an influx of remote workers buying homes, a number of long-term rentals being sold and a new, highly competitive rental market, in addition to the ongoing issue of rising construction costs. As local workforce is pushed out of the area, it can cause a domino effect, where businesses shut down and the area lacks enough labor for critical work, such as new housing construction.

Unfortunately, the majority of federal and state subsidy programs only provide financial support for housing programs that serve households earning no more than 80% AMI, excluding middleincome salary earners. As a result, MHC partners have dug into state and federal legislative and lobbying efforts, working to help educate legislators about the unique housing challenges in tourism-based regions like ours for those who earn up to 195% AMI, with partners hoping that, one day, subsidy programs might be expanded to provide financial support for programs that serve all of local workforce who cannot find housing here. Below are some of the projects and programs that MHC partners have been working on over the past five years to further achievable housing: • Tracking achievable local housing project progress in the region • Introducing a process that can support housing readiness, titled “Achievable Housing for All,” which involves identification of land parcels, jurisdictional general plans, local actions, programs and funding to assist developers in unlocking housing on those parcels • Setting a regional housing agenda and doing the groundwork to help create a framework of capacity that will be necessary for all the moving parts to come together to support the community and developers in the housing process (noted “the HUB”) • Raising funds for housing solutions and exploring local housing trust options • Researching and developing white papers and policy recommendations on a number of housing topics, including barriers to obtaining achievable housing (such as fees) • Providing educational speakers to the public on important topics such as fire resilient, affordable housing construction materials, cohousing and more • Providing resources to help connect renters with available housing • Finding better ways to communicate with and incentivize second homeowners to rent to local workers • Partnering with business owners and other employers to support housing solutions for local workforce • Helping to develop and push for more affordable/achievable housing units • Working with partners to create a Temporary Community

Housing pilot program

By MHC partners coming together to collaborate on a number of projects and initiatives, the hope is that, as a community, we can chip away at producing the change necessary for housing to become truly achievable.