Rebholz Tributes

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Warren J. Rebholz, 92, of Bloomington, Minn., passed away peacefully in his home, April 7. Known affectionately as “Rebbie,” he was a former volunteer and officer (he served as the Minnesota Golf Association’s president in 1970-71), and the association’s first full-time executive director, from 1973 to 1992.

He returned for an encore in 1996 to establish and manage the MGA Senior Tour, finally passing the torch in 2007.  

A few of Rebbie’s contemporaries and former colleagues have graciously offered their perspective on his passing, and his impact on the game of golf in Minnesota and beyond.
 
Guy Green, a former assistant executive director of the MGA:
There are lot of people out there who owe a lot to golf, but only a few to whom the game is in great debt. Rebbie is one of those few. A throwback to the golden days of Joe Dey, Slammin' Sam, and Hogan, he was equally comfortable in the times of Arnie's Army and omnivorous Golden Bears; and more than ready to see to the needs of newer, more flamboyant styles.

His contribution to amateur golf is world renowned. He took a golf association run from the trunk of a car, to acting as a member on the Rules of Golf Committee, sitting in on the meetings at the R&A and [the USGA’s] Golf House. His good friends in the game, from P.J. Boatwright to David Fay, from Mad Dog Marshall Dann to every state association's leaders, were constantly picking his brain. And those were not slim pickings. Rebbie assembled wonderful boards of directors, and tirelessly made the MGA one of the world's best amateur associations.

Playing on the road with Rebbie could be surprising. At Jupiter Hills one time, we were guests of his friend, John Lehman. On a par-three hole, I went about my business without using a tee. Mr. Lehman remarked to me, as we headed to the green, "You know, I was playing a fellow in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur years back. He told me, whenever I had a chance to tee the ball, I should." Of course, young and uninformed as I was, I had to ask who that fellow was.

"A guy named Bob Jones," was the reply.

Had dinner with Jess Sweetser at Rebbie's side one time, too. He seemed to know, and be loved by, everybody. Reb's devotion to golf was total and uncompromising; his great knowledge of its history, and its needs, was always willingly, and joyfully, shared. He was a giant in my life, and he always will be. (A very fun-loving giant, at that!). Warren J. Rebholz will always be a true friend to our game.
 
Mike Davis, Chief Executive Officer of the USGA:
What a wonderful man. I spent about three months in Minneapolis prepping for the 1991 U.S. Open and got to know Rebbie fairly well. He’s such a wonderful person. Sad news to watch somebody age like this but I suppose he’s lived a marvelous life.
 
David Fay, Executive Director of the USGA, retired:
I recall with fondness and a smile on my face the times spent with Rebbie, dating back to the mid-1970s when I worked for the Metropolitan Golf Association. And since the USGA held many championships in Minnesota, I got to see and work with Rebbie often.

As Tom Meeks noted, all of us who worked with Rebbie have plenty of fun stories to tell.

Warren had a great talent of putting things in perspective and maintaining an even keel. Even when his treasured "portable scoreboard" got stuck in the mud or unhitched, Rebbie would just put his head in his hand, tousling his few strands of hair, silently make a few sad, slow shakes of his head and carry on.  

Minnesota golfers were so fortunate to have Warren at the helm.   
 
Dick Horton, Executive Director of the Tennessee Golf Association, retired:
I also considered him a dear friend and a mentor. He welcoming me into IAGA when very few did because I also wore a PGA hat along with the TGA. He was such a positive person and loved by everyone who knew him. 

He was a true jewel -- maybe the most respected of his era. He shared everything good and we all wanted to be “just like Rebbie.”
 
Ross Galarneault, who succeeded Rebholz as Executive Director of the MGA, and is now a Director of Championships (Scoring and WAGR), USGA:
Under Warren’s leadership, the MGA grew to great national prominence. This was undoubtably due to a basic question he always applied to every question that arose, “What is best for golf?” During his tenure, if doing something or not doing something benefitted the game of golf, that was the proper answer, even if it disadvantaged the MGA. In many cases, those short-term disadvantages turned into long term benefits – such as membership growth and harmony among the allied associations.
 
Warren earned national prominence through his likeable demeanor and innovative practices. He was the first consulting member of the USGA’s Rules of Golf committee that hailed from a state, regional or district golf association. During his tenure on that committee, one of his major contributions was a suggestion he made to resolve how to deal with determining if a ball overhanging the hole was moving or not. His suggestion is essentially what Rule 13.3a. is today. If the ball doesn’t drop in after 10 seconds, it is considered holed with the next stroke – which could be a penalty stroke if it fell in after the prerequisite period. It was considered a great solution to players who would watch and watch because they said the ball was still moving and will fall in the hole.

Even before his Rules of Golf Committee appointment, he was one of the select few who were invited to be a Rules official at the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur each year. One of his assignments was often to be alongside then USGA Senior Executive Director, Frank Hannigan in the ABC broadcast booth monitoring the rules radio channel and communicating with the officials so that Hannigan could freely talk on the broadcast about what was transpiring without missing an important point.

