The 19th Hole: Rick Mooney

Rick Mooney
Superintendent // Whitetail Club, McCall, Idaho

What can I get you? Jim Beam and 7 Up. (Cypress Point superintendent) Jeff Markow got me drinking Jim Beam and ginger ale in 1994, but most people make fake ginger ale, so I’ve moved on to 7 Up.

Tell me about your family. My wife of 23 years, Michelle, known to all her friends as “Mush.” My daughter Payton, named after Walter Payton, is going to be entering her first year of high school. My son Cael loves to run cross country, also going into high school this year. He’s named after Penn State wrestling coach Cael Sanderson. My third kid, Quinn, is 10 years old. He plays hockey and he’s most likely to go with me to a football game or caddie for me. Last, we’ve got Wilson, a 3-year-old border collie.

How about Whitetail Club? It’s a fully amenitized golf club and community in central Idaho. Golf, fishing, skating, skiing, pickleball, tennis, mountain biking, water sports, and we might have one of the best clubhouse settings in the world.

What is life like in McCall? It’s mostly known as a ski town, snow and water. We have great back country right out our back door. Most people who come to McCall are going to go huckleberry picking in the summer, and if they’re here in the spring they’re going to go morel hunting. And, of course, we have a great golf course.

What are your sports teams? Michigan State and whoever the Wolverines are playing.

If you could go back in time to see any band, who is it, when and where? I don’t need to go back in time, I’d go right now. I’d see Kid Rock at the Fox Theater in Detroit with my buddies Jonas (Conlan, superintendent at Indian Wells Golf Resort) and (Sean) Reehoorn (superintendent at Aldarra Golf Club).

What was the last act of kindness you witnessed? Recently, my wife had to have a medical procedure. We had a unique and special friend come help out for 10 days — the person is my daughter’s biological grandmother — my daughter is adopted. She came out and helped for 10 days, cooked and cleaned, took care of the family while my wife got back to good health. That was nice, and my wife is good now, she’s back up and hard at it.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? Water skied behind an airplane. They just take off and stay on the water, but the prop wash is horrific. It’s like getting hit in the head with golf balls; you have to get to the side pretty quick. Someone said they’d pull me, so I said ‘What the hell.’

Main photo by: Grant B. Gannon / istock.com (corfoto, morel)