Northern Nevada Business Weekly: Tell us a about your company.
Lou Eiguren: Genoa Lakes Golf Club is located in the historic town of Genoa in the Carson Valley. We have two 18-hole championship golf courses designed by John Harbottle II, along with PGA golf professionals, Peter Jacobsen and Johnny Miller. We are a "semi-private" daily fee golf club catering to our members and golfing guests from all over the world. Mario and Diane Antoci of MDA Enterprises, Inc. currently own the two golf courses. Genoa Lakes Golf Club has been a qualifying site for the USGA Open Championship for the past 14 years. Both Genoa Lakes golf courses are open year-round with our staffing levels reaching as high as 120 employees during our peak season.
NNBW: What role do you play in the company?
Eiguren: As vice president and PGA director of golf, I basically manage and oversee the entire operation of the golf club, including daily golf play, golf course maintenance, membership affairs, operations budget and controls, along with anything else that needs to be done.
NNBW: How did you get into this profession?
Eiguren: My wife, Paula, and I lived in Winnemucca after we were first married, and I worked at an insurance agency. Not being a "cold call" kind of sales person, I had always wanted to work in the golf business. Thus, through my wife's cousin's husband, who was a golf professional in northern California, I was able to get a few interviews and was hired as an entry-level golf professional at The Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1969. And after 41 years, the rest is history.
NNBW: What is something no one knows about your job?
Eiguren:That I don't actually play golf every day like most people think.
NNBW: If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?
Eiguren: Following college, I was scheduled to go to work with the Bureau of Land Management as a fire control officer in Boise. Then-President Lyndon Johnson placed a hiring freeze on government jobs, thus my first career choice was not to be.
NNBW: What do you like to do when you're not working?
Eiguren: Travel with my wife Paula, yard maintenance, golfing, tennis, working out and spending time with family and friends and of course, being with my grandchildren.
NNBW: Have any advice for someone who wants to enter your profession?
Eiguren: First and foremost, have a wife and family who will totally support you in your profession. The golf business is a wonderful profession, however, it's part of the hospitality business, which means having to work on weekends, holidays and times when many families are together. Like any other professions, there are pluses and minuses.
NNBW: If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why would you want it?
Eiguren: Remove the vast majority of our current state and national politicians (both Democratic and Republicans) and start fresh with new ideas and a commitment to help restore "old-fashioned" values, character, honesty and hard work ethics to get our country back on track.
NNBW: What person, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with, and why?
Eiguren: The first person that comes to mind besides my father is Mr. John Ascuaga. In my mind, John is the absolute finest example of what a person can accomplish through dedication, determination, education, honesty, hard work, self-discipline and above all, character. At the age of 85, John is a true inspiration and someone whose company I would truly enjoy. After all, he's Basque!
NNBW: What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Eiguren: "Play fast, play fair, play well."
NNBW: What do you like most about your job? What do you like least?
Eiguren: The people I meet every day and the environment in which I get to work. Cold weather and people who don't enjoy and appreciate their time on the golf course.
NNBW:What five words would most people use to describe you?
Eiguren: Friendly, caring, accommodating, supportive and honest.
The basics:
Name: Lou Eiguren, vice president of MDA Enterprises, Inc. and PGA director of golf at Genoa Lakes Golf Club
How long have you been in this job? 10 Years
How long in the profession? 41 years
Education: Business Administration, University of New Mexico - University of Nevada, Reno; Officer Candidate School, U.S. Army/Nevada National Guard
Best book you've read? "The Match" by Ken Venturi and "Cowboy Values" by James Owen
What's on your iPod? News and sports
The best movie ever? "The Guns of Navarone" with Gregory Peck
Spouse, kids or pets? Paula Laca Eiguren, my spouse of 42-plus years; Aimee R. Eiguren, daughter, PR director for Innerwest Advertising and Public Relations; Justin L. Eiguren, son, married to Emilie with two children, Alex and Marisa, Titleist-Foot-Joy Golf Company in Encinitas, Calif.
