For nearly 50 years, Jeff Cross and Scott Puailoa have been more than golf professionals at their respective clubs. What started as a job became something neither expected: a lifetime. Cross first walked through the doors of Victoria Club in 1977, fresh out of high school, and started working in the cart barn. At the time, he didn’t even play golf. Puailoa arrived at The Valley Club at 22 years old. Fifty years later, he is still there.
Jeff Cross, PGA
General Manager, Victoria Club
For Cross, golf came into his life almost by accident. His mother had always encouraged him to play, but growing up, his focus was on football, basketball, and baseball. “She would never quit; she would constantly hound me: ‘Play golf, play golf, play golf,’” said Cross. Eventually, he listened. One summer, at 18 years old, Cross went to Fairmount Park in Riverside and hit some golf balls on the driving range. Then he went back the next day. And the next.
“I ended up going 21 days in a row just hitting golf balls, and I kind of got hooked.”
After finishing college at Cal State Fullerton, where he played on the golf team, Cross dedicated himself to improving. He recalls practicing six to eight hours a day, determined to see how far he could take the game. Eventually, Cross won a two-day Golden State event as an amateur and decided to turn professional. He went to tour school in Palm Springs with hopes of pursuing a playing career, but after missing the cut for the next stage, he turned toward the club professional path. That decision changed the course of his life.
Cross worked his way from Assistant Professional to Head Professional at The Victoria Club. When the Head Professional position opened, he was just 29. “I was the interim, and eight months later they made me the Head Pro.” He became a PGA Member in 1990.
For Cross, the opportunity was difficult to believe.
“They took a gamble on me,” he said. “I’ve always been fortunate that they did that, and I just couldn’t believe it. It was just almost like a dream.” That dream continued to evolve. Cross eventually became the Director of Golf and, five years ago, was approached about taking on the role of General Manager.
He initially agreed to take the position on a temporary basis. After 30 days, the club offered him the job permanently. Cross asked for time to think about it. It was December, one of the busiest times of the year, and he wanted the month to pass before making such a major decision.
He didn’t get the month. Two weeks later, the club asked for an answer and gave him until the next day. The decision came after Cross heard a story on sports talk radio about a mountain climber who had lost fingers and toes but was preparing to climb again.
“Don’t be afraid to climb that next mountain.” Cross pulled his car over. “I thought, ‘Man, if that wasn’t a sign. That’s it.’ So I decided that day I was going to take the job.”
“You want something to get up and look forward to,” Cross said. For him, that’s the Victoria Club. That mindset extends beyond Cross’s own career. He encourages other PGA Professionals to push themselves toward opportunities, even when they feel uncomfortable.
“Don’t be afraid to get into the PGA program. Don’t be afraid to get on a committee; eventually try to get on the board. Even though you’re not comfortable doing stuff, don’t be afraid because you never know what opportunity is going to open up.”
Scott Puailoa, PGA
Director of Golf, Valley Club of Montecito
For five decades, Puailoa has been a constant presence at the Valley Club, taking on whatever role was needed. “At a club,” he explains, “the golf shop is essentially the center of everything. We’re in the hospitality business, and we take care of the members, whatever they need. The golf shop really is Grand Central Station, so you end up wearing a lot of hats.”
One day he might be playing golf with members. Another, he might be helping in the kitchen, running a tournament, supporting staff or working in the bag room.
“At this place, you grow up, and you do everything,” he said. That willingness to do whatever was needed became part of the culture of his career. For Puailoa, that culture has always come back to the people.
“I’ve always had a passion for the game of golf,” he said. “And I just believe if you have a passion for the game, whatever you’re playing, whether it’s football, basketball, tennis, hockey, you have a passion for the people who play the game.”
When asked what he considers his proudest accomplishment at The Valley Club, Puailoa didn’t point to a tournament, promotion or professional achievement. “Just being able to be a part of this club and help support the culture for 50 years.” That culture is something Puailoa has watched closely over the decades. He believes the club’s commitment to its identity and membership process is a major reason it has remained so successful.
