FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Digital Book
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Digital Book
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
ProfilesSummer 2023
Home›Profiles›Bright Lights, Big Humble: Bel-Air Country Club’s Dave Podas, PGA

Bright Lights, Big Humble: Bel-Air Country Club’s Dave Podas, PGA

By Judd Spicer
July 20, 2023
6744
0
Share:

The Director of Golf at historic Bel-Air CC since taking over for the legendary Eddie Merrins in 2003, Dave Podas has long filled the big spikes of “The Lil’ Pro” by bringing a humble, Midwestern work ethic to the lofty gig; in short, the guy has never brought nor sought any airs at Bel-Air.

A native of Minneapolis, Podas plied his early swings at Hiawatha GC, a fabled Twin Cities muni, where he’d get his first golf gig working the counter. The annual Minneapolis crush of ice and snow, however, did not a golf future make.

“Several of us, pretty good players, in trying to beat the horrible Minnesota winters, ended up in Phoenix,” Podas remembers. “Five guys in a one-bedroom apartment, taking odd jobs at golf courses. Shortly after arriving there, I ran out of money. But I’d been told they used caddies at Phoenix CC, so I went there, talked to the caddiemaster and kind of bluffed my way in; I’d never caddied before in my life.”

The loops quickly led to opportunity, as Podas fast graduated from caddie to the bag room to the golf shop; he’d then elevate to first assistant pro and soon acquire his PGA of America membership.

Still in his twenties, the rapid ladder climb continued when Podas was hired as head golf professional at Ancala CC in Scottsdale. The desert gig wasn’t one he’d hold for long, however, as his hometown soon came calling.

“There were a lot of Minnesota people at Ancala, including a past president of the Minneapolis GC,” Podas continues. “I’d just been at Ancala for a year but ended up getting the director of golf job at Minneapolis GC.”

Overseeing the Donald Ross/Willie Park, Jr.-designed Minneapolis GC — which hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1950 and PGA Championship in 1959 — was, for Podas, a seemingly dream gig. But he was soon to awake to even bigger dreams.

“I’d been working at Minneapolis GC for 10 years, where I was perfectly content. I had the winters off and would play a fair amount of competitive golf in those offseasons,” he says. “But I had a friend with some ties to Bel-Air, and he called me one day and said that Eddie Merrins was retiring, and that he was going to float my name in there. Shortly thereafter I got a call, and shortly after that, my wife and I were moving to Los Angeles.”

Podas likens the move to Major League Baseball.

“It might sound silly, but it was like if you were the manager of the Minnesota Twins, and it’s a job you love — but then the Yankees call,” he says. “It’s great to manage the Twins, but then suddenly there’s a chance to operate at the pinnacle of your profession. That’s what the Bel-Air opportunity felt like to me.”

Though he’d only been to Bel-Air once before getting the job, Podas was well aware of the club’s classic George C. Thomas design, along with its A-list membership.

“When I first got here, I spent my time listening, learning and watching,” he says. “They didn’t need me to come in and rewrite the playbook. The better part of valor was to come in here with soft shoes.”

While Podas keeps his brushes with fame close to the vest, he does admit being initially star struck by his clientele.

“I think I did a good job of not giving off the impression that I was in awe. But there were a few times when it was, ‘Oh, boy,’” Podas says, briefly granting the thrill of meeting NHL Hall of Famer Bobby Orr. “I kept that awe under wraps early in my career here, but when I’d get home for dinner I’d tell my wife, ‘You wouldn’t believe who I met today.’”

Not that Podas has ever gone La-La Land. Rather, a compass pointing true North has helped him navigate his SoCal life.

“The blocking and tackling, the Xs and Os of running Minneapolis GC or Bel-Air CC, they’re identical,” he says. “The difference is that the participants here are more recognizable. But the operations — taking care of people, helping them love the game, showing an interest in their golf — it’s the same. The playbook is the same; the players are different.”

