Grand Haven Mens Golf Assoc.

Ron` Walker's Dad was a career meteorologist in the Air Force. He met and married a Canadian girl in 1944, while stationed in Montana, and Ron was born in Great Falls a year later.

Ron’s family, including his two brothers, moved every two to three years, which is typical in a Military family. He lived across the U.S. and in many parts of the world including California, Alaska, Alabama, South Dakota, New Mexico and Illinois. He attended 4th and 5th grade in Okinawa and graduated from high school in Tokyo, Japan. Ron played on the high school football and golf teams.

Ron’s parents both learned to play golf while in the Military and always joined the base golf course. This afforded Ron the chance to start playing at the age of 12 and for better or worse, he still uses that homemade swing he developed as a kid.

Ron attended the University of New Mexico (his Dad’s alma mater), and graduated from the University of Maryland in 1969 with a Business degree.

Ron ‘s first job after college was a Baltimore City policeman, both in a patrol car and a walking beat. After surviving the streets of West Baltimore for two years, Ron left police work and joined Geico as a claims adjuster in the Washington D.C. area.

Ron’s 35-year sales career focused on selling food products to the worldwide Military, which afforded him the opportunity to live and travel around the world. During his career he lived in Washington D.C, Albany, Boston, Boise, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Germany where he managed a sales office in Frankfurt. Later he traveled the Far East extensively in a management role, while living in Dallas. He finished the last 10 years of his 20-year tenure with The HJ Heinz Company in Pittsburgh, Pa., which explains his die-hard support for the Steelers, Penguins and even the Pirates.

Ron was single during most of his career but he finally found true love with Sandi and they were married three years ago. Ron and Sandi knew each other 30 years ago while living in Maryland. After not seeing each other since the mid eighties, they reacquainted in 2009 at the Stauffer’s home in Grand Haven and married at Hammock Beach a year later.

Ron’s daughter, Karen and her husband Chris, are both nurses and live in Clarksburg, Md. They have a 22-month-old son and another on the way. Ron’s parents are both 96 and live in Santa Maria, California. His Dad played golf through the age of 88.

Ron discovered Grand Haven in 2005 during a visit with his longtime friends Bob and Patty Stauffer. Bob and Ron attended the University of Maryland together. Ron liked the GH community, the golf course and ended up purchasing a home in

Heritage Oaks in 2005. The year 2010 was big! Ron retired, got married and became a full time Grand Haven resident.

Ron and Sandi love retirement in Grand Haven. Besides golf, they are active in tennis and enjoy biking, walking, going to the GH gym and spending time at the beach. They just built a new home on North Waterview Drive and moved in last December. Their biggest joy is being grandparents.

Ron’s golfing highlights are three holes in ones in the last two years after none in over 50 years of golf. All were at Grand Haven: two on #14 and one on #5. The most recent one (March 29, 2013) on #5 was with a brand new 6 iron that had never been hit before the ace. Ron reports that the club has not been close since. His lowest handicap was a 6, several decades ago. Ron enjoys belonging to the GHMGA to meet other members, and to play in the weekly events.