19th Hole: Brandon Razo

Brandon Razo (Photo by Mirando Razo)
Brandon Razo
Superintendent // Cross Creek Golf Club, Decatur, Ind.
What are you drinking? An ice-cold Miller Lite.
Tell me about Cross Creek. Cross Creek is a 27-hole public facility. We have an 18-hole course and a nine-hole course. The nine-hole is sort of an executive course. It’s neat. If it’s not busy, you can zoom around and be done in an hour.
Tell me about your family. My wife’s name is Miranda, and we’ve been married for almost three years. I have three teenage stepdaughters: Lauren, Lexi and Ayneira. I jumped right into that. I love every minute of it, all the time I get to spend with them when I’m not at work. My middle daughter, Lexi, is a senior on the softball team, and I volunteer as a coach.
What’s your favorite tool to get the job done? Our Green Sweeper brush. There’s just something that is satisfying when you’re brushing the sand in after a topdressing or aerifying. It’s relaxing to me.
What teams do you root for? The Chicago Cubs. Indiana University, it doesn’t matter what sport. And I’ve been a Dallas Cowboys fan my whole life.
Who or what is your archenemy? My irrigation system. Last year, we had to get the motor rebuilt. We had to get the turbine pump rebuilt because it was hit by lightning. That blew my motor up right in the hottest part of the summer. We got it fixed, but I’m still having issues. It’s always something — once something gets fixed, something else happens somewhere else on the course. It’s a real old system. From when I start it up to when I blow it out, it’s a headache.
If I’m in Decatur, where are we going to go eat? When my sales guys come in town and they want to go out for lunch, we always go to Soul Pig BBQ. It’s a spot in downtown Decatur that is great. They have pulled pork, brisket, good Southern sides, and they always have awesome specials with a crazy sandwich or a burger of the day.
When you’re playing golf, do you keep score, or is it just for fun? Most of the time, just for fun. I live on the course, so in the evenings, I’ll go out and play three or four holes. I do play in the men’s league on Monday nights, and we have a bunch of association events throughout the year, and I play in all of those. When it counts, I’m keeping score, but the score is ugly.
As interviewed by Seth Jones, May 17, 2021.