Brad Bugart

Head Professional

Capilano Golf and Country Club, Vancouver, BC

A First Class Golf Professional

Brad Bugart isn’t complaining about his working conditions.

After all, who wouldn’t want to be the head professional at the heavenly Capilano Golf Club in North Vancouver, B.C.

This awe-inspiring layout, cut into the mountains, and overlooking one of Canada’s most picturesque cities, is a scenic wonderland, and a delight to play.

“This may be the best place to come to work [in Canada],” he says.

It may be the best place in the world.

Capilano has been home to Bugart since January 2007, after a six-year stint as director of golf at Predator Ridge Golf Resort near Vernon, B.C, and 11 years as head pro at the Fairview Mountain Golf Club in Oliver, B.C. He worked as an assistant to Dean Atkinson at the Osoyoos Golf Club for four years, and played his junior golf at the Penticton Golf and Country Club, his hometown.

Being head pro at Fairview in his early 20s was a unique experience says Bugart, because he helped drive the conversion from a 9-hole to an 18-hole facility.

Running a resort course at Predator Ridge also gave him insight into how to cater to public golfers.

Taking over at Capilano where he serves about 1,000 members (including growing senior and junior programs) is a daunting task for the husband of Donna, and father of two boys, Desi, 10, and Nigel, 8. But managing a busy shop for the club also means teaching a staff of two assistants, a teaching pro, a female assistant (new this year), and shop kids how to become a first-class pro.

They follow closely the Bugart philosophy of customer service.

Bugart says the key to being a top pro is communicating with members. These people skills are also invaluable when teaching, selling retail, or simply walking around on the range.

He’s still a hands-on teacher, and loves to organize club events like the club championship each year.

He also takes great pleasure in custom-fitting clubs for members, and thinks the TaylorMade product lines are second to none on the market.

“I began with TaylorMade about 10 years ago,” he says, “and I’ve really seen the product evolve.”

Selling TaylorMade’s long list of hard goods isn’t hard, he says, because “our members love them.”

He’s particularly excited about the new R9 driver, and was just opening the new product when interviewed for Pro Shop.

His advice to new pros entering the business is to “make sure you really want to do this.”

Doing it at heavenly Capilano is a huge bonus, he says.

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