Rick Graves

Richard (Rick) Graves.

Rick was born to Bill & Ruth Larsen Graves on October 14, 1945, in Old Greenwich Connecticut and passed away suddenly into Christ’s arms on August 22, 2020.  Grand Junction emergency responders made every heroic effort to save his life.

Rick was born to play golf.  At an early age, he began competing in golf tournaments and by the age of 13 he had a remarkable short game and had won several tournaments.  Rick was a Florida State junior golf champion. Rick graduated from the University of Florida.

Rick served as a lieutenant in the US Army and rebuilt golf courses for 4-star General Michaelis, while being stationed in Seoul, South Korea.  Rick met his future wife, Moonie, in South Korea.

Rick went back to Florida and then played the Asian golf tour:  Some of the countries he played in were India, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea.  He played his final tour tournament in Seoul, and married Moonie there.   They both moved to Florida where he and Moonie had their son, Tim, in North Palm Beach, Florida.

Rick went on to work for Jack Nicklaus and even fixed Jack’s swing with one sentence on one occasion!

Rick helped develop the Moorings Golf & Tennis club, a beautiful Pete Dye designed golf course situated on a tropical lagoon off Orchid Island in Vero Beach, Florida.  Rick held, and probably still holds the course record at the Moorings.

After resigning from the Moorings, Rick began a career as a licensed stockbroker and financial advisor in Aspen and eventually Vail and Grand Junction, CO.

Rick wrote several books on golf, one entitled Golf Happens, a humorous look at his life in golf.

The next book was 52 Amazingly Simple Secrets for Better Golf.  This book condensed a lifetime of Rick’s golf knowledge into 52 profound tips to lower one’s golf score.  The last book was entitled The Hacker’s Almanac, which was a joint effort with Harvest House editor Terry Glaspey.

The book is a very cool potpourri of golf trivia, golf movie commentary and golf facts unique from any other golf book on the market.  Rick also created several golf inventions, one of them was Cartplates ™ that was used at the Masters Golf Tournament.

Rick was a born again Christian and was interested in Bible prophecy and how God controlled the course of events.  Rick is now in eternity in the Paradise of God where there is no more pain, sorrow or tears.

Rick is greatly missed by his wife Moonie, his son