Career change leads Moseley to true love
NISSWA -- Bill Moseley might be considered a jack-of-all-trades but it took a little help from a friend to help him follow his dream.
Originally from Tennessee, Moseley moved to Salt Lake City after college and sold insurance, was a stockbroker and sold financial software. It wasn't until he came across a seminar that Moseley's dream of being a golf teacher was realized.
"I had always been a golfer," said Moseley, the director of folf at Grand View Lodge. "I played in high school and I refound the game. I started studying the golf swing. I looked at all the Golf Digests and that kind of stuff and really tried to find the swing keys to help me.
"As my eye became more trained I started helping my friends and at the time I had no idea what the difference between amateur and professional status was. I knew I wasn't playing for money so I didn't figure I was at the professional level.
"It was kind of funny. I was out at a course teaching a couple friends one day and the lady wrote me a check and gave it to me. The pro was there and he saw it happen and he said 'you can't use our facility and accept money.'
"Then I looked in the professional status handbook and I realized if you represent yourself as a golf professional in a teaching basis or by playing than you are indeed a professional golfer.
"So I stopped because I didn't want to lose my amateur status."
Even though he stopped teaching Moseley couldn't get the joy of helping others with golf out of his mind. The enjoyment he found in watching his pupils hit that perfect shot stirred the flames of teaching.
Because a career change, in which he went into business with a friend, Moseley's dream of becoming a teacher materialized.
"I realized I needed to go out and do what I enjoy doing for a living," said Moseley, who is preparing his wedding this fall. "I didn't want to be on my death bed going, 'I wish I had tried to be a teaching professional.'"
The Bill Skelley Golf School had a seminar in Salt Lake City for a series of schools in Breckinridge, Colo. Although he had received many brochures from golf schools, this one caught his attention because of the location of one of their schools -- Tennessee.
"I went to this seminar and he just blew me away and everything he said totally made sense to me," Moseley said. "I went up to him afterwards and said, 'Are you interested in more teachers?' I told him I really have an interest in teaching golf and have been studying the swing for many years and had been teaching a little bit on my own and totally enjoyed it. We spent about an hour after the seminar talking and he hired me."
After discussing his options with his friend, they agreed that a leave of absence would be a great way for Moseley to see if golf was his true calling.
"I packed up my stuff and in a matter of two weeks, I was gone. I got trained with this great staff out there and it was just a real good experience.
"I came back to Utah and my friend asked me how I liked it. I told him it was unbelievable and he asked me what I was going to do."
At the time Moseley was undecided so his friend made the decision for him by letting him go.
"He said, 'I'm going to let you go' and my eyes were wide open as the fear factor set in," said Moseley. "He said, 'I've never seen you that excited about doing something so I'm going to make your decision. You've done a great job for us but you need to go do this.'
"It was really a noble gesture and I called Bill (Skelley) and asked him where he wanted me to be."
In 1997 the Skelley schools came to Grand View Lodge to teach at the Pines for five weeks and Moseley quickly fell in love with the course.
After leaving, Moseley was contacted by Grand View owners Fred and Mary Boos. After a round of golf the three sat down and offered Moseley a job.
At first Moseley wasn't terribly interested because he loved the freedom and independence of being a teaching professional but after more talks Moseley accepted the job.
"This was different for me and that's what they wanted. They didn't want a PGA professional," said Moseley. "They wanted somebody who knew golf and had a marketing background, like I did, who would give a different view point that what the PGA was putting out.
"With my knowledge and our PGA professional's knowledge and Suzanne Welch who's great with sales -- the combination of those, we have a really good team."
Because Moseley had no time to teach he regained his amateur status to play in MGA and other golf tournaments.
"The reason I did that is because I really love the competition," said Moseley. "I thrive on that. My first year I tried qualifying for the state Mid-Amatuer and missed the cut by one stroke.
"Then I went to try out for the Tournament Players Championship and I missed that by one. It's good though because I'm realizing that even without preparation I can still compete at that level at 41 years old."
Besides playing golf, Moseley's main priorities are making sure Grand View Lodge's three golf course -- the Pines, the Preserve and Deacons Loge -- offer their customers an enjoyable experience. With three golf courses in three different locations Moseley found it hard to run all three along with his daily operations of budgeting and overseeing all golf operations.
"Driving time eats up a lot of my day driving back and forth from each course," said Moseley. "Initially I found it easier to stay here so I didn't get to those courses as much as I should have. My focus this year is to be at each golf course at least four times a week."
Moseley still wants to teach and hopes to still make a cut in a golf tournament, but he's in the business that he wants to be in thanks to being let go by a friend.