My name is Corey Roberson and I’m excited to join the team at Cordillera Ranch as the new Director of Golf. I grew up around the golf business, watching my dad run Van Zandt Country Club in Canton, Texas. For those of you who don’t know, Canton is a small country town in East Texas known for a monthly flea market called First Monday. My childhood home was a small house on club property, and I spent every waking moment at the golf course. This is where I fell in love with the game and eventually earned a scholarship to play college golf at Texas State University.
In college, I thought playing professional golf for a living was my next step, but I started to realize that wasn’t what I really wanted — it was helped by the fact that I wasn’t good enough! While I enjoyed playing and competing, I truly loved the atmosphere around a golf course and interaction with people that enjoy the game. I graduated in May of 2010 and jumped straight into the golf business. Throughout my career, I have worked in every area of a golf operation, from picking the range and washing carts to answering the phone and placing special orders to building and training a high-functioning team of golf professionals that provide an unparalleled level of service to an elite membership.
My first real assistant job was at Shady Valley in Arlington, which is where I met my wife, Colleen. She grew up there and I played a lot of golf with her dad. Colleen played college golf at The University of the Incarnate Word and we got married in 2017. We have strong ties to the Boerne/San Antonio area with Colleen’s family, love the Texas Hill Country and wanted a slower pace of life than in Dallas. From a club perspective, the challenge of building upon the relaxed, high-end culture at Cordillera Ranch holds unrivaled appeal. We are excited to settle down and start our family in this beautiful part of South Texas.
For the last 7.5 years, I have been honing my skills at Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas as 1st Assistant Professional under the mentorship of Head Professional Cameron Doan. Cameron, or Sarge as we call him, won the 2018 PGA National Bill Strausbaugh Award and was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame this year. Preston Trail is not only an elite club known for good food, great golf and exceptional service — it’s also one of the best training grounds in the country for golf professionals. Sarge and Preston Trail have a reputation for advancing assistant professionals to head professionals, directors of golf and directors of instruction at platinum level clubs. The program at PT takes best practices in inspired leadership and performance impact from business and the sports world and applies them to golf. I’m excited to apply similar principles to the golf operation at Cordillera Ranch. Below are a few PT alumni:
• John Lanham, Prairie Dunes Country Club (Hutchinson, KS), Head Professional
• Simon Buckle, Brook Hollow Golf Club (Dallas, TX), Head Professional
• Travis Johns, Medinah Country Club (Medinah, IL), Director of Instruction
• Phillip Prude, Wichita Country Club (Wichita, KS), Head Professional
Now, PT can add Corey Roberson, The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch (Boerne, TX), Director of Golf.
Colleen and I can’t wait to move south and get to know the membership at Cordillera Ranch. Golf is a huge part of our lives and I’d like to leave you with a little story. The game has introduced me to a diverse group of people, including a past president and a few professional athletes, but my most memorable moment on the golf course was shared with my wife.
In 2017, I played in the PGA Professional Championship and Colleen caddied for me. We had a fun week and having her on the bag helped me relax. I’m standing on #13 tee in the final round, coming off a bad bogey on #12 — I’m mad and nervous because I hadn’t sniffed getting a tee ball in the fairway on #13 all week. So, I asked Colleen if I should hit 3 wood and try to get it in the fairway or take my chances with the driver. Her response was priceless: “Just hit the driver over there in the left trees like you have all week — you’re due for a par from over there.” The rest of our group heard what she said and couldn’t keep a straight face. I couldn’t help but laugh and, sure enough, I wiped it in the left trees, sliced it up by the green, and got it up and down for par.
I look forward to meeting you at The Club,
Corey
Corey Roberson is the Director of Golf at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at croberson@cordilleraranch.com or 830.336.4653.