Perhaps Warren’s greatest contributions to the game of golf were in the areas of handicapping and course rating. He was a member of the USGA Handicap Procedure Committee for many years and went-on to chair the committee following his retirement as MGA executive director. He was also a consulting member of the USGA Handicap Committee. Under his leadership, Minnesota was an early adopter of the new Slope system in the 1980’s and the first to implement it for women. Back then, the “average” Slope Rating for women was considered 110 and not the “standard” 113 as it became. Because the men were 113, that meant an entirely different set of Slope tables based on 110, which was confusing at best. Thanks to the pain MGA went through that first year, the USGA modified the system so a Women’s Handicap Index also was based on 113.
 
Reed Mackenzie, President of the USGA, 2002-2003, and consulting member of the Rules of Golf Committee, USGA:
Although Rebbie was not a charter member, he joined Hazeltine right after the club opened and may have been the member who lived farthest from the club, coming from Davern Street in St. Paul, which at that time was a 30-mile plus commute without the benefit of freeways.

It's important to emphasize his public golf background, coming from Highland and serving as president of the MPGA.  The division between public and private golf back then was a bright line – here and on a national level.  Public golfers were not allowed to play in the U.S. Amateur since the beginning.  Under Rebbie’s leadership, that barrier was eliminated.  While the MPGA continued as a separate board, public golfers were welcomed at MGA events.  This was a major breakthrough and spoke directly to Rebbie’s view that golf was a game that welcomed all with open arms. 

When I first met Rebbie – in the early 1960’s – he was a golfer competing in USGA qualifiers, which I entered, coming from nearby Eau Claire, Wis.  Rebbie and I clicked and it was Warren who persuaded me that I should join Hazeltine.  He and Dr. Phil Olson were my sponsors.  My first committee assignment at Hazeltine was when Rebbie asked me to me a member of the Golf Committee, which he chaired.  In 1976, he asked if I would like to join the USGA Junior Committee, having been asked by the USGA for a recommendation.  That was the start of my long USGA career.

In 1994, the MGA wanted to recognize individuals who had made an extraordinary contribution to the game of golf, locally or on a national basis.  It was a short discussion about naming this award – the Warren J. Rebholz Distinguished Service Award.

Rebbie had a national reputation as a golf administrator. The MGA was considered one of the best two state and regional associations along with the other MGA – the Metropolitan Golf Association of New York, New Jersey and surrounds.  It was used as a model for other associations to follow with the USGA Regional Affairs people saying – “Well, here’s how they do it in Minnesota.” 

The start of the course rating and slope system was a good example.  Rebbie had been responsible for extension handicapping to public golfers early on.  But this new method of measuring and rating courses was somewhat controversial.  Rebbie embraced the change, had all Minnesota’s courses measured and rated using the slope system in almost no time.  Minnesota was way ahead of the curve in being used by the USGA as a laboratory to work out any quirks in the system. 

It is not a surprise that the USGA asked Rebbie to take a leadership position in the handicapping and course rating area as well as in other areas.  He always got the job done and earned the respect of everyone he dealt with.

In the run up to the 1991 U.S. Open, we were faced with the task of overcoming the unfortunate comments Dave Hill made about Hazeltine and the 1970 U.S. Open.  We thought it was important that the leadership of Hazeltine in 1991 be someone who would be recognized and respected in the golf world.  Rebbie was the obvious choice.

Although he had been on the Board and held committee positions in the past, he had not wanted the job of club president.  For one thing, that job required more than golf which was his passion.  His ego did not require titles or honors.  But when we explained that his name at the top of the letterhead would help the club, he agreed to accept the job and as usual, did it well.

Rebbie was a knowledgeable and respected Rules official.  He was invited to officiate at 16 U.S. Opens as well as other USGA championships.  Like all Rules officials, he was not immune to mistakes. 

At the 1980 U.S. Amateur at Country Club of North Carolina (Pinehurst #2 was the second course!), Rebbie was assigned to manage the scoring tent behind the 18th green.  Such tents are immovable obstructions as in “can’t be moved.”  I had finished my assignment and was sitting on the patio with others as we watched a ball fly over the green and end up with the tent between the ball and the hole.  We watched in horror as Rebbie with the assistance of others dragged the tent out of the way for the player’s next shot.  This is one of those occurrences best not mentioned, but later that evening our group was joined by P.J. Boatwright, the USGA Rules and Competition Director.  Rebbie said to him, “Well, PJ, we moved the tent to which PJ replied ‘wrong, dead wrong.’”

When you think of the development of golf in Minnesota you can tie Rebbie to many of the best advances – he was instrumental in getting the “green acres” property tax credit for golf courses, and instrumental in retaining it in 1985-1986 during the debate over tee times for women.  Rebbie played a key role with the legislature in getting language in the pending law that clubs could live with and then in persuading almost all member cubs to change their rules and practices to conform to the new law.

I played a lot of golf with Rebbie.  He was sneaky good, winning the Hazeltine Club Championship three times in 1972, 1976 and 1982.  He played in the U.S. Public Links twice, but his biggest USGA achievement may have been qualifying for the initial USGA Mid-Amateur Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis in 1981.  In a large field of strong players, Rebbie beat all but one player to secure a spot.

