family Meet the Helfrich Family If you know a family you would like to nominate, please email
Writer Lynsi Freitag Photographer Loralei Photography
shelly@imagesaz.com.
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Tee It Up!
t is no wonder why the Helfrich family chose to live in the North Valley. The long-time residents of Cave Creek and north Scottsdale are quite comfortable in the golfers’ playground
of the desert mountains. For Michael, Kathy, daughter Kendall, 11, and son Carter, 9, the love of golf is a family passion, passed along to the children through fun mornings on the course laughing, learning and growing to appreciate the cunning of the strategy and the solid whack of metal against dimpled resin. “I was introduced to golf when I was six years old and the game came relatively easy,” says Michael, whose children have also embraced the game. In spite of his seemingly singular obsession now, golf was not always Michael’s top sport. He attended college on a baseball scholarship, but a sudden serious spinal cord injury ended his baseball career. Michael turned his focus back to golf, the game he grew up loving. He worked part time at Eugene Country Club in Oregon, and focused his efforts on making the sport his lifelong career. After college, Michael worked in a series of golf-related positions. Eventually, a position with Golf Digest Information Systems brought him to Arizona.
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