Our 44th Year Our 44th Year EX ECUT IVE GOLFER ® PAZDUR PUBLISHING The Publisher’s Page e America’s only national magazine published exclusively 2171 Campus Drive, Suite 330 g for private country club executive golfers Irvine, California 92612 a HE OLDEN ULE PH: (949) 752-6474 FAX: (949) 752-0398 T G R ADMINISTRATION P WEBSITE : EXECUTIVEGOLFERMAGAZINE.COM Frank with his horse, Frank Stronach, founder of the Mark E. Pazdur Ghostzapper, in 2004 s ’ Publisher NOVEMBER 2016 VOL. 44 NUMBER 314 after winning the r $30 billion in sales Magna International, Theda Ahern Pazdur Breeders’ Cup Classic e discusses living under the boot of two of the President & cfo at Lone Star Park h G. David Piper CORPORATE OFFICERS & in Texas. s most brutal regimes, true hunger, and the certified Public AccountAnt BOARD DIRECTORS i l hardship of discrimination. EDITORIAL/MANAGEMENT Edward F. Pazdur b chAirMAn, ceo & founder HONORARY LIFE MEMBER, PGA OF AMERICA SC u Mark E. Pazdur HONOREE: 2007 HAWAII HONU AWARD By Mark Pazdur, Publisher editor in chief P Theda Ahern Pazdur Theda Ahern Pazdur President, cfo & co-founder Art director e OCALA, FLORIDA: The sound of gunfire is still fresh in Mark E. Pazdur h Joyce Stevens Frank Stronach’s memory more than a half century later. Publisher & senior Vice President MAnAging editor T “As a young child, I was exposed to the atrocities of Hitler JoAnn Pazdur SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT and the Nazi regime,” emotionally recalled Stronach. “My home dePuty editor country of Austria was devastated by the war. The front lines of Netta Riffel grAPhic designer HAVE EXECUTIVE GOLFER SENT battle made it as close as three miles to the outskirts of our small Nikki Haydin TO YOUR HOME town at the foot of the Alps before the allies prevailed. ” Photo coordinAtor Yes! Please start my home subscription. Frank admits he grew up quickly. Kate Taylor I 1 year (5 issues) $20 Postage/Handling coPy editor “My dad was drafted, and our coun - I 2 years (10 issues) $25 Postage/Handling try was occupied by Russia,” said Lynne Mrachek I 3 years (15 issues) $30 Postage/Handling VP, PlAnt MAnAger Stronach. “My mom, sister, and I had Chance Hodgson Please make check payable to Executive Golfer and mail to: to tend to our small garden to bring PlAnt MAnAger “OUR TOWN WAS OCCUPIED BY THE RUSSIANS. I was standing in a couple of extra dollars. There June Graham circulAtion director Pazdur Publishing Company by a broken-down army truck that had been abandoned when, wasn’t enough of anything . 2171 Campus Drive, Suite 330, Preston Phillips suddenly, a Russian soldier rode up on horseback. He went to “War brings out the worst of Irvine, CA 92612-1499 Website designer work on the truck and surprisingly got the engine started. humanity. When will we learn? We David Branon Before taking off, he handed me the reins of his horse. are all human beings with the same Mike Cullity ______________________________________________________ “There I was, a barefoot schoolboy, the proud owner of my Bob Dagley Name (please print) fears and ambitions.” own horse. I was ecstatic. Post WWII, life did not improve Lynn Henning Leigh MacKay “The next day, I arrived at our shed to find the stall empty. Frank Stonach immediately. “The fighting had ______________________________________________________ Mark Matlock Address (new or change of address) My heart sank. I wanted to believe she had run away. But as stopped, but the destruction was Peter Morin the war dragged on, food was becoming scarcer, and my horse everywhere. As a working class family, cornmeal was our staple Gary Wiren had probably been taken away in the middle of the night and food,” explained Stronach. contributing Writers ______________________________________________________ City State Zip butchered. ADVERTISING OFFICES “I’m a great believer that experiences in life help shape our THE PLANTING OF A S EED Mark E. Pazdur Please allow six to eight weeks for character and our destiny. They are all ingredients that make delivery of first issue. With the Austrian economy in shambles and reconstruction in AdVertising director us who we are. That brief experience with the horse ignited in full swing, Frank’s mother took him to a local factory. 2171 Campus Drive, Suite 330 me a passion that remains to this day. “We walked hand-in-hand together,” reminisced Stronach. Irvine, California 92612 CHANGE OF ADDRESS : PH: (949) 752-6474 FAX: (949) 752-0398 If you are moving and wish to change your “I bought my first horse in 1961 and got involved in horse “She asked the owner, ‘Can you please teach my boy a trade?’ At mailing address, please send us your old and racing when the farmer, who sold me the horse, asked me to new addresses to: 14 years old, I was so short that I needed a stool to stand on to REGISTERED TRADEMARK join him for an afternoon at the racetrack. Ever since then I reach the equipment!” Executive Golfer is a registered trademark, pub - Subscription Department have been hooked on the ‘sport of kings.’ With opportunities limited in his small Austrian hometown, lished by Pazdur Publishing Company. The Executive Golfer entire magazine and each component part there - 2171 Campus Drive “Our family stable, Adena Springs, has had the good fortune Frank set out on his own for a seven-hour train ride to of is Copyright ©2016. All rights are reserved. Suite 330 to become one of the world’s top thoroughbred horse breeders Switzerland. “Switzerland wasn’t bombed during the war,” said Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Irvine, CA 92612 Articles published within Executive Golfer and I have purchased several racetracks, including Santa Anita Stronach. “I couldn’t believe my eyes how beautiful everything express the opinions of honored authors and not For subscription status or problems, please near Los Angeles, California, and Gulfstream Park in Florida.” was. I quickly found a job and rented a small, unassuming room. ® those of the publisher. write to us or phone or e-mail: Executive Golfer does not accept unsolicit - – FRANK STRONACH ed images, photographs, transparencies, books, June Graham documents, and/or manuscripts, handwritten or Circulation Director printed. The publisher does not assume respon - (949) 752-6474 sibility for the return of unsolicited material. [email protected] 14 EXECUTIVE GOLFER NOVEMBER 2016 NOVEMBER 2016 EXECUTIVE GOLFER 15 The Publisher’s Page The Publisher’s Page “GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES encourage outsourcing manufacturing. Domestic factories, that once employed FOR A SPECIES TO SURVIVE, it must reproduce. Similarly, for capitalism to survive, we must create incentives thousands, are becoming warehouses employing dozens. I am not a radical hardliner, but it is time to chart a for future entrepreneurs to manufacture domestically. Something must change. I know both Hillary and Donald. different course. If our economy doesn’t function, our country will not function. America is the last country where free Ask yourself who is more likely to mesh their social charter with a business charter? Donald rattles the cage in the heat of battle, but I give him credit for taking a stance for change.” enterprise might survive, if changes in governmental policies are righted.” – FRANK STRONACH – FRANK STRONACH (Above left) Elfriede and Frank Stronach accept the Queen’s Plate from Queen Elizabeth II after their horse, Awesome Again, (Above left) A talented athlete, Frank played semi-pro soccer in Switzerland before immigrating to Canada. (Above right) Former President rode to victory in 1997. (Above right) Frank, age 8, in Weiz, Austria. George H. W. Bush together with Frank and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. “When I received my first paycheck, I decided to treat Arriving hungry, haggard, and broke in Montreal, he from the suds of dishwashing. When I would go to Club Frank’s company had $150,000 in sales. myself to a steak dinner in an expensive restaurant. Not set out to find a small apartment to rent. “I saw a sign Berlin on weekends, none of the girls would dance with “Our order book for automotive parts grew rapidly knowing fine dining, the waitress had to correct me on how ‘room to let,’ so I knocked on the door. I looked rough me. I felt sorry for myself and kept saying, ‘Who would and soon I had 12 employees,” fondly stated Stronach. to properly cut a steak. Certain events in life are milestones. and I’m sure my Austrian accent didn’t help. The owner want to date a dishwasher?’ So, I started saving money “In year two, I was hit with a dilemma. My trusted That experience is one of mine.” quickly brushed me off and said ‘not available,’” remem - and keeping my eye out for another job.” foreman, Herman Koob, wanted to start his own busi - The time in Switzerland opened Frank’s eyes to the “big bered Stronach. “The local unemployment office lined Seeking greener pastures, Frank hitchhiked to the ness. I sympathized with his ambition and rationalized world out there” causing him to apply for work visas in the up a job for me at a country club, but the bus route did - new Ford Motor assembly plant that was hiring. “There how I could keep him. I could offer to double his salary, United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. n’t pass by the club because it was located in the sub - was a long line of applicants, but I thought my skills but I knew that would be a temporary fix. The solution urbs. It was a tough time in a very tough economy.” gleaned in Austria would give me the upper hand,” was novel. I proposed we open an additional factory that THE INDEPENDENCE OF YOUTH Down on his luck, Frank bought a Greyhound bus believed Stronach.