For This Club Pro, Driving Was His Life

Club professional Bill Hulbert is accustomed to long commutes to work. For a five-year period, he worked no closer than a 140-mile round trip from home.

Then his commute got worse. For sixth months after taking over as head professional at Yorba Linda Country Club, his permanent residence remained in Santa Maria.

“I was coming down here five or six days at a time, racing up to see my wife and kids and racing back down,” Hulbert said. “That’s a 450-mile round trip. I got real familiar with one of the hotels down here.”

After selling the family home in Santa Maria, Hulbert has settled into his two-mile drive to work. “My road warrior days are hopefully at an end for some time,” he said.

Hulbert was hired to replace long-time head pro Tom Sargent, who left for the top job at Mesa Verde Country Club. Coincidentally, Hulbert had also applied at Mesa Verde.

Like Sargent, Hulbert is a member of the Southern California PGA’s executive committee. Sargent is former president and current honorary president of the organization made up of 1,600 PGA professionals and apprentices in Southern California. Hulbert is vice president and will become president in December 1997.

With his main responsibility of making sure the Yorba Linda members have positive experiences with the game, Hulbert’s plate is full, which is how he likes it.

“It’s always something different,” he said, “and that’s part of the intrigue for me about this business.”

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* Name: Bill Hulbert

* Age: 46

* Course: Yorba Linda Country Club

* Position: Head professional

* Education: Ohio State, University of Akron

* Teaching philosophy: “I like to start out slow and build off certain basic athletic motions--see how they move when you give them some basic fundamentals and then go from there.”