Kevin King

Head Professional

Maple Downs Golf and Country Club

Maple, Ontario

The ‘King’ of Business

To be a top-flight CPGA professional you have to be part teacher, businessman, politician, mentor, and psychologist – a cross between Mike Weir and Dr. Phil.

Kevin King, director of golf at Maple Downs Golf & Country Club in Maple, Ontario, is all of the above.

The first-year pro at the venerable club located just north of Toronto, moved back to the big city after nine “fantastic years” at one of Ontario’s prettiest private courses, St. Catharines Golf & Country Club.

King holds a business degree from the University of Guelph and uses it often to navigate his way between a staff of 25 to 30 and a membership of over 600.

Unlike many pros today, he owns his own pro shop, which is both good and stressful. He says the growth of giant retailers like Nevada Bob’s and Golf Town cuts deeply into shop revenues, and the higher Canuck buck means members who go south in the winter, often return with plenty of U.S. equipment – further digging into his profit picture.

Not that King is complaining. He loves the challenge of running his own business.

He is still finding his way with a new membership that includes some of the most successful business people in the southern Ontario market.

King, who grew up in Burlington, Ontario, and cut his teeth as a backshop guy at nearby Richview Golf Club, found his mentor when he worked under Warren Crosbie at Toronto’s Bayview Golf Club.

He says Crosbie reminded him that members come in all shapes and sizes and personalities, and they also come at you from all different angles.

Dealing with them means “thinking on your feet,” says King.

“And making them happy means being sensitive to their needs”.

“Most pros either have it or don’t have it when it comes to dealing with people,” says King.

He calls being a head professional at a private club a “multi-faceted job.”

“People from the outside looking in think it’s an easy job,” he says. “But it’s a difficult job to do well. If you think you can please everybody, you’ll please nobody.”

Dealing with the governance model at private clubs – committees, boards and executive panels – is par for the course for this business grad, whose philosophy is simple: Look out for the greater good of the club.

He says staff and members have to live by the club’s rules, but you also have to allow for some flexibility.

King loves the Maple Downs layout, and thinks it is much like St. Catharines, one of the underrated gems in Ontario.

He calls his new club “Augusta North” and loves how fastidiously it is groomed. “We still hand cut the greens and hand rake the traps,” he says.

King’s golf skills put him on a scholarship to the U.S. and eventually led him back to Canada where he finished off his business degree. He now putting those skills he learned as an undergrad to good use in his life’s career.

“Structuring your business the proper way gives you the best chance for success,” he says.

King has been a TaylorMade staffer for over a decade, and estimates that over 40 per cent of the business at the Maple Downs pro shop is TaylorMade/adidas. He calls the hard goods “impressive” and has fallen in love with the manufacturer’s wedges.

He’s also falling in love with his new course, one of Ontario’s best-kept secrets.

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