Kremer: Inwood Golf Manager Fulfills Prophecy

He carries the keys to the clubhouse in his pocket. He wears the emotional face of the golf course on his shirt sleeve.

Brian Legan is a young man many people in the Joliet area have come to recognize. Few know the story of his rise to local golf icon.

He grew up on the East Side of Joliet. His father, George, was a teacher and coach, first at Joliet Catholic Academy and then later spending the bulk of his career—30 years—at Joliet Central High School.

His older brother, Dan, was a local football hero. He works now as a golf pro in Arizona.

Brian, at age 36, worked long and hard to carve out his own niche in life. He played golf for his father at Joliet Central and learned right away his dad would not play favorites when, not when it came to putting together a team to represent the Steelmen.

Legan went on to earn a business management degree at the University of St. Francis and now works as the general manager at Inwood Golf Course, one of three Joliet Park District layouts. His job duties run the gamut from organizing leagues and running golf outings to managing a staff of 40 employees and schmoozing with customers.

Legan played collegiately at USF under Hall of Fame coach Paul Downey. And, Legan says, if his father was all about the tough-love approach, Downey was the positive influence who taught him to push through a round, to forget about that one stray tee shot that hooked into a stand of trees, to live in the present.
“He’d say, ‘It’s now how, it’s how many,’ ” Legan said.

He once shot a round of 63 at Woodruff, on a course where he practically grew up, falling just short of reaching Ben Mutz’s magical course record round of 59. Legan remembers his mother would drop him off at Woodruff in the early-morning hours and pick up him at some point after sunset.

He started playing golf at the age of 13—after he gave up baseball and all of the other sports he enjoyed so much as a youngster. Now, he often works from sunup to sundown. He doesn’t feel like he’s working all the time, though.

“I know that I’m very fortunate with the fact that I actually get to do a job that I like and that I care about,” Legan said. “I’m reminded of that every day. Some of my buddies work in different fields. They might be behind a desk. They might have to work for somebody that is on top of them constantly.

“Fortunately for me, we have a great group of people that we work with in the Joliet Park District. We collectively help each other out. And it’s nice to see when we have big events that there is that support from our leaders. Also, with me being in business management, I laugh at that because a lot of times you go to school for something and you don’t wind up doing that. I feel blessed. I think it’s funny I ended up running a golf course.”

Funny because Mel May—the manager at Woodruff back in the day—predicted Legan one day would become the man behind the golf counter. Leroy Leslie and Jim Sieracki also encouraged Legan to pursue his dreams, find a job he enjoyed. He has that job at Inwood.

“This is my second family,” Legan said.

He wouldn’t be where he is today without the strong influence of his mother, his father and his brother. The men of the family passed on the golf gene.

“Basically, growing up—looking up to those two guys, my dad and my brother in what sports they liked and what they did, it’s easy to fall into liking whatever they liked,” Legan said. “So, growing up, whether it would be football or basketball—and definitely golf was the one that tied us all together and is something that we’ve all been able to play together for a good portion of time. It’s always a lot of fun because it’s a good match.”

Legan has come to recognize how important it is to emphasis “fun” to his employees and his paying customers. Golf is a game, after all.

“Every year when we start, there is something to talk about, whether we have a brand new cart facility or we have a beautiful, new deck,” he said. “Those are physical things the customer can appreciate. But, most importantly, it seems like the staff all-and-all gets the message that we need to talk to people and make them feel welcomed.

“We need to have a good time with people and remember that they’re here to recreate and have fun. They’re coming to us to get away from their real problems that they have in life or they’re coming after work, after a stressful day, and they’re coming out here to have some fun.”

That’s F-U-N, spelled with capital letters.

Legan and his staff have succeeded on that front by adding events—for example, the annual long-drive contest that has gained popularity—and promoting Inwood as a destination for golf and pig roasts, the Chili Open and the Turkey Shoot.

He knows his business is one transcends the numbers on a player’s scorecard. He is nothing, if not passionate, about his work.