Kudos, Coach!
When he's not handling PR for commercial real estate firms like Mesa West Capital and Kilroy, DB&R founder Bruce Beck (here with wife Robin) volunteers for scholastic sports. He's just been named High School Golf Coach of the Year by the California Coaches Association, having led Ventura County's Oak Park High School golf team for 13 years; in every one, the team has advanced to the CIF post-season. The lower the golf handicap, the better the golfer—"kind of like a cap rate." Bruce's is an enviable 8. Including an earlier stint as head baseball coach at Agoura High School, he's coached school sports for 22 years.
Every couple of years, he takes the team to Pebble Beach. According to Bruce, most high school golfers have swing coaches so he focuses on things like etiquette, rules, and course management. "We try to teach them lessons that they'll use later on in life." Unlike basketball or football, high school golf teams play and practice on someone else's facility. Bruce's players were the first in the area to thank the head pro or golf course operator every time they step onto a public course or country club. Also setting the team apart: its "Birdies to Benefit" initiative, getting folks to pledge donations for each stroke under par. They've raised more than $10k for charity over the past two years.