The California Dreamer
Who Can ‘Play’
JOHN STEINBREDER
CARMEL, CALIFORNIA | If you do not
know a whole lot about golf in Northern
California, then you probably don’t know
Randy Haag. Which is too bad, because
the 52-year-old from the East Bay town of
Orinda is one of the best amateur golfers
in the country.
“For guys 45 to 55 years old, Randy is
easily one of the top five amateur golfers
in the country,” says Darryl Donavan, a
friend and another staple on the California
circuit. “He hits it long and straight, he’s
a very good iron player and putter, and he
has worked hard to make his short game
equally as strong. His course manage-
ment is excellent as well, and he trains
very hard. He really is one of the best.”
Haag is a player, to be sure. And he is
a bit of a character. He putts sidesaddle,
an unorthodox technique he adopted more
than a decade ago when the yips all but
killed that part of his game. A member
of The Olympic Club and seven-time club
champion there, he also writes a widely
read golf blog recounting his life on the
golf road and highlighting amateur events
like the Stocker and the San Francisco
City Championship, that might otherwise
languish in a sort of journalistic obscurity.
Though he has never married, Haag is
the father of four children by three different women, his offspring ranging in age
from 8 to 23. He runs a small investment
banking business, and that’s what lets
him finance a competitive golf obses-
sion that includes as many as 28 amateur
tournaments a year at a cost of more than
$50,000 in annual expenses.
Animated and energized, Haag wears
his golf emotions on his sleeve as he talks
about how he is living the dream. “I love
what I do as a golfer, and I still think my
best golf is ahead of me,” he says. “I was
the oldest participant in the U.S. Amateur
field this year, and I want to continue to
compete at the highest level. I work hard
on my game and my conditioning. And I
love going to these events, playing these
great courses and going up against these
people I know so well, guys I’ve been com-
peting against for years, as well as kids
half my age.”
Haag has been having fun with golf
ever since he took it up as an 8-year-old,
thanks to an aunt in Green Bay, Wisc.,
who turned him onto the sport when he
was there on summer vacation. Two years
later, he started caddying at his hometown
country club.
