Lee Gidney
NCGA President Hometown: Vacaville
College: Fresno State (1970) – BA Psychology, English Literature
Occupation: Retired Air Force Pilot, United Airlines
Family: wife Karen (married in 1969); daughter Beth; son Brian; grandchildren Katie (10) and Anne (4)
Golf game: My handicap is pretty consis- tently between a 6.5 to 8.5. I’m not really long, but I generally keep the ball in play.
Best round: Even-par 72 at Cypress Lakes
Significance of becoming NCGA President: I see it as a tremendous responsibility to lead such a huge organization. I want to use all the resources we have to maintain our standards and make the Association better for all of our members.
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Experience as a tournament official since 1997: I probably average 35-40 tournament days a year. I like to work as a starter, because you get to meet the players. I think it’s a great opportunity to make sure their experience is special. This isn’t just another round of golf with your buddies. It’s a big deal. That’s how I got started. I was a player in
a Zone Championship, and I was just over- whelmed. Having the starter wear a coat and tie and announce your name and club is impressive. You don’t see that at your home course. I always kid with new starters that part of
their job is to get the players’ heart rates up. I’ve always stressed that you should make the player feel like this is a special experience.
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Area of focus: I’d like to see the NCGA be an im- portant organization for every golfer in Northern California. For people who don’t play tournament golf, or aren’t interested in a handicap, I’d like them to see that there is value in what we do. We invest funds in the California Alliance for Golf to ensure we can deal with water, taxation and other golf-related issues. I think all those things are fundamentally of value for anyone who plays golf. We want to make the game better. We’re
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just trying to make golf fun, make it a part of people’s lives. The biggest thing is that we continue to meet
the standard of excellence that we have in the past. The tournament program is a first-class operation, our Foundation is a huge success with terrific people behind it and our members’ courses, Poppy Hills and Poppy Ridge, are nationally recognized venues.
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Best part about volunteering: The best part of any experience is the people you are with. All of the people that support and work at the NCGA are great people who are truly committed to the success of the Association. That’s a really fulfilling thing for me.
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Favorite golf memory: Teeing off on the first hole at the Old Course at St. Andrews with three close friends the year I turned 50. We were all airline pilots, and we all traveled separately to meet there. We put our names on the ballot and got a tee time the next day. It was a heart- thumper. It’s a wide fairway, but I hit 3-wood just so I could get it airborne. I just wanted to get it in play.
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Importance of golf: I’ve been able to meet a lot of interesting people. To become good friends with my predecessors Brian Morse, who is an
attorney, and Dan Hansford, who runs a steel com- pany…I never would have met them otherwise. It’s given me an opportunity to travel, because
I’ve been working on USGA committees for 14 years and have been able to work and play at champion- ship courses all over the country. I really enjoy the game, even playing by myself.
It gives you a chance to think and relax. I like just walking along the fairway, carrying my bag. Golf courses are generally nice, pretty places to spend time. They are great places to go for a walk for a couple hours. I started playing in high school when a friend
and I kind of jokingly decided to join the golf team. I played a little bit in college with friends at Airways GC in Fresno, and I’ve been playing ever since.
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Favorite course: I really like Pebble Beach. It’s truly everything you’d think it would be—great golf and stunning vistas on the ocean. There’s also an odd place that no one would
pick—it’s called Dooks near the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. I don’t even know if it’s 6,000 yards, but it’s out in the dunesland and it’s right next to the sea. When I went back to Ireland a second time to play golf, I made sure I played there again. It’s just fun.
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Favorite player: Arnold Palmer. He’s a great player, he’s got his own golf swing, he’s not a robot, and he’s always been the people’s golfer.
NCGA President Lee Gidney and his wife, Karen
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