The Tee Time Cup in 2012 at Nicklaus Club – Monterey. (L to R) Trini Guillen (business partner in Jones & Company), Tyler Williamson, Mina Harigae, Assistant at Pasadera at the time, Stephanie Kono (who won the event), Parker McLachlin, Dave Parker (Breitfuss’ friend who helped support Troy Kelly before Tee Time took over) and Breitfuss
I
n the summer of 1979, Curt Breitfuss was hang- ing out by the pool in his parents’ backyard in
Orange County, trying to decide which junior college he would slouch his way through. He was a bright kid and a good golfer but suffering through some of the aimlessness that left Dustin Hoffman sitting on the bottom of his parents’ pool in “The Graduate.” One sunny afternoon,
Breitfuss fell into conver- sation with his brother’s girlfriend, who had just enrolled at Cal State Ful- lerton. She had the bright idea that Breitfuss should cold-call Ed Beard, the golf coach at Fullerton, and attempt to talk his way into a tryout. On a lark Breitfuss did exactly that, and next thing he knew he was on a driving range in Fullerton, with Beard examining his action. Eleven holes into a round together the coach had seen enough. “Con-
gratulations, you’re on the team,” Beard said. Three weeks later
Breitfuss was playing his first tournament, against the likes of Corey Pavin and Duffy Waldorf. “Golf changed the course of my
Tee Time Benefactors
PGA Tour Stats Parker McLachlin – Rookie
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Year: 2007; Best Finish: Win (2008 Reno-Tahoe Open); Top 10s: 4; Cuts Made: 46; Earnings: $2.3 Million. Troy Kelly – Rookie Year: 2009;
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Best Finish: 2 ( 2012 Greenbrier Classic); Top 10 Finishes: 1; Cuts Made: 18, Earnings: $858K
LPGA Tour Stats Mina Harigae – Rookie Year:
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2010; Best Finish: T5 (2013 Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship); Top 10 Finishes: 6; Cuts Made: 71; Earnings: $1 Million
life in a pretty profound way,” he says. Breitfuss was a mid-
dling college player but a dedicated student-athlete, earning a degree in finance that began a long and successful career in hedge funds; he is the owner and portfolio manager of Jones & Company, a fund-to- fund in managed futures. Even as he was building a business and raising four kids with his wife Julie, Breitfuss never fell out of love with golf. Marrying his head for numbers with a desire to give back to the game that has given him so much, Breitfuss has spon- sored more than a dozen touring pros over the last decade and a half, launching a handful to the PGA and LPGA Tours.
Breitfuss has caddied for client and friend Parker McLachlin (left, top) during the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational.
“He’s been like an angel
on the shoulder for a lot of people in golf,” says Parker McLachlin, the 2008 Reno-Tahoe Open champ who counts Breitfuss as a benefactor and friend. “Curt is a very giving, generous person. He didn’t get into this because he wanted to make money. He did it because he loves the game and he wants to help people who love it, too.” Private sponsorship has
long been a shadowy part of the pro golf culture. PGA Tour veteran Scott McCar- ron estimates that three- quarters of mini-tour players have people helping them pay the bills. “The guys who try to do it themselves on
SUMMER 2014 /
NCGA.ORG / 31
PHOTO: CURT BREITFUSS
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