Country Club’s Crew Works Above Par

They’re known as “los originales.”

When the San Juan Hills Country Club opened in 1964, Jose Luis Duarte and Miguel Becerra were part of the first maintenance crew. For most of the last three decades, they have remained there, trimming the greens, planting trees and clipping bushes.

And many of the crew’s other 12 members have labored at the 114-acre course a decade or more. Several also are related: Duarte’s brother Victor works on the course, as do Becerra’s two brothers-in-law.

“We’re almost like a family,” said Becerra, the foreman. “Each one knows what he has to do.”

The longevity doesn’t amaze Duarte, 52, who could hardly remember the date he started his job 31 years ago.

“I prefer stability to changing jobs all the time,” he said.

Becerra, also 52, has been quietly toiling for 27 years. Until two years ago, his father also worked at the country club.

The workers’ dedication has not gone unnoticed by their boss.

“It’s a fairly tight group,” said Gary Bugg, maintenance superintendent. “There’s not much of a turnover rate.”

As they fix drainage pipes or mow the lawns, the workers go about their day usually unnoticed by the players driving past in golf carts.

It’s not only the players who benefit from the crew’s work. Becerra, a longtime golfer, hits the tees at the country club on Sundays.

On weekdays, the workers start so early that they eat lunch at 9:30 a.m. During a recent break in their shop, several joked and played cards. Amid oily motors and tools, a boombox played ranchera music.

Crew members Manuel Benavides, 53, and Victor Duarte, 34, jokingly bickered over who had worked there longer. It turned out they had both put in 17 years.

After their break, the men punched their time cards and headed back to work.