Editor's note: This is the first of three expanded biographies of this year's recipients of GCSAA's Distinguished Service Awards. The abbreviated versions can be found in the February issue of GCM.
Donald Hearn, CGCS, was nine years old when he started caddying for his father on a local golf course -- his first introduction to the game. He didn't notice the grounds crew right away, but knew he liked caddying and being on the course. "I wasn't thinking of getting into the golf business at that time," he says.
Then around age 15, things started to change. He considered working in the golf shop, and started working at Woburn CC in Massachusetts. After a few summers of caddying, he transitioned to working in the golf shop in the summer and out on the course in the springs and falls. "It got in my blood, I guess," he says. Hearn continued in the field and attended the University of Massachusetts' Stockbridge School.
Hearn has worked at a number of courses in Massachusetts, including Weston GC for 29 years, Lexington GC and Vesper CC in Tyngsboro. He also excelled in the industry through service and leadership, serving as a USGA Green Section committee member and a member of the Massachusetts Golf Association Executive Committee.
In 1984, Hearn was elected president of the New England GCSA, which awarded him with its Distinguished Service Award in 2004. His ascension in the industry didn't stop there -- in 1987, Hearn became president of GCSAA, a goal he had several years prior set for himself to obtain. During his presidency, Hearn chaired GCSAA's certification committee, and with the help of then-director of education Jim Prusa, he updated the certification program.
Despite these achievements, Hearn is a humble man, preferring to give credit to others than to boast about his own successes. In fact, he thought Ricky Heine had dialed the wrong number when he called with the news of this award. "I was shocked when Ricky called," he says. "I had no inkling, no clue that anything was going on, or that anyone had seen fit to nominate me. I'm very happy and flattered that a group of people got together and did what they did to help me win this award."
Hearn remained mum on what's led to his success, but Bob DiRico, superintendent at BraeBurn CC in West Newton, Mass., says his friend and mentor of 26 years is professional and approachable to everyone. "He could easily hang out in another stratosphere, and he doesn't," DiRico says. "He is very comfortable with all kinds of people and all kinds of situations. He's not just a great friend, but as a professional, there's no one I've ever encountered that I think more of than Don Hearn. You could call a thousand people who would rave about Don. He's been a friend and mentor and adviser to numerous people, throughout the country."
Hearn lives with his wife, Joan. They have a son, Donnie, and a daughter, Kristen.
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