Jerry Rich is a perfectionist, and that might not be a strong enough word to describe him.
So naturally, when Rich made his first trip to Augusta National in the mid-1980s, he adored the place. An avid low-handicap golfer, Rich was taken by the beauty of the course and Alister MacKenzie’s design. Of course, he felt the history of the Masters blowing through the Georgia pines.
But his affection went deeper. He loved that there didn’t seem to be a blade of grass out of place. He appreciated the elegant yet understated clubhouse and locker room. He admired the flawless execution of the staff in catering to members and guests.
“I was impressed by everything about it,” Rich says. “Everything they do there is perfection.”
Playing as a guest, Rich wanted to sign up immediately. He asked his host where he could find an application.
“He said, ‘They don’t have any applications,'” Rich recalls. “I asked how you become a member. He said you need a sponsor. I asked my friend, ‘Is there any reason why you couldn’t sponsor me?’ He said, ‘Well, you never know who your sponsor is.’ “
Finally, Rich’s host pleaded with him. “He said, ‘Jerry, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t ask me any more questions.’ “
“I understood,” Rich says.
Rich came home and told his wife, Betty Ann, that he probably wasn’t going to be a member of Augusta National. However, he boldly declared, “I’m going to build my own Augusta.”
The result is Rich Harvest Links in Sugar Grove. What started as a modest three-hole layout in 1988 has evolved into a highly acclaimed 18-hole test that currently ranks 51st on Golf Digest’s list of top 100 courses in the United States. What began as a place for his friends to play a few rounds of golf now will draw the international spotlight when the Solheim Cup is held there Aug. 17-23.
The Solheim is the women’s equivalent of the Ryder Cup, with the top players from the U.S. facing the Europeans in match play competition.
Among the stars expected to compete are Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr and, if she qualifies, Michelle Wie.
“It’s an overwhelming feeling,” says Rich, 71, about hosting the event.
Unbelievable might be the better word, says Beth Daniel, captain of the U.S. team.
“I try to tell people, ‘You don’t understand. This is this guy’s property. He lives on the property,’ ” says Daniel, a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame. “And he landed this big international event. That doesn’t happen every day.”
Rich’s improbable golf journey began at age 9 when he began work as a $2.50 per day caddie at Brookwood Country Club in Wood Dale. He played golf for York High School and then went to college at Northern Illinois, where he met his wife.
After graduating, Rich joined his father’s communication business, which did sound systems for schools and hospitals. The company was a pioneer in integrating computers.
Rich hit the jackpot in the 1970s, when a friend took him into the back room of the trading floor at Chase Manhattan in New York. He saw all the computers, and the idea of integrating them “hit me a like a shot right between the eyes.”
Soon, Rich was walking up and down Wall Street signing up customers. The company went worldwide and Rich eventually sold it to Reuters for millions in 1984.
Weary of commuting back and forth to New York, Rich and his wife fulfilled their dream of buying a farm in the country. He actually purchased 12 of them in his current location, complete with streams, ponds and meadows. After his trip to Augusta, Rich decided he would build some practice holes on his property.
“I always had an interest in golf course design,” Rich says. “I’d always take score cards and doodle on them. If I saw an interesting green complex, I would doodle it. I never knew what I would do with this information.”
Rich first designed three holes. Then he added another three holes, and implemented multiple tee boxes and double-pinned the greens so the hole could be played in different ways.
“Every time you played the hole, you played from a different fairway,” he says. “You had a different angle into the green. You never knew you were playing the same hole three different times.”
The setup was unique and wildly entertaining. In fact, there are plenty of golfers who would have preferred that Rich had stopped his course-building at that point.
Rich, though, had bigger plans. He needed 18 holes in order to build a truly special course. With the assistance of Batavia architect Greg Martin, the finished product landed Rich Harvest as the fifth best new private course in a rating by Golf Digest in 1999. The course first cracked the magazine’s top 100 in America in 2002, checking in at 99. It rose steadily from there.
Rich’s fingerprints are on every aspect of the course. Like Augusta, the conditioning is outstanding for the 50 to 60 members and their guests.
“Whether it is building a building or maintaining a golf course, or working with the professional in the pro shop, I get very much involved in all aspects in everything we do” Rich says. “That’s the way I ran my business, and it was successful for me.”
Daniel first met Rich in 1995 at a club they both belong to in Florida. She found him “quiet and humble,” but also persistent. Finally, Rich persuaded Daniel to check out his course in Sugar Grove.
Daniel came away impressed. She suggested Rich get in touch with the Solheim people about staging their event. One thing led to another, and Rich was awarded the competition in 2004.
Rich and his staff immediately threw all their energies into the Solheim Cup. He built a 10-cottage lodge that will house both teams on site.
“I told our team, ‘You’re going to go there for a week and want to stay for a lifetime,’ ” Daniel says. Rich wants his Solheim Cup to be perfect.
In this regard, his approach is much like that of Tiger Woods, another perfectionist. Even though he has won 14 major championships, Woods says he constantly works on his swing because there?s always room for improvement. Rich takes that approach to life.
“I always relate it to the golf game,” Rich says. “I don’t care if you?re 9 years old just learning the game or 70 years old and have played for 60 years. You can always go out and learn something new about the game.
“I’m a perfectionist. I’m never satisfied.”
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Ed Sherman is the Tribune’s former golf writer.
