Espinosa is man of many trades for McAllen golf fans

McALLEN - Carlos Espinosa is the Director of Golf for the City of McAllen. The face of golf in the Rio Grande Valley for the last  20-plus years, Espinosa is a graduate of the University of Houston, which has produced golfers such as Fred Couples and Steve Elkington. Espinosa was an All-Southwest Conference selection in 1985 and helped the Cougars win the NCAA title before turning professional in 1986. Espinosa earned over $1 million dollars and won 23 Mexican PGA Tour events. He also qualified for the 1993 U.S. Open and was a member of Mexico's World Cup teams in 1988, '90 and '92.

Espinosa has been the director of golf for the City of McAllen since May 12, 1999. He is based at Palm View Golf Course in McAllen, which will host this week's Jalapeño Duramed FUTURES Tour Golf Classic.

Q: What are your job responsibilities?

A: I think the main responsibility is the administrative side of my job. I'm basically a general manager, I would say. What a general manager does at a country club. That is the main one. But because of my background within the game of golf I also fulfill the majority of duties that are typically given to a head golf professional at a facility, which involves tournament organizations, teaching and developing marketing programs. All of those different things. The administration of the Palm View Golf Course and the maintenance of the facility I believe are what takes up a majority of my time.

Q: What do you like doing the best at the club?

A: With all the different hats that I wear I don't get bored with monotony. (Wednesday) I gave a lesson at 8 a.m., and then another lesson at 9. Then I met with my golf course superintendent to discuss current agronomic and playing conditions of the golf course. From 12 to 1 I met with the tournament chairman for one of the golf tournaments that we're going to be having here at the golf course this weekend. From 1 to 3 I've been working on budget preparation for next year. At 3:30 I'm going to start getting ready to receive about 60 players for our regular Wednesday sundowner. Just today I wore like four or five different hats, which I believe is what keeps my  job so fun.

Q: What goes into the preparation for a tournament like the FUTURES event?

A: As far as the preparation of all the logistical work that goes into it, we've been at it for about six months in conjunction with the (McAllen) Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. As far as our conversations with the tour, I would say they started today (a week and a half out).

Q: Are there any out of the ordinary requests by the FUTURES people?

A: Everything is what you typically see in events like that, any professional golf event. What makes it challenging to fulfill their requests is two things: one, we are a municipal golf course and have limitations on the amount of money we can spend on some of the requirements they ask for. Two, is we're open for the public 364 days a year, only closed Christmas Day. Combining that with the winter visitors just leaving us it makes it difficult for us to get on the golf course and do some of the things they want us to do. We're pretty much packed from sun up to sun down in January and February. Having a tournament in April is really not ideal but those are just challenges. All I can say is when the players get here in April the golf course is as good as it can possibly be that week of the year given the funding and the situations that I just described.