Golf is as much a social function as it is a competition to Paul Earnest, golf director of Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas since 1998. He points out the equality of the game, particularly during group play when each golfer’s abilities are revealed for others to see. “There’s an intimacy in golf that you just won’t find in other sports.”

Earnest’s love of the game began at his father’s side while growing up in Houston. Though his father wasn’t much of a golfer, playing together turned out to be a great way to connect. Early success on the junior circuit through the Houston Golf Association and American Junior Golf Association brought Earnest respect on the course. By the time he’d won his first college tournament while a student at the University of Texas, he was hooked.

At Four Seasons Resort Dallas, Earnest oversees everything from the pro shop to the famed TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas course, home of the HP Byron Nelson Championship, a PGA TOUR event. He fondly recalls working closely with Nelson, and the personal note the Texas legend sent shortly after he was hired – the first contact in an enduring friendship that lasted until Nelson’s death in 2006. “Byron was in his 80s; I was in my 30s. Golf has a way of breaking down generational barriers.” In 2008, Earnest turned his keen eye for course aesthetics on the TPC course, lovingly overseeing a major redesign by former PGA TOUR champ D.A. Weibring.

Despite a full schedule, Earnest still finds time to play, most notably in annual “golf marathons” to raise money for a local cancer centre in the name of Terry Fox, a Canadian athlete who lost his own battle to cancer in 1981. Over the past decade, Earnest’s marathons have raised about $250,000 for the cause. “It’s gruelling, but also part fun,” he says, “because it’s more golf than I get to play any other day.”