The 19th Hole: Darin “Lumpy” Pearson

By |  December 4, 2015 0 Comments

Superintendent/General Manager // Eagle Bend Golf Course, Lawrence, Kan.

darin_pearsonWhat can I get you?

An Arnold Palmer, please.

How long have people been calling you “Lumpy”?

Since 1987. I was working at Lake Perry CC (Ozawkie, Kan.) and a good friend, Ron McHenry, named me that and it stuck.

Are there people who don’t know your real name?

When I was at Alvamar CC (Lawrence, Kan.), I wrote a column called “Lumpy’s Corner.” I think people thought Lumpy and Darin were two separate guys. “Darin must be the laziest guy, he’s never here!”

Your brother Daryl also is a superintendent. Who got into the business first?

I did; we both started at Lake Perry CC and then I moved down to Alvamar and brought him and Kent Morgison with me. It’s pretty cool, we’re all three superintendents now.

Were you guys just a golf family?

Golf and sports, definitely. My dad introduced us to golf early. In high school, baseball was our favorite sport. Our family background is in construction, so I think we always liked being outdoors, working with heavy equipment.

What are your sports teams?

I’m all local — Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals.

How about those Royals!

Baseball is my favorite sport; I have so many childhood memories of going to Royals games with my brother, dad and grandfather… It was awesome to go through a (World Series victory) again. Growing up in the ’80s they were so good — Hal McRae, George Brett and Frank White — and then we went through such a bad time. What an exciting time to be a Royals fan. You never gave up on them because (manager) Ned Yost had so much confidence in his players that they could overcome anything. We all doubted (Yost), but he always did it.

The new “Star Wars” movie is coming out soon. Are you going to see it?

Yes, I can’t wait! The trailers are awesome. But the bad thing is, I’ll be too busy to go see it at the theater — I won’t see it until it’s out on DVD and I can watch it at home.

What’s your favorite golf memory, all time?

Winning five straight Kansas Golf Association Championships at Alvamar in Kansas Cup play; it’s a team event. And seeing (North Carolina basketball head coach) Roy Williams after he made his first hole-in-one at Alvamar CC on hole No. 2.

Fill in the blank: If I had one extra hour a day, it would probably be spent _____________.

… getting in a Gator or a golf cart and riding around our land and my in-law’s land with our two girls, Nellie (4) and Paige (2). That’s our favorite thing to do.

As interviewed by Seth Jones, Nov. 24, 2015.

This is posted in People

About the Author: Seth Jones

Seth Jones, a 25-year veteran of the golf industry media, is Editor-in-Chief of Golfdom magazine and Athletic Turf. A graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Jones began working for Golf Course Management in 1999 as an intern. In his professional career he has won numerous awards, including a Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) first place general feature writing award for his profile of World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman and a TOCA first place photography award for his work covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In his career, Jones has accumulated an impressive list of interviews, including such names as George H.W. Bush, Samuel L. Jackson, Lance Armstrong and Charles Barkley. Jones has also done in-depth interviews with such golfing luminaries as Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price and Lorena Ochoa, to name only a few. Jones is a member of both the Golf Writers Association of America and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association. Jones can be reached at sjones@northcoastmedia.net.


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