Long post i know-ill post more stories if y'all like reading them

My post on the other thread about Vaquero got me thinking yall may enjoy some stories from the upper tier of golf clubs. No humble brags here...i worked outside on the range and we weren't allowed to accept tips.

I worked at Vaquero all through high school. My first time out was for the member guest and they needed extra caddies. I played at a high school down the road so we were asked to come help. The guy I caddied for was a lot of fun...he took a cart and i just rode with him for the entire round. He asked for a some Budweiser before we teed off and they only had budlight so the course sent someone to get this man some Budweiser. They delivered on the 4th hole or so. I spent much of the day quoting caddy shack and having a good time. The round ended and this guy gives me $400 in 20s. I'm thinking....i need to get a job here.

Our one rule at Vaquero is "if a member asks for it and its legal then we do it". As an outside service we had the keys to 3 BMW 7 series and one of the X5 SUVs. These were used to run errands, pick up members from airport, pick up their kids from karate, basically anything that they asked us to do.

Members could call the club and ask for a gallon of milk at 2am or ask for the club to plan a vacation to Hawaii...literally anything goes

Drew Bledsoe wanted his Mercedes in California for training camp so he asked the club to help. One of my buddies jobs was to drive his car to California stay during training camp then drive it back when he was done.

Some members wanted to hit ProVs as range balls and some wanted the new Callaway ball....problem was solved when they just did both and every night we would pick the range, clean the balls, then hand sort the range balls into different trash cans for the next day.

Tiger came during the summer because Hank Haney was a member. We had a Dr. Woods that's a member but i was working the range one day and I hear in my ear piece "Mr Woods is on his way to the range". I say "dont you mean Dr. Woods?"...."no.....Mr Woods". I meet Tiger at his cart and carry his bag down for him. Talked a bit while cleaning his clubs as he warmed up...very cool process to watch. He lost a long drive contest and had to give one of our guys a pair of his shoes out of his Buick.

Tiger was treated the same as any member of any age....i think that's why he liked it. He shows up and is put in a que just like everyone else and he must play with a member someone on staff

Fred Funk was hitting on the range one day and asked me "how long is it to that flag"....I say "242 yards". He looks down at his driver then back at me "are you sure?" "Yes sir I laser'd it this morning".....he just smiled and shook his head...wow

Mark Teixeira and 3 other rangers showed up to play but Mark had to leave on number 9...this left them playing without a member. My boss radios me "you have your clubs with you? Always. "Ok, go meet the Teixeira group on 10 your playing today". Oh and Teixeira was carrying the entire driving range with a fade as he warmed up...i was measuring about 340 carry for him.



ok...post is getting long...if yall want any more stories ill post more later

I think i can speak safely for the rest of the board. We will want more stories later.

Good stories. Keep them coming!

What if someone called the club at 2am asking for zip ties, a tarp, bleach, and a shovel?

Ok ok...a few more

Discovery land used to be the group that ran Vaquero. The guys that ran Vaquero (Abbott and Paulson) are the guys that branched off and did Bluejack with Tiger. The head pro now at Miramont (Rob Yee) used to work at Vaquero-awesome guy

Ill start explaining the effort we went into on the customer service side: We are expected to know everyone's name so everyone is greeted personally. Normally the valet guys recognize the car when the member drives up but if its a guest or new member then we gotta do some homework. The valet guys would open up the glove box to find the insurance card in the car. (Everyone on staff has a radio and an ear piece that goes up under your shirt with a mic that is also under your shirt). The valet guy calls into the club house letting them know the name of the member or guest who is walking in. Then valet radios to the guys working downstairs with the clubs and carts so we bring the bag up and on a cart so when the member walks out their cart is ready. The guys working in the cart staging area let the guys working the range know when the member is on their way to warm up. So anywhere the member goes they are greeted by name. There are no tee times at Vaquero so the guys on the range keep everyone in order on who got there first and how long they typically want to warm up. As the member leaves the range we let the guy on the first tee know who is coming over. You cant tee off on the first hole until the group in front of you is on the green.

We weren't allowed to sit down while we were on the clock, had to wear dress shoes, wear slacks, had to have matching belt....if not you were sent home. If we were going to another area while we were working...say from the range to the club house we jogged. If no one was hitting on the range and the balls were picked then we picked up broken tees. If tees were picked up we picked up the divots and any cut grass laying on the hitting area.

Members would have a profile made how they like certain drinks made, favorite Gatorade flavor, etc....when a member orders a drink they are made how they like them.

When I was there there weren't menus needed-members just ordered what they wanted and the kitchen made it

Every day we laser every pin and use magnets at every hitting bay to chart distances to pins.

