Grand Haven Mens Golf Assoc.

I began life in Columbus, Ohio (hence The Ohio State headcovers) and have since lived in 7 states and traveled extensively internationally.  Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, California, and Utah were once home but now splitting my time between Michigan and Florida along with my wonderful wife of 38 years, Judy Hicks who I met in Detroit.

Internationally, I spent significant time working in China in the early to mid-1980’s and later in Amsterdam for 8 years until 2012.  Nearly all of the international travel was a result of my professional career with Deloittte & Touche. 

I retired from Deloitte in 2013 after 36 years, 66 countries, and 4,500,000 Delta miles. Along the way I served numerous national and international companies such as the Stroh Brewery Company and Chrysler Corporation (hence being known as the drink and drive partner).  Other clients included GM, Ford, and Royal Ahold (a grocery company that owns Stop and Shop and US Food Services among others, thus a lot of time in the Boston area). 

In addition to my client responsibilities, I had management roles including leading the Detroit audit practice and as the US and Global leader of Deloitte’s internal audit, risk management and sustainability practices.    

Outside of my professional career, I volunteered with several not-for-profit organizations.  Serving over 40 years in various capacities both locally and nationally with the United Cerebral Palsy and the United Way of Southeast Michigan.  I recently ended my membership with the LSU Business School Dean’s Advisory Committee and still serve on the Board of Advisors at the University of Detroit Mercy.

In retirement, I manage to stay busy. I joined the Board of the Global Reporting Initiative and became the leader of their Standards Board followed by stints as Interim CEO and Board Chair until the end of 2021.

On a personal level, Judy convinced me that golf was in our future back when we were a young 45 and taking lessons in a school gym.  This explains a lot about the state of my (lack) of golf skills.  Fortunately, I have other interests at which I am somewhat more competent.  I am a private pilot with an instrument rating and we fly back and forth from Detroit to Palm Coast in our Cessna Skylane.  I also have a Sports Car Club and America (SCCA) Competition License to go along with our Porsche 911 GT3 RS which is kept at a garage condo at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac Michigan. 

Looping back to my Ohio beginnings, as noted earlier, I married another native Ohioan, Judy, in 1985. I have 3 sons from a previous marriage and now 3 wonderful grandchildren which explains why we continue to be “snowbirds” after all these years. 

We owe our presence in Grand Haven to Judy who did the internet search after deciding that spending winters alone in Michigan or Amsterdam was not an option.  We love Grand Haven and look forward to many more years living here and trying to perfect our golf game.