Following an exemplary 30-year career at Lakewood Country Club in Westlake, Ohio, Tom Waitrovich chose to retire at age 62 as a PGA of America Golf Professional.
But instead of spending the majority of his time on the golf course, fishing and with family, the eight-time PGA Professional Championship participant who once excelled in golf and ice hockey at the University of Minnesota-Duluth decided he had too much spare time on his hands.
So, the PGA of America Life Member joined the grounds crew for Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians (formerly the Indians), where he works 50-plus home games a year at Progressive Field.
“I know it sounds funny, especially since baseball is about my third or fourth favorite sport behind golf, hockey and fishing,” observes the 65-year-old Waitrovich, the Northern Ohio PGA of America Golf Professional of the Year in 2014 and proud member of the Northern Ohio PGA Hall of Fame.
“The thing is, I didn’t want to be known as the old pro who worked until the day he died, and after 39 years of working every weekend, I wanted a break. The Guardians’ grounds crew position is just the right part-time job.”
Waitrovich grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, in the heart of hockey country. He was a baseball catcher until the age of 14, but hockey and golf were his passions. Yet, during the MLB strike of 1994, Waitrovich was reading a newspaper article about the then-Indians when the name of a former high school hockey teammate – Brandon Khoenke – caught his eye. Khoenke was Cleveland’s head groundskeeper. Waitrovich sent Khoenke a note through an Indians’ connection at Lakewood Country Club and the two reconnected.
Waitrovich applied for and accepted a part-time position on the Indians’ grounds crew from 1997 to 2001, but in 2001 turned his full attention to serving as PGA of America Head Professional at Lakewood Country Club.
“It was great to reconnect with Brandon after losing track of him while we pursued different careers,” explains Waitrovich. “We became really good friends when I worked for the Indians during that first stint (his current stint began in 2022).
“During Game 4 of the 1997 World Series, it was rainy and windy during batting practice and we had to bring out the giant tarp to cover the field. I was on one of the corners and a huge gust of wind came up and shot me six or seven feet in the air. I was on my way toward Lake Erie and had to let go and fell to the ground. The guys all gave me a hard time.”
Members of the Indians’ grounds crew in those days would occasionally throw batting practice, shag fly balls and even warm up pitchers on pitchers’ days off while rubbing shoulders with prominent Indians such as Sandy Alomar, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez, plus numerous players from visiting teams. And to this day, Waitrovich is always available to provide a quick golf lesson whenever players are interested.
“Brandon is most interested in running a tight ship and doing everything on a highly professional level,” he says. “It’s pretty serious during the playoffs or a World Series game.
“Everyone on the grounds crew takes tremendous pride in preparing the diamond for a game, just as we as PGA Professionals always took pride in preparing the golf course.”
Waitrovich, who has always been a highly competent player, is not intimidated by rubbing shoulders with recognizable athletes. While serving as Head Professional at Lakewood Country Club, he hosted and played with baseball, football and basketball players frequently. In fact, pitcher Orel Hershiser was a member at Lakewood, while Roger Clemens, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux would stop by for a round whenever they were in town. Waitrovich also remembers making a hole-in-one on Lakewood’s 16th hole while playing alongside Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel in 2014.
Perhaps Waitrovich’s most famous playing partner on the golf course was Michael Jordan. He used to welcome Jordan to Lakewood to play, and they’ve since played together in Illinois.
“That’s the one thing I have in common with Michael Jordan,” chuckles Waitrovich. “We both hate to lose. And we both love to play golf.”
And both apparently have a secret love for baseball – even if it’s not their No. 1 sport.
—Roger Graves