Troon Privé, April/May 2017

TROON PRIVÉ CONNECT 43 42 TROON PRIVÉ CONNECT PROFILE JC WRIGHT Ive always wanted to give something back to the Native American community and to the game that got me here says the 40 year old Wright who grew up in South Dakota on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation In that regard I went back to my people and elsewhere to see if I could get a few other Native Americans involved in the golf business While Wright is just one of a handful of Native Americans with a PGA of America card the number is growing the most recent count lists 74 Native Americans among a member base of more than 28000 Wright has personally helped five of his tribal members find financial avenues to attend the San Diego Golf Academy now called the Golf Academy of America a certified 16 month program to attain an associates degree in Golf Management But he adds that Native Americans still have a long way to go although 74 wow thats very encouraging Thats certainly more than I would have thought Wright says At the same time it makes me feel good about the career path were on and even though were not there yet in terms of numbers thats the goal to get more Native Americans involved in golf Who would have guessed this could ever happen to Wright who grew up as the youngest of four children in a family that was raised by a single mother with not a golfer in sight Or that JC would have the right stuff to combat the social ills often associated with life on a reservation I grew up among a lot of good people but not a lot of opportunity says Wright who always has cast a big shadow with his 6 foot 5 frame All we had back then was baseball basketball and football and I loved to hunt But believe it or not all that alcoholism and drug abuse and other problems associated with the reservation they motivated me in a positive direction And so Wright a distant relative of Chief Hollow Horn Bear the revered leader associated with the Lookout Mountains JC Wright is a Role Model for His Community By Bill Huffman I LOVE TO BE AROUND PEOPLE AND LEARN ABOUT THEIR CULTURES AND WHERE THEYVE BEEN AND WHERE THEYRE GOING WHEN JON JC WRIGHT became one of the first Native Americans in the country to earn his PGA of America card in 2009 he didnt stop there Being a pioneer and a role model in the golf industry wasnt quite enough for Wright the director of golf at Lookout Mountain Golf Club at the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort Rosebud Sioux who fought alongside the legendary Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in historic battles against the U S Calvary did what he could to escape what might have been a lifelong sentence That journey began with an attempt that never panned out to walk on the football team at Black Hills State University in South Dakota and included a short stint as a dealer at a Native American owned casino It was at that casino job where JCs social skills finally hit the jackpot as he was befriended by several of the areas ranchers who ultimately got him into golf Despite never playing the game until he got out of college Wright ended up managing a little nine hole pasture golf course called Prairie Hills I ran that little club for a year and even with all the challenges I got to be a pretty good golfer Wright reports I mean my clubs didnt really fit me they were way too small and it was all pretty new But somehow in the back of my mind I kept thinking about this golf school that a rancher had told me about in Arizona and that kind of ended up being my salvation The year was 2000 and Wright crammed everything he had a few clothes his second hand clubs and his hunting rifle into his car and headed for Phoenix After arriving he joined Troon at Whirlwind Golf Club at Wildhorse Pass He also saved some money applied for grants and enrolled in the San Diego Golf Academy in Chandler OPENING DOORS I never dreamed I could get that far but all of a sudden Im 25 in the golf business and actually closer than Id ever been to my goal of being a Class A PGA professional Wright says of his great adventure In 2002 I made it reality when I got my first real job as an assistant golf professional at Ak Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club A year later he passed his PAT and thereafter earned his PGA Class A professional status in 2009 In 2014 he got his chance to sit in the No 1 seat moving to the Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Lookout Mountain as its director of golf Its been a steady yet somewhat meteoric rise and even Wright has to stop occasionally to catch his breath I wanted to be a role model just to show other Native American kids how to get it done he says And one of my main messages was You dont have to be a golfer to be in golf Its important that I have succeeded as a kind of trendsetter among my people because Im not sure what could have happened had I failed I mean Notah Begay has done a lot nationally and Sam McCracken from Nike has really supported Native Americans too Thats really the kind of impact that Id eventually like to have My strength is that I love to be around people and learn about their cultures and where theyve been and where theyre going Those things have helped to open some doors for others But if its possible I want to help open even more