WILLMAR — Greg Snow is a familiar face on the area prep basketball scene, where he regularly officiates games and in the golf world, where he was PGA professional/clubhouse manager at Olivia Golf Club for the past 12 years as well as head coach golf at Renville County West High School.
The affable Snow's presence will now be associated with Eagle Creek Golf Club, where he has been named director of golf.
"I'm thrilled and excited," Snow said of his new position, admitting he is "quite emotional" about leaving Olivia.
Snow takes over for Joe Wisocki. He said Eagle Creek will be a good fit and enable him to focus on being a golf professional.
"At Olivia, I'm kind of a 'Jack-of-all-trades,'" he said.
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His high visibility is considered a plus for Eagle Creek, which hopes to increase memberships and the number of rounds played at the club, said Mark Olson, chairman of the Eagle Creek board of directors.
Snow, 48, said he was recruited by Eagle Creek.
"I did not apply for the job," he said. "I really wasn't actively looking for a new job. I was perfectly happy in Olivia."
He said he would have been content in his former job. The area is where he and his wife, Leigh Ann, have raised their family.
Oldest son Ryan, 23, lives in Mankato. Daughter Makayla, 21, is a junior at Minnesota State-Mankato and a member of the Mavericks' volleyball team. Daughter Leslie, 18, is a freshman at Central College in Pella, Iowa, where she also plays volleyball. Daughter Kyleigh, 13 is a seventh-grader in the BOLD school district. She participates in volleyball, basketball and golf.
It's why he gets emotional about leaving Olivia. Moving to Eagle Creek also means he has to back off from coaching at RCW, where he says the Jaguars' Ryan Schupp has the potential to be a state high school champion.
"That was some tears, too," Snow said. "That one hurt."
Snow always wanted to be a PGA golf professional. He was born in Two Harbors and spent his youth in Silver Bay, where his father was a Baptist minister. He attended St. Francis Christian School in St. Francis.
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His first big golf course job was at Ruttger's Bay Lake Golf Course in Deerwood. While there, he also worked at the Brainerd Dispatch newspaper as a sports writer He's a regular on the Todd & Friends podcast at Lakeland Broadcasting's KWLM Radio (1340 AM, 96.3 FM) with sports director Todd Bergeth.
He said he hopes to bring more groups to Eagle Creek, like corporate groups. His goal, he said, is to figure out what Eagle Creek does best and to spend more time doing it. He also looks forward to his work as a golf professional.
"I'm best at that," he said.
Eagle Creek, he said, is where he hopes to end his career.
"I was at Olivia for 12 years and I've got 13-18 years more to go," Snow said. "I'm praying they are all at Eagle Creek."
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