At the same time, he has witnessed enormous changes in the game itself.
He remembers an era of persimmon drivers and playing with the same clubs for years. Then came metal woods, new equipment technology, advances in golf balls and the introduction of computers, Golf Genius and online scoring. Technology has transformed nearly every part of golf, but for Puailoa, it has ultimately made the game more enjoyable.
“The technology, it’s just really elevated the game, in my opinion,” he said. “It makes it fun and, you know, at 72 years old, I can keep playing and having fun.”
Cross has seen his own club change dramatically.
When he started, he remembers the average age of the membership being around 75. Today, Victoria Club has welcomed more younger families and children.
“Golf’s expensive, so we’re getting a lot of younger families joining, and we’re hoping to retain them,” Cross said. “Once they get here, we want to do everything we can to make their experiences better.”
While the clubs and the game have changed, some things have remained constant.
For both Cross and Puailoa, the memories and relationships built along the way are what make five decades so meaningful. Cross still remembers being a teenager and sneaking onto Victoria Club’s course to go ice blocking. He remembers hiding from the maintenance workers and climbing trees. “It’s amazing,” he said. “I still, when I drive in, I flash back to things that happened when I was a kid.” Even after all these years, the feeling hasn’t gone away.
“There are very few times where I have driven through the gates and thought, ‘Oh man, I’m just agonizing coming to work today.’ I honestly don’t feel like it’s a job,” said Cross.
Puailoa feels much the same way. The Valley Club has become so intertwined with his identity that he struggles to imagine life outside of it.
“After nearly five decades, what has this club meant to you?”
His answer was simple.
“Well, it’s my entire life.”
He started at the club at 22. Now, at 72, he describes it as a fixture of who he is. “I don’t know what I would do outside of it, but it’s been a blessing for my family. One of the best things in my life is being right here.”
That impact has gone both ways. The clubs have shaped their lives, but Cross and Puailoa have also left their mark on the clubs they have served for so long.
At The Valley Club, members even named the spring Member-Guest tournament after Puailoa. He admits he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea. “I’m just coming to work every day,” he said. Ultimately, the gesture meant a great deal. “It was a very nice gesture, and I felt very honored that they did that.”
Cross, meanwhile, hopes his legacy will be about the way he treated people. “I would like to be remembered as a person who cared about people, cared about the game and was a nice person.” It is a sentiment that could just as easily describe Puailoa.
Both men have spent their careers learning that being a PGA professional is about much more than golf. It is about hospitality, leadership, relationships, adaptability and continuing to learn.
Puailoa boils it down to three things: who you are as a person, your passion for the game and the people who play it, and your willingness to keep learning.
Cross has learned a similar lesson throughout his career: every day is another opportunity.
“I look at every day like every day is a game,” he said. “It’s a new game. Let’s try to win the game today. Let’s try to throw a perfect game.” There will never be a perfect game, Cross knows. Some days will bring wins, others losses, but the next day brings another opportunity. “Yesterday was great, but today we have a new day. It’s a new game. Or if things went wrong, okay, we got a chance to recover.”
After nearly 50 years, neither man seems quite ready to walk away. Cross admits he has mixed feelings about retirement. “I’m a little bit afraid to retire, and I’m afraid not to retire.” His original goal was simple: make it to 50 years and retire. Now that he’s there, he’s reconsidering. “I would like to be involved and usher in the next person,” he said. “As long as they’ll keep me.”
Puailoa isn’t thinking about retirement either. “No, not at this time.” Perhaps that is the clearest connection between the two. After five decades, they aren’t simply still working at their clubs. They still care, they still want to learn, they still want to serve their members, and they still love the game.
For Cross, golf opened a door he never expected to walk through. For Puailoa, the club became a place that grew alongside him for an entire lifetime. Nearly 100 combined years later, both men have become more than professionals at their clubs; they have become part of their history.