Sometimes you run across people who seem to do more than there are hours in the day. Such is the case with Nevada Golf Northern Region Tournament Manager Chuck Harris.
Besides his role with the Northern Region, Harris, 67, is in Stage I of becoming a PGA of America Class A professional. He helps run a junior golf program and PGA Jr. League program at Sierra Sage Golf Course. He helps inspire veterans as part of PGA HOPE. He is a high-level alpine ski coach. Etc.
When he speaks, his energy flows, and it is clear that he loves what he does, especially when it comes to tournament operations.
“What I think about my role with the Northern Region is balance,” Harris said during a phone call on a rare day off. “I’m the guy who sets up the golf course for tournaments, so I look at the golf course differently than a lot of people, especially a lot of golfers. I’m looking at the connections of how the golf course lays out and how it plays. Where are the shot values? And then I’m thinking about the level of our field that is playing because we do everything from USGA qualifiers to stroke-play events where our members are playing in their first actual tournament. Plus junior tournaments. I have to have an understanding of what the level of play is. The way a golf course is set up for a tournament, it can go from pretty benign to extremely difficult. But the one thing I want to hear from the players at every level is that the course was balanced and fair.”
In addition to helping with the tournaments, Harris is involved with PGA HOPE, an organization whose mission is to change and save veterans’ and active-duty military service members’ lives through the power of golf.
“PGA HOPE is all about community,” said Harris, whose father, Charles, served in World War II under General Patton. “It’s rewarding and it’s super fun to work with those guys because there’s a community in the military and it crosses throughout each of the services. When we’re doing PGA HOPE and we have the Air Force guys and the Army guys and the Navy and all the different services kidding each other, it is heartwarming. There is a good-natured rivalry between the services and how those guys interact. It’s good to see them find that community that they had when they were in the service, especially guys who have separated from the service.”
Inspiring the future is also a joy for Harris. He helps operate the PGA Jr. League at Sierra Sage and says parents can contact the course or find the PGA Jr. League website to get involved.
“I’ve been a lifelong coach, including an alpine ski coach for over 40 years,” Harris said. “I have coached at pretty much every level of that sport. I love working with kids. It makes me go. If you’re going to be good at coaching, you have to understand that the athletes are way more important than the coaches.”
About Harris, the Ski Coach
Since beginning his coaching career in 1979 and joining Mt. Rose in 2002, Chuck has played a key role in developing the race program and mentoring athletes at every level. His career in alpine ski racing has spanned continents and cultures. Skiing took him across Europe and South America, where he served as a national team coach for Argentina and became bilingual.
In 2002, Chuck made history as the first African American alpine race coach to participate in the Olympic Winter Games, serving as Head Men’s Speed Coach for the Argentine Olympic Team. Three generations after his grandmother was born in 1885, just 20 years after the Civil War—when skiing wasn’t even considered possible for African Americans—Chuck marched in the 2002 Olympic Opening Ceremonies. It was a moment that carried more than his own dream; it carried his family’s.
He’s coached Olympians, led national teams, and mentored thousands. But if you ask him what matters most, it’s simple: the community. He is inspired by watching athletes grow, gain confidence, and discover what’s possible.
