Faces

from Lake Wylie Today - Spring 2022

by SC Biz News

Healthy Wealthy and Wise

L ng L Drive

Local pro inspires four decades of golfers with a love for the game

BY KATHY WIDENHOUSE

If you’ve never played golf, you may not understand the exhilaration that radiates from the little white ball.

Gary Troyan does. He loves the game.

Gary has been hitting golf balls his entire life and he wants others to get the same thrill from the sport, too. Now, he’s closing in on four decades as River Hills Golf Club’s head pro where he teaches golf, mentors players, and organizes tournaments.

Along the way he has instilled a love for the game in thousands of golfers.

First swings

Gary grew up in Pottstown, Penn., a manufacturing hub outside of Philadelphia. His father, Cyril, was a project manager at a die casting plant and played golf in a work league. Gary and his older brother, Cork, caddied for him. Aft er a round, the senior Troyan would take his two boys onto the golf course to hit a few holes.

So in high school, when the brothers had to choose a spring sport – baseball or golf – the decision was easy. Golf was familiar, plus it meant leaving school early to fi t in 18 holes before dark.

Gary’s love aff air with golf continued during his college years at the University of Delaware. He played on the football team, but Gary and his friends regularly sneaked onto one of the Dupont golf courses to play a few holes during off hours.

He graduated with a degree in business administration but had no idea what to do with it. Yet starting young in golf has advantages, says Gary – one being friendships. A high school golf team buddy, Rick Miller, worked as an assistant at a new golf club in South Carolina called River Hills. Rick suggested that Gary apply for a job.

“I love the game,” Gary said. “So, I thought, ‘Why not’?”

In 1978, Gary joined the River Hills golf club outdoor operations staff . Over time he worked his way through various positions and wound up inside, helping to run to the place. Meanwhile, Rick Miller went on to become a pro at Spring Lake Country Club in York.

And Gary became a pro, too.

The pro shot

Th e 27,000 golf pros in the U.S. keep the golf industry humming by supervising instruction and managing local courses. A golf pro, says the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), off ers club members expertise and knowledge about the game as well as an understanding of the golf business. Some golf pros also compete in state, local, and regional tournaments.

To achieve the pro Class A designation, Gary enrolled in the PGA’s Apprenticeship Program (now the PGA Professional Golf Management Program), which requires a minimum of three years of working in the golf industry under a PGA pro’s guidance. Gary had to complete seminars and business training sessions so he could understand the ins and outs of the golf business, equipment, tournaments, and other details associated with helping people hit the little white ball.

And of course, he had to pass the PGA’s Player Ability Test (PAT) – a round of 36 – with a certain score. Fewer than 20% of those who attempt the PAT pass it, according to the PGA. Gary did so while playing at a tournament on Pinehurst No. 7 and was certifi ed as PGA Class A professional in 1983.

When the River Hills board off ered him the newly vacated head pro position in 1985, he accepted.

In that role, Gary manages the 18-hole championship course’s operations, newly renovated practice facilities, and full-service pro shop. And he oversees a staff of 15, which includes fellow golf pro Bobby Stroup, sales staff , and outside staff who load bags, deliver carts, and collect the thousands of golf balls that litter the driving range.

A big part of his job, says Gary, is organizing tournaments for the club’s men’s and women’s golf associations, and for River Hills groups that participate in Carolina Golf Association Charlotte interclub teams. And of course, he teaches lessons and operates clinics.

And he continues to work on his own game. Over the years, Gary has competed and succeeded in placing in sectional tournaments, including the Old North State Senior Open, the Firethorne Senior Two-Man, and the McGladrey Team Championship.

And in 2005, he was one of three from a fi eld of 119 who qualifi ed for the USGA Senior Open Championship. “Th at was the experience of a lifetime,” Gary said.

The long drive

Th rough the ebb and fl ow of the golf’s popularity, Gary has kept the club active and

Gary Troyan, head golf pro at River Hills Country Club. (Photo/River Hills Country Club)

Gary and assistant pro Bobby Stroup in Gary’s office, surrounded by golf gear. (Photo/Kathy Widenhouse) Gary with River Hills golf course in the background. (Photo/Kathy Widenhouse)

its membership growing.

The River Hills course was semi-private when it opened in 1969. A year later, it was purchased by the Sea Pines group, with private membership open to both residents and nonresidents in the new 1,100-home community. Most of those first River Hills golfers were retirees who played four or five times a week. Gary scheduled tee times by hand onto packed tee sheets before computers took over.

The economic crunch of the 1990s — and fewer golfers — subsequently gave way to a surge in golf popularity in the early 2000s when Tiger Woods dominated the sport. The young superstar represented the “fit golfer,” says Gary. Athletes on the greens also worked out in the weight room and on the treadmill. Fitness combined with better technology and golf equipment attracted the public to the game once again.

Since Tiger’s heyday, River Hills demographics have changed. What was once a retiree haven has given way to larger numbers of young families moving into the community, who had less time for golf … until the pandemic.

Cancelled vacations and work-fromhome arrangements meant people had extra time and a hunger to get outdoors. River Hills golf club memberships, like so many across the country, have surged in the last two years. “Golf is one activity that people felt they could do safely during COVID,” Gary said. “The pandemic was hard for

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Gary’s collage of memories from the 2005 USGA Senior Open Championship. (Photo/Kathy Widenhouse)

many, but it was good for golf.”

With that, Gary is building a new generation of golfers once again. In 2020 he and his team became certifi ed as an Operation 36 facility, and began off ering the nationwide eight-week beginner program.

Operation 36 teaches newcomers and those who want to improve their game how to succeed on the golf course by learning to chip and putt on the green, rather than by learning to golf on the driving range. Participants track their progress on a mobile app and with each successful nine-hole game under 36, move farther from the green.

River Hills assistant pro Bobby Stroup manages the program, which is exploding in popularity across the nation, and here. In just two years, more than 60 youth and 100 ladies have completed at least one cycle of Operation 36 at River Hills.

A little white ball on the ground

“Humble.” “Self-eff acing.” “A good guy.” Th at’s how River Hills golf club members describe their head pro.

But Gary credits the River Hills membership — “it’s a casual and relaxed atmosphere. We’re like a family” — with the club’s longevity. He sees himself simply as a facilitator.

“A golf ball is just a white ball sitting on the ground, but it’s such a thrill to hit it well,” Gary said. “If you don’t love the game, you’ve simply never played it.”

Or maybe you’ve played it and become frustrated.

In that case, you’ve never played it with Gary at your elbow. Maybe you should. LW

Up Your Game

Learn more about the River Hills Golf Club.

River Hills Golf Club

One Country Club Drive Lake Wylie SC, 29710 Telephone: 803-831-2126 Golf Pro Shop: 803-831-2249 Membership: 803-621-3115 Web: www.riverhillscc.org/membership Call for a membership tour appointment.

Membership Levels for Golfers

Full Membership and Junior Full Membership: Unlimited dining, golf, tennis, pickleball, swimming, social events and fitness

Sports Membership and Junior Sports Membership: 72 holes of golf per month plus unlimited dining, tennis, pickleball, swimming, social events and fitness

Social Membership and Junior Social Membership: 36 holes of golf per month plus unlimited dining, swimming, social events and fitness