Harry Westcott recently traveled to Paradise Valley, Ariz., where son Doug Westcott was on the receiving end of an award from the southwest section of the Professional Golf Association.
Doug, director of golf at Desert Highlands Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., was the section winner of the Bill Strausbaugh Award.
“I thought it was great to get an honor from my peers, and the interesting thing about that Strausbaugh award is it has to do with a professional’s ability to grow young professionals beneath him,” Doug said. “So that really means a lot when you receive an award from your peers that you’ve helped and mentored, especially in this southwest section.
“I think it’s a very big game out here and I’m happy to say I have great relationships with those that have worked with me and for me and that have grown into great professionals, and I still keep in touch with today and work with and utilize and talk to throughout our seasons operating golf clubs,” he added.
Doug’s golf career began in early childhood when he would play with his father. It quickly turned into a challenge for Doug to best his father on the course.
“I remember as a young kid my parents used to go to Florida and they would go out and play golf,” Doug said. “One time they took me out to play golf, and I don’t know, I was maybe 6, 7. I had a great time riding in the golf cart, looking at the alligator and everything laying on the sides of the fairways by the ponds. I was playing also, and I took a swing at one and completely missed it. My dad looked at me and said, ‘Hey, that counts.’ I’ll never forget that. So I was a little challenged at that point to say I’m going to beat this guy.
“… Then, me as a young boy on Sunday afternoons I had no option, I had to go play nine holes with my dad,” he added. “Over time that sort of came to be a big challenge and I couldn’t wait to beat him.”
It didn’t take long for Doug to come out on top on the scorecard, Harry said, with his son beginning to win by age 10 or 11.
Doug continued to play throughout high school and into college, and it was in his senior year of college at Purdue University that he made the decision to pursue golf as a career.
“Part of me wanted to go into the medical profession and the other part really enjoyed just the sport, the game, being outdoors,” Doug said. “I think that final decision probably was when I was a senior in college, and then I got a small taste of Scottsdale, Ariz., at that time and felt like that’s where I belonged. I really got lucky I got into the business at an early age with a company, Grayhawk Golf Club, and that really helped me make the decision to continue in the profession. A great group of people that I still am close with today.”The news was a surprise to Harry, but he was in full support of his son’s decision.
“I was a little shocked to begin with because his mother and I had assumed all along that he was going into the medical profession,” Harry said. “Now all of a sudden his career is taking a turn, but we accepted that and we supported it because it’s his decision to make. It’s his life, and so we were fine with it.”
To see his son awarded in the southwest section as a golf professional backed up what Harry has known for some time — his son made the right decision.
“To see him receive the award last night was very, very rewarding for me as well as it was for he and his family,” Harry said. “... He has always exhibited leadership skills and he has always had a good work ethic. So that is something that has always helped him in that arena to help others to grow in that profession.”
For Doug, to be surrounded by family and his father, who was so integral in developing a love for golf, made the awards ceremony even more special.
“It was great. It was a lot of fun,” Doug said. “My brother is here also from Indiana. A good family friend from Tennessee, my father is here from Tennessee and then I have my family. I have four daughters and a wife. I think we had a great time last night, but I thought it was interesting having them all there. Being a golf professional, it’s a great job, it’s a demanding job. To have a really nice night like that where your wife and your kids can see the hard work that you provided does get awarded, it was just a wonderful night.
“It was really good,” he added. “It was great to have my dad there. A lot of fun. Unfortunately my mom couldn’t be there, but that would have been even more wonderful to have her there, but she passed away. However, having my dad there really sort of made it all come together.”
