Pro Profile - Wild Wing's Tim Tilma is Managing Fine

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

May 31, 1999

MYRTLE BEACH -- If you happen to catch up with Tim Tilma, Head Pro at Wild Wing Plantation, while visiting one of the four courses the property boasts, then consider yourself lucky. Tilma holds court over 72 hole of pure Lowcountry, Grand Strand golf. What does that mean aside from driving around in a golf cart for miles and miles, or fantasizing about all the grass that you're actually in control of? It means that you have to deal with the business end of over 250 employees.

"The biggest challenge of my job is managing the staff here," says Tilma. There are 250 employees, and I am in charge of 100. My biggest challenge is keeping them informed, and to give them an environment to succeed. They are the ones that are active with the customers."

Active is what Tilma has been since graduating from Alma College with his bachelors degree and Western Michigan with a Masters in Physical Education. But active for Tilma equated to tennis early on in his career

"I worked in the tennis business from 1979 to 1964," says Tilma. "Tennis was booming in the early 80's, and then in the late 80's the courts were being converted to aerobic courts. Golf was on the rise and I wanted to move, and I had an adventure in mind. I picked Hilton Head because it was a place where they had so many courses. I even went there without a job."

Tilma did not spend much time in the unemployment line in Hilton Head, as he landed an assistant job at the Country Club of Hilton Head where he nailed his PGA membership. As is turns out, Hilton Head was the springboard that Tilma needed to get into the profession.

"After Hilton Head, I took a job with the PGA Tour at the Golf Club of Miami," says Tilma. "In 1989 the PGA got into the public golf domain, and they built a course in Jacksonville and they started managing the Golf Club of Miami. I was the resident professional at the south course, an executive course that was open until midnight."

But Tilma knew when to fold at the Golf Club of Miami. When Robert Harper, the head pro at the Miami Golf Club, took the head pro job up at Wild Wing, Tilma was quick to follow. Once again having to pay his dues, Tilma was an assistant pro until 1992, when he was named head professional.

Now that Tilma is at the helm of four championship courses, does he ever get a chance to enjoy any of Wild Wing's premier layouts?

"I play when I want to," says Tilma. "My biggest thing is managing staff and delegating responsibility."

In other words, if Tilma can get someone to step up to the plate and fill in for a while, he may see a few tee and greens that night.

In between managing the courses at Wild Wing, getting in a round or two, and spending time with his wife and kids, Tilma does find occasion to teach the game that actually lured him away from the glamorous sport of tennis.

"My philosophy on the game is that people are too intent on doing well and don't enjoy it enough," philosophizes Tilma. "People come to the golf course and get angry and exasperated and don't enjoy their time. I get so little time to play, I try to enjoy the company of my playing partners and the beauty of the course. Technical skills should be learned out on the driving range, not on the course."

Tilma's respect for the game is reflected by his hands down favorite player on the PGA Tour.

"Ben Crenshaw is a gentleman's gentleman," says Tilma, as he reflects thoughtfully on Crenshaw's career. "He loves the history of the game. He is known for his putting stroke and I have always tried to emulate his putting. He has had a magical career that has embodied the spirit of golf."