When I first met Rebbie he was a vice president of sales for a printing company which published a lot of novelty items such as playing cards. He left that job to take over as MGA executive director in 1973.  I don’t know how the finances worked, but I know the MGA job was not highly paid.  Rebbie was a perfect steward to manage the money as he was not a miser, but he was very careful with his own money and certainly that of the association. 

Rebbie and Marshall Dann, Executive Director of the Western Golf Association, were great friends and frequent fellow travelers to golf meetings or championships.  The accommodations they found seldom got even a one-star rating.  That was fine with both of them. They both rated courses for Golf Digest and added a category to their rating system for “perfect golf” defined as no green fees, a free cart, free lunch – and a glass of wine to boot. 

Rebbie’s penuriousness extended to his golf equipment.  For years, he played with used US Royal irons and woods handed down from Don Waryan, the head professional at Hazeltine from the time it opened until 1975.  Waryan was on the US Royal staff and got a new set frequently, giving the old clubs to Rebbie.

Rebbie’s experience at USGA championships convinced him that MGA championships could be run the same way.  The organization and discipline in preparing for the competitions was all Rebbie.  Course set-up, Rules sheets, hole locations, starting times and pairings, scorecards, a first-class scoreboard and many other small but important items were part of the protocol. 

He never lost his sense of humor – think Christmas cards – or some feeling of compassion.  The first time I was eligible for an MGA senior event, it was at Brackett’s Crossing.  I had an afternoon pairing on day one and went to the course via I-35.  I played very well and was looking forward to day two.  I had a very early morning tee time and decided to go the back way from my home in Chaska.  In those days before GPS I got hopelessly lost and missed my tee time.  Although I had earned the dreaded “DQ” after my name on the scoreboard, Rebbie entered “LHW” – “Lost His Way”.

Lisa Overom, Assistant Executive Director, MGA:
From the moment I met Rebbie when he interviewed me for a position at the MGA over 30 years ago, I knew I wanted to work with him.  He was kind and approachable, and I could tell from his office décor that he was passionate about golf.  Even the green shag carpet which looked like it required occasional raking had somewhat of a golf course feel to it.
 
Titles didn’t matter to him.  No CEO, COO or any other initials were needed to make him feel important.  M.G.A. were the only initials that interested him.
 
Rebbie wasn’t focused on creating a polished image for himself, but he certainly did a great job making MGA’s reputation shine by being progressive while honoring the traditions of the game.
 
As far as leading the MGA went, he always said that you should surround yourself with people who excel where you fall short.  It’s hard to think of any areas where Reb fell short, but he did say the key to his longevity was only implementing one idea each year so that he wouldn’t run out of them.
 
Throughout his career Rebbie served on many golf-related committees.  He was an authority while being congenial and fun.  When I asked him how he became involved at a high level with so many different golf organizations such as the USGA and IAGA, he said, “If you’re good, they’ll find you.”
 
Although he certainly was good enough to compete in MGA championships, he chose not to primarily because he was running all of them, but also because he didn’t feel he should take a spot away from an MGA member.  He said that people are fine having you play in your own events until you win.  Then they’re not so happy.
 
At MGA-run tournaments he was there from sun up until sun down, and no job was too big or small for him.  He did everything from removing staples from the scoreboard to awarding the trophy to the champion.  At one tournament, it was about 35 degrees with strong winds and rain, and he was out on the course working the entire day.  He said, “If I expect the players to be out there, I should be out there with them.”  When it came to working with his staff, he was the same way.  He worked alongside us and never gave us anything to do he hadn’t done or wouldn’t do himself.  He worked hard, but he had fun while doing it.
 
What he loved most about golf was the fun and camaraderie (a word he rarely pronounced correctly).  He didn’t teach me how to play golf, rather, he taught me how to act on a golf course and about its traditions.  He also taught me that it is possible to hit great bunker shots while wearing saggy pants and he enlightened me about the beauty of the “boondoggle.”
 
He taught me to be humble, and his knack for self-deprecating humor is one of the many things that made him so endearing.  He knew he wasn’t perfect, but he was perfect for the MGA.
 
It didn’t make any difference where people came from or who they were, Rebbie treated them equally.  He fit in at the fanciest private club or the plainest public course, so he was the perfect man to have at the helm as the MGA was growing.
 
Throughout his career when it came to retiring from USGA committees and the MGA, he always said he didn’t want to be a “hanger-on’er” and wait to be “paperweighted.”  He felt that you should know when it’s time to leave.  I wish he never had to leave this life, but it was time, and he knew it.  He will be dearly missed by those who knew him, and although he’s gone, he’ll never be forgotten.  Here’s hoping Rebbie’s somewhere playing “perfect” golf.

 
Related Articles:
Warren Rebholz: 1928-2020
Warren J. Rebholz, a Life Dedicated to the Game of Golf
Rebbie Turns 90
Star Tribune Obituary - April 12, 2020
Star Tribune Profile - April 8, 2020