One day Terry Bradshaw shows up at like 730am to hit balls and play. He was my favorite member. He parks his cart and i grab his clubs. He gets out and he's got a fat dip in, his shin is bleeding, and he has a cut on his forehead. I say "what happened to you?" He said he ran into his tractor that morning and cut his shin and then hit his head on the garage door. Rough morning. Later that day I was driving down number 9....i see a cart driving at me with the drivers leg sticking straight out. As i get closer i see that Bradshaw has locked in and staring at me....he yells "Let's joust!" He wanted to joust me with our legs pointed at each other....he would have crushed me.

I got caught sitting once downstairs in the cart barn. Boss walks in (I'd never seen him down there) "What are doing?" I stand up..."nothing left to do". Laundry done? Yep. Carts clean? Yep. Cold towels folded for groups finishing on 18? Yes sir......he pauses....."did you go through all the bags we have in storage and check to see if all of the clubs have labels and if the addresses are up to date? Damn.....no....brb lol

My first few weeks at the club my boss asks me what driver I'm playing. I tell him the old Cleveland launcher but i wanted the Cleveland 460 comp but haven't found it left handed yet. 2 weeks later he calls me up to the club house.....left handed 460 comp sitting by his desk. He goes "here ya go...found it" free driver....quick way to build loyalty.

One night at like 6pm this girl walks up tome on the driving range...maybe 6 years old. "May I have a cherry popsicle?" Of course. I radio the kitchen....no cherry popsicle....kitchen is going to check walk in freezer....none....someone checks the 2nd restaurant.....none....someone drives out to check the comfort stations.(more on these later)...no luck.... Boss hears us trying to find this dang cherry popsicle and chimes in. "Someone take the 7 series and go to Albertsons and get this girl a cherry popsicle please". Done...be back in 20 minutes

Comfort stations...so at vaquero they have these small buildings with big barn doors. The back are bathrooms but open up the barn doors and you have candy, snacks, fruit, chips, drinks, ice cream...you name it....already all paid for with monthly dues so just take what you want. If they dont have what you want....just ask for it...we will get it.

We had a kids camp one summer....course is empty...no one on the range...just a bunch of 5-8 year olds. My boss walk over....can u drive the range picker over here and just drive it in circles like 20-30 yards away so these kids can hit golf balls at you? Head drops....lol.....sure

Husband and wife show up....new members...wife is hitting balls and wants a new hat. Boss gets on radio...can you bring out all of the ladies hats we have in every color to the driving range? Sure can. She picks out a hat...."do you have matching gloves?".....ill be right back (with all of the gloves lol)

The magic of customer service....it takes effort but people loved vaquero for the service provided

Quote:

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We had a kids camp one summer....course is empty...no one on the range...just a bunch of 5-8 year olds. My boss walk over....can u drive the range picker over here and just drive it in circles like 20-30 yards away so these kids can hit golf balls at you? Head drops....lol.....sure

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Lol yeah...going from cleaning Tigers wedges one day to that kept you in your place

Bradshaw was on the range one day....a giant chew in. Like a gross amount chew. It seemed like he would spit like every 5 minutes like when his mouth was full lol. I was standing to his right. He was struggling on the range...blades, chunks, off the toe....he really chilly dips one bad. I turn and say "got a hold of that one" I turn back to talk with the other member....then BAM Terry Bradshaw punches me in the arm for the worst dead arm I've recieved. His hands are still up ready to box. He says "let's go" lol...I say I've got no chance mr Bradshaw. Hes a great guy...just a normal dude

My college girlfriend's family lived in Cottonwood at Las Colinas and were members there. I would play with her dad every time I came up.

Bradshaw was a member there at that time (late 80s). Bradshaw was playing the hole next to us and a Marshall drove up and terry flagged him down. He pulls his driver out from behind his bag in 2 pieces and says, "hey, would you please have them reshaft my driver?" "Of course, Terry." The Marshall gets into his cart and is about to drive off and terry stops him and says, "on second thiught, these aren't worth a **** either." And he pulls two other clubs out of his bag and snaps them over his knee and hands them to the Marshall.

This is hilarious. I am currently employed at Vaquero. Been at Vaquero since 2020. I'm also a current student so I only work summers now. That place has the same stories. Just the names change.

Back when I worked in golf ops, I carried George Bush's clubs down. He proceeded to have an awesome conversation with me and as I'm walking his clubs up, he goes, "I know you're too shy to ask, but give your phone to one of my secret service guys and grab a picture with me." One of the coolest moments of my life because you never ask for photos with members. No one believed me that I didn't ask.

I currently work in the Men's Locker Room and the **** that goes on there is pretty awesome to see for a regular college student