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.
Other clients include Kearny Real Estate, Industry Partners, Quantum Capital, Thorofare Capital, Concord Real Estate, and George Elkins. Before graduating, son Brandon was a standout on Oak Park High's golf team, later played for Cal, and was a pro golfer for four years. Daughter Dani ran track at Oak Park and at UC Irvine. As for himself, Bruce played baseball at Pepperdine, was offered a contract by the Kansas City Royals, and pitched batting practice for the Dodgers for 10 years back in the '70s and '80s. As a belated Father's Day gift, the kids took him to Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, where they saw Clayton Kershaw's no-hitter. (Zero is one score golfers will never achieve.)
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