He was born to be a golf professional. He has that look. He's neon friendly. He smiles even when he'd probably like to take a 9-iron to unruly patrons. He's got that PGA look with just-off-the-shelf shirts, clean-pleated pants and the attitude of an ambassador to Disneyland.
This is Mark Whetzel. You may know him even if you haven't met the guy.
He's the Tip of the Week Guy on KSL-TV's weekend late-night sportscast with Rod Zundel and is director of golf at Thanksgiving Point. And in case you're wondering, when he makes those TV tip shots, it's usually on one take. He and Zundel can shoot three or four of those spots in about 45 minutes pointing away with the end line: "Long and straight."
His celebrity is a little embarrassing for the 1990 graduate of Taylorsville High. But Whetzel calls himself "blessed" for all that's come his way.
"It's like Christmas morning or winning the World Series," he says.
Whetzel just spearheaded a group of investors to form Vanguard Golf Management and took over operations of Thanksgiving Point through a lease agreement with property owners and developers Alan and Karen Ashton.
"Somebody had to get the bid, why not me," Whetzel said. He believed he had the inside track all along. He'd been at Thanksgiving Point since it opened. He stood alongside Ashton and Johnny Miller when they wheeled out the carts and has given his professional life to the project — even if he's just pushing 30.
Right now, he's sitting atop one of the largest golf properties in the country. The 220-acre layout at Thanksgiving Point is one of the longest in the nation. Its maintenance budget is a killer because of the expansive fairways, bark-covered berms that line fairways, flower gardens and multiple set tee boxes. You could put two East Bay golf courses or 2 1/2 Hobble Creek courses inside The Point.
Since opening for public play in 1997, rumors persist that Thanksgiving Point is losing money faster than banks in Iraq.
"Not true," Whetzel said of the golf operation. "We've always broke even or made money. Whether $10 or $10,000, it hasn't lost money yet."
With a goal of leading the state in corporate quality outings, Whetzel reports 120 corporate tournaments in 2002. "We have 105 booked right now since March 1, which is early, and I expect we will exceed 130 this year.
About 90 percent of those are half day events which allow us to open up for public rounds after events."
On March 1, Vanguard took over golf operations at The Point, including seven-days a week operations. That opens the door for the course to host the Utah State Amateur in July and continues an effort by Miller and other to lure the USGA and PGA of America for one of their national championships.
When just 10, Whetzel started working at Forelakes Golf Course picking up balls and trash. He later moved on to mowing greens, cutting cups, managing the golf course as a part-time and later full-time employee to get through the University of Utah, where he worked at the university course and became first assistant in 1995.
In Whetzel's Thanksgiving Point office are photos of his lovely wife, Kristen, and four children, Austin 7, Markus 5, Gracie 2 and 11-month old Jaden.
Office space.
But how many golf club professionals, whose courses have never hosted a PGA event, could say in that office have sat Hall of Famers Miller, Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper along with Sergio Garcia, Craig Stadler, John Daly, Hale Irwin and Dave Stockton?
Champions Challenge, a 5-year old event at Thanksgiving Point spearheaded by Miller has opened the door to Utah for many of the top players in the game who'd never have passed this way. Miller planned it that way.
This past fall, Thanksgiving Point hosted the Western Regional PGA Club Championships — exposing the layout to key personalities in the trenches of the organization.
With the Senior PGA Tour ending its event in Park City, Thanksgiving Point retains and remains Utah's most prestigious golf window to the best who have played the game.
A member of the board of Champions Challenge, Whetzel knows his perch and his place is on the verge of something big. After all, Masters champion Mike Weir will be in the field come the first of August.
A U.S. Open? A U.S. Senior Open Championship, U.S. Junior or PGA Tour Championship?
It's not out of the realm, if you ask Whetzel or Miller, one of golf's most well-known spokesmen as NBC-TV's analyst and former U.S. Open and British Open champion.
Here's a tip. It's Whetzel. He's atop his own bark-covered berm here. He's come long and straight.
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com