Born and raised in Kalamazoo,
Michigan to Jerry and Margaret Smith (both music teachers), Don graduated
from Comstock High School in 1986, received a bachelor's degree from Grand
Valley State University in 1991, and a master's degree from Western Michigan
University in 1994 with a major in economics. Don came to Missaukee Golf Club in
1996 and worked as a pro-shop assistant under longtime friend David Trudell, and
in 2001 Don was named General Manager. In 2004 Don passed the P.G.A. of
America's grueling 36-hole playing ability test (recording his first hole-in-one
in the process), and is currently enrolled in Level 2 of the P.G.A.'s
Professional Golf Management Program. Don has three brothers, but it wasn't his
three brothers that got him into the game of golf but rather the movie
Caddy-shack that inspired him to apply for a
caddy position at Kalamazoo Country Club in the early '80s. Since that fateful
day, Don has worked in virtually every department related to running a golf
course. Most of his college years were spent working as the assistant to the
golf course superintendent at Milham Park Golf Club in Kalamazoo. Don credits
his experiences at Milham Park for helping him
better understand what all goes into providing championship playing conditions,
and the demands it poses on the employees trying to provide those conditions.
"Every course I've ever worked at, there was always anonymity between the
pro-shop and the maintenance crews. One department always thought that the other
had it so easy when in fact, both sides were faced with their own set of
difficulties. This never made any sense to me since we were all striving for the
same goals." Don has since brought this concept of togetherness to Missaukee
G.C. where there is a mutual respect for what the pro-shop and maintenance crews
do on a daily basis, and there is an effort to educate each other on the
challenges faced in each department. This concept of working together is not
revolutionary, but you would be surprised how often it is overlooked at even
some of the finest of courses.
This concept also carries over in Don's philosophy as it relates to the
membership. "By providing as many chances as possible for members to interact
with each other helps to differentiate us from other clubs. We want our members
to feel like they're part of something great and not just a number, which is
what you get at many other clubs. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a golf
course anywhere with the camaraderie that exists between the members, as well as
that which exists between the staff and the membership."
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