The Preserve Golf Club at Santa Lucia Preserve has named Brian J. Sleeman as head golf professional at the award-winning Tom Fazio golf course, ranked among “America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses” by Golf Digest magazine.
It is truly a “dream job,” for Sleeman, who spent his 2006 honeymoon in Carmel Valley and has returned several times with his wife Anna to celebrate anniversaries. “We always thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to live out here,’ and now we are able to realize that dream.”
With a decade of experience at private clubs in the midwest, Sleeman will oversee daily golf operations at The Preserve Golf Club, as well as management of the golf staff, operations team and caddies.
“We are pleased to welcome Brian to one of the premier golf courses in the United States,” said Karen Baxter, Chief Operating Officer at The Preserve. “His passion for the game and commitment to unmatched golf experiences are perfectly suited to our golf community.”
Sleeman, 38, was most recently senior assistant professional at the prestigious Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Previously, Sleeman served as first assistant at Onwentsia Club near Chicago and Crystal Downs Country Club in Michigan.
Sleeman was the captain of the golf team at Northern Michigan University, graduating in 2003 with a B.A. in economics. He also attended Ferris State University, earning an associate degree in liberal studies.
Born and raised in Marquette, Mich., Sleeman’s golf career started in the bag room of Marquette Country Club, where he worked from age 14 through high school. “I made quarter tips for cleaning clubs and thought it was the greatest job in the world – and still do,” Sleeman said. He turned professional in 2004, when he was named an assistant at Marquette CC.
The Preserve Golf Club is regarded as a perfect blend of golf and nature. Designed by Tom Fazio in 2000, the Preserve Golf Club is carefully crafted into an expansive wilderness setting in the Santa Lucia Mountains.
The Preserve Golf Club is the centerpiece of a private community of only 300 home sites situated on 20,000 acres in the scenic coastal mountains next to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Residents are devoted to the founders’ mission of habitat conservation, establishing the only community in America with a perpetually endowed nature conservancy.
For more information, visit www.santaluciapreserve.com, or contact The Preserve at (831) 620-6700 and [email protected].