Grand Haven Mens Golf Assoc.

Jim is a small town boy from southwestern Alabama who played baseball and basketball, ran in the woods, stole watermelons and sugar cane, hunted, fished, and played trumpet in the band, while keeping an eye out for girls. He entered Georgia Tech as a budding Chemical Engineer on the Co-Op Program, and in 1958, with a degree and an ROTC commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in hand, set out for the Basic Artillery Officers Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

At Fort Sill, the memory of nine uncles returning from WWII, their stories, and their war trophies influenced Jim to accept a regular commission in the Army and pursue a military career. He served for twenty-four years in Artillery and the Transportation Corps, was stationed overseas for 10 years in Germany, Korea, the UK, including two tours in Vietnam, retiring with the rank of Colonel. The Army was like a dream come true for a small town southern boy! Every time he thought of getting out and pursuing engineering, the Army did something good for him -- a promotion, graduate school back at Georgia Tech, Command and General Staff College, assignment to the Pentagon, a command, and more responsibility.

In 1982, Jim retired from the Army and embarked on a sixteen year career in managing the engineering design and construction of major hi-tech systems for over 70 miles of the 103 mile Metro system in Washington, D.C. But his major accomplishment while at Metro was marrying Laura Lee Casadevall, the love of his life for 29 years, who lost an epic battle with cancer in August 2011. While they had no children of their own, Laura was a doting step-mother to Jim’s children Angus and Elizabeth. Jim takes great pride in Army SSGT Angus Robinson’s five combat tours in Iraq and the fact that Elizabeth is a very successful teacher of English for speakers of other languages.

Jim and Laura retired from Metro in 1998, discovered golf in a big way and started playing regularly. In 2005, during a two week golf vacation Florida, Jim and Laura visited their friends Bill and Cindy Waters at Grand Haven. After two rounds of winter golf at Grand Haven, Jim, to Laura’s horror, said, "I have to move here". So they bought a spec house that weekend and made the transition to North Park in August 2005. No grass to mow, and only a mile and a half to the golf course instead of twenty. Golf heaven!

Jim’s job became golf, and he includes in his accomplishments at Grand Haven, four gross White tee wins in the Club Championship, two White tee Member-Member wins and one Governor’s Cup White tee win with partner Bob Stansfield; he was also White tee winner this year in the President’s Cup competition. He is extremely proud of his 107 birdies on Grand Haven’s hole #8, scoring at least one birdie on each hole, and having a total of 100 birdies every year for the last six years. Supporting the MGA and competing for the honor of playing in the Shootout are very important to him. His goals are to get that elusive hole-in-one at Grand Haven, and to be a better friend to all of those great Grand Haven people who gave so much moral support, encouragement and prayer to him and to Laura Lee during her illness.

Please join us in congratulating Jim as our current Spotlight Golfer!!!