IGA Course Rating Volunteer: Russ Peterson

1 – Where are you originally from? If not from Idaho, what brought you here?
I am originally from California; born in Sebastopol, high school in Concord.  My wife’s sister and brother-in-law moved to Caldwell in 1968 and her parents followed in the late 70s, so we had been coming to Idaho for a long time. We first moved here in 2000 from Mesa, Arizona. We returned to Mesa in early 2005 but returned to Idaho for good in June 2008.

2 – What is/was your career occupation?
I was a career officer/pilot in the U.S. Air Force. After retiring from the Air Force, I was fortunate to land a job as an airline pilot, first with Horizon Air in Portland then with America West (now American) flying out of Phoenix.

3 – What is it about the game of golf that you love so much?
I love the competition and the fact that it is a game for a lifetime. You can play golf at any age.

4 – What made you want to volunteer for the IGA? When did you start?
I had been a Course Rater for the Arizona Golf Association; when we returned to Idaho in 2008, I stopped by the IGA office and offered my services as a Course Rater. In early 2009, I was asked to manage the IGA’s Course Rating program. I did that for several years, first as a volunteer and then as a part-time independent contractor. Also, in 2009, I attended my first USGA Rules of Golf Workshop and began volunteering as a Rules Official at IGA and PNGA events.

5 – What do you hope to get out of volunteering for the IGA? What motivates you to keep coming back?
I get the satisfaction of giving back to the game of golf; I have played it most of my life and it is good to give something back to the game I love. The people I am associated with through the IGA keep me coming back.

6 – What has been your favorite memory from volunteering for the IGA?
My best memories are of the people who I have come in contact with through the IGA. I have been fortunate to meet people high up in the USGA as well as many of our “grassroots’ players here in Idaho.

7 – What would you say to someone who is thinking about volunteering?
Volunteering is a great way to meet new people with similar interests, namely golf. Some of my closest friends today are people I have met through the IGA.  

8 – What is your fondest memory on the golf course?
I have many fond memories: playing Pebble Beach Golf Links, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge; lately, it is shooting 67 at Ridgecrest Golf Club last summer. That was my career low round, and I did it with two good friends I had met through the IGA Course Rating program.

9 – When were you introduced to the sport? By who?
I was introduced to golf by a great aunt and uncle who were members of the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. My first round of golf was with them at MPCC.

10 – What is your home club? How often do you play?
I am a member at The Club at SpurWing. I play five or six times a week when the weather permits.

11 – What's something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
I recently went on a short-term mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya.

12 – Who would be a part of your dream foursome to play a round of golf with?
My son, my son-in-law and any one of my four grandsons.

13 - What has been your favorite golf course that you have played?
I have played a lot of very good ones, but Bay Hill is probably my favorite.

14 – Describe your golf game in six words
Fairway, green, three putts, another bogey!

15 – What's one item that you can’t live without?
The Bible.