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Every PGA professional can point to a specific mentor who impacted his or her career. In Russ Miller’s case, his path has fortunately intersected with two of the most influential club pros to ever live.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Miller attended the PGA Golf Management program at Michigan’s Ferris State University before setting out on his own. His first job came at Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, Fla., working for fellow Carolinian Harvie Ward, a legendary amateur before becoming a club pro.
Ward won two U.S. Amateurs and one British Amateur while also competing in 19 professional majors during his playing career. His second chapter as an instructor was just as impressive and included teaching three-time major winner Payne Stewart.
In Miller’s time under Ward’s tutelage, a relationship that started because the two once lived close to each other in North Carolina, every lesson came back to one concept.
“He introduced me to the right people,” Miller said of Ward. “I remember him always saying that you have to work for the best people in the best places. I tried to do that and thankfully that worked out.”
The journey to following Ward’s words of wisdom started in earnest when Miller moved back to North Carolina to take a head pro job at Benvenue Country Club in Rocky Mount, a small town just east of Raleigh. At 25, Miller owned the golf shop and received one of his most valuable life lessons – learning how to manage a business despite not having much money himself.
His success there led to a phone call from the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C., a couple of hours south. Shortly after being hired for the head pro position there, the director of golf moved up to a higher management role and Miller became the director of golf for the next nine years.
His time at Landfall was about guiding the club through a massive transition period. When he started the club had a couple hundred members, but that quickly grew to about 1,300 members over Miller’s tenure. He also steered the golf operation through the club’s expansion from 18 holes to 45 holes and from one clubhouse to two.
“At the time, Landfall was probably the premier club in the Carolinas,” Miller said. “I really got to go through the growing process of a private club. I thought I was going to be there forever because I didn’t really want to move from North Carolina. I was finally back and settled. That’s when I got the call from the Broadmoor.”
Miller never could have imagined receiving a call from another club-pro immortal, Dow Finsterwald. The 1958 PGA Championship winner captured 11 PGA Tour titles in the 1950s and ’60s before moving on to be the director of golf at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., for 28 years. He also served as the PGA of America’s vice president from 1976-1978 and would later be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
When a retiring Finsterwald asked whether Miller had interest in taking over as the director of golf, it was an easy decision. The big selling point, which still remains true to this day, is that being at the Broadmoor gave Miller the opportunity to work on major tournaments. Under his watch, the resort became the only club in America to host three USGA championships – the 2008 U.S. Senior Open, 2011 U.S. Women’s Open and 2018 U.S. Senior Open – within a 10-year span. The 2025 U.S. Senior Open will also be contested at the Broadmoor.
“At Landfall, we were able to do the state amateur and the NCAA Championship, but we couldn’t do the big USGA events,” Miller said. “That’s kind of my passion, so going to The Broadmoor gave me a chance to enhance my career doing those type of things.”
It’s now been 22 years and counting as Miller has become the face of the golf operation. He’s humble about his success and is quick to pass credit to other staff members, but Miller’s expertise is needed at one of the more unique facilities in the country. The Broadmoor has a seasonal private membership while also catering to a large resort-guest contingent that fills the 784 hotel rooms on property.
If you see the club-pro tree Russ Miller has created, it’s understandable why so many have reverence for him.
“It gives me kind of the best of both worlds,” Miller said. “I would never say I want to be at a private course only or a resort course only.”
While the 56-year-old Miller’s proudest contribution is forming a strong relationship with the USGA to bring major championships to Colorado, he’s racked up considerable respect in other areas. He won the national PGA of America Resort Merchandiser of the Year in 2003 and has won the same honor from the Colorado PGA Section on four occasions. Recently, he was named the Colorado PGA Professional of the Year in addition to being voted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame, joining Finsterwald among others.
He’s also been instrumental in two key areas of development – helping establish The First Tee of Pikes Peak and the PGA Golf Management program at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. At the Broadmoor, Miller takes particular pride in the facility’s venerable caddie program that produces about 2,000 loops per year. Since he started in 1998, there have been 14 caddies who earned full Evans Scholarships to attend the University of Colorado in Boulder.
If you see the club-pro tree Miller has created, it’s understandable why so many have reverence for him. His mentorship has inspired a new wave of influential club professionals, a great example being Graham Cliff, the flourishing head pro at Colorado Golf Club just outside of Denver.
“We’ve had 41 people who have worked with us at the Broadmoor who have gone on to be directors of golf, head professionals or leaders in the golf industry,” Miller said. “Most of them were here as interns and seeing the cream rise to the top after they were here as protégés, it just means a lot to me seeing them now.”
Nothing says more about the life of a successful PGA professional than to be mentored by the best, become one of the best and then mentor some of the best yourself. It’s the hallmark of Miller’s distinguished career, one that still has a long road remaining ahead.
Top: Miller with Annika Sörenstam at the CoBank Peak Performers event at the Broadmoor in 2018
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