Matt Bunn was in grade school, trying various sports when he took a liking to golf.
His parents went to purchase a season pass for their son at nearby Wandermere Golf Course but Bob Ross, the man behind the counter, had a different idea.
“I think it was $125, which was a bargain even 30, 40 years ago,” said Bunn, now 53 and director of golf at Hayden Lake Country Club. “Bob said to my mom and dad, ‘What are his plans?’ They said, ‘To play golf, maybe pick up range balls (to offset the cost).’ Bob said, ‘You keep the money. If he’s working for me, it’s free golf.’
“Honestly, I still get a little emotional about it. My dad has since passed away. I kind of got a break. It was so natural for Bob to say that to my folks. I hit more range balls and moved carts and answered the phone as best as I could.”
That was par for the course for Ross, Wandermere’s longtime co-owner/pro who died last month about a week shy of his 84th birthday. Funeral services will be held June 28, at Calvary Chapel, followed by a celebration of Bob’s life at Wandermere.
For decades, Ross was the first one to arrive at the course, greeting golfers in the pro shop with one-liners. His support for junior golf was evident as Wandermere, home course for Mead and Mt. Spokane high school golf teams, never charged the players for practice rounds.
“I can’t tell you how many guys that went to Mead that all got D-I golf scholarships,” said Bunn, who went on to play at Fresno State and Eastern Washington. “That’s a tribute to Bob Ross and the family. We had so much availability to the course to play and practice. It was tremendous.”
Ty Brown, who authored a book titled “Wandermere: Legacy on the Little Spokane River,” remembers his uncle Bob taking time off during the course’s busy summer months to drive him and Bob’s late son, Billy, to junior tournaments.
“Billy and I were about the same age,” said Brown, who teaches at West Valley High and coaches the girls golf team. “Bob would drive us around to tournaments all over the state. We’d drive to Tri-Cities and Bob always had a van, all tricked out, nice fridge in there. When I think of Bob as I was growing up, I remember him being a funny guy and liking to joke around, but he really cared and he wanted to make sure we were around the game and loved the game.”
It’s been a family trait for nearly 95 years. Wandermere has been family owned, beginning with Bob’s grandparents Robert and Mary Jane Ross purchasing 350 acres and opening the course’s front nine in 1931, followed by Bob’s parents Bill and Dorothy.
Wandermere’s back nine opened in 1948, seven years after Bob was born. Bob, sister Sandy Brown and their families have run the business for close to six decades.
“He was in the pro shop every day so he really got to know all the customers that came in, always joking around with everybody,” Ty Brown said of his uncle. “His feeling, I gather, was that (junior golfers) were the future. Letting kids play out here and hopefully they’d come back as customers, but it wasn’t all business. He was just a kind-hearted guy that want to help the community.”
Family members assist in nearly every aspect at Wandermere. Bob’s grandson, Bobby, is the head pro, succeeding Billy, who died in 2020.
“On Monday, I’ll be at work,” said Brown, who just wrapped up the school year. “The last couple years I’ve been doing maintenance, or I’ll help inside, whatever they need.”
Bunn rattled off numerous names of former Mead High and/or Wandermere employees who became area pros, including Mark Gardner (Qualchan), Dan Porter (Avondale) and Tim Morton (Highlands).
“Bob would do anything to help you,” Bunn said. “Maybe it was equipment or golf balls. He kept you in line, too. He’d kick you in the rear when it was the right thing to do.
“That whole family, they were so proud of all of us. It was family, so when we moved on, whether to college or I worked for Les Blakley at Spokane Country Club, they were proud of that when guys moved on and were successful.”
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