Holding close to his roots has always kept Podas in the short grass.

“One of the Midwestern values is that we’ll outwork anybody; first one there, last one to leave,” he says. “That’s a characteristic of where I’m from, and when you bring that to the table, people recognize it.”

Game also recognizes game. A freshly minted 60, Podas — who appeared in the PGA Tour Champions 3M Championship in 2013 and qualified for the U.S. Senior Open in 2014 — still hits balls on a near daily basis and continues to compete in both Minnesota Section and Southern California PGA events.

And when not on-course, Podas is, well, still on-course.

For the past 15-plus years, he’s served on the PGA of America’s National Rules Committee and officiates at events ranging from the PGA Championship to the Ryder Cup to the Masters; he helped officiate this year’s U.S. Open at The Los Angeles CC.

As officiant of his own stellar career in golf, Podas has never lost sight of his personal rule: No matter the heights of the gig, nobody is bigger than the game.

“One of the things that is so important to remember,” concludes Podas, “is something that I remind myself about clubs as storied as Bel-Air: They were here well before me, and they’re gonna be here well after me.”


Previous Article

Club Spotlight: Speedgolf Southern California (Speedgolf SoCal)

Next Article

Women of the Canyon: Bel-Air Country Club ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Judd Spicer

Judd Spicer is an award-winning writer, radio host, columnist for The Desert Sun newspaper and an Associate Member of the Golf Writers Association of America.  A Minnesota native, he relocated to the Palm Springs region in 2011 to pursue his Champions Tour dream.  Sporting wayward accuracy off the tee, Judd refers to his 56-degree as his magic wand.  Visit www.juddspicer.com and @JuddSpicer for more.

Related articles More from author

  • Shigeki Maruyama, Sean Maruyama, Masters, Augusta
    ProfilesSummer 2016

    The Smiling Apprentice: Having Learned from the Best, Sean Maruyama is Starting to Make His Own Mark

    July 1, 2016
    By Jonathan Coe
  • ProfilesSCGA JuniorWinter 2020

    Special Bond: For Sophia Martinez, Playing Golf With Mom is Best

    January 25, 2020
    By Hailey Tucker
  • USC Golf
    Profiles

    Trojan Horse: The Inspiring Saga of USC’s Sean Crocker

    October 1, 2014
    By Bob Buttitta
  • Zach Moran
    ProfilesSpring 2016

    From Passion to Purpose: SCGA Board Member Zack Moran infuses golf into his career as an environmental consultant

    April 1, 2016
    By Julia Pine
  • Fall 2018NewsProfiles

    Charging Bruin: Devon Bling Shows He Belongs at U.S. Amateur

    October 22, 2018
    By Mike James
  • Man on the Rise- Paul Levy
    ProfilesSpring 2015

    Man on the Rise: Paul Levy in Line as Voice of Golf’s Future

    April 1, 2015
    By Judd Spicer

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • At The TurnFeaturedSpring 2025Travel

    Irish Ayes

  • FeaturedHandicap HintsIn The ClubhouseSpring 2025

    Fun & Games

  • CoversFeaturedSpring 2025

    A Unified Response

  • 19th HoleFeaturedIn The ClubhouseSpring 2025

    Pelican Brief

  • FeaturedIn The ClubhousePublic AffairsSpring 2025

    Doing More With Less

FeaturedIn The ClubhouseSpring 2025

John Henebry

A Personal Remembrance Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. A ballroom at Desert IslandCC in the Coachella Valley pocket of Rancho Mirage. The “Celebration of Life” for my dear friend, my colleague, ...
  • Fun & Games

    By Kevin O'Connor
    May 15, 2025
  • Rule 25

    By Jimmy Becker
    May 15, 2025
  • Doing More With Less

    By Kevin Fitzgerald
    May 15, 2025
  • Original Wonder Woman

    By Joe Passov
    May 15, 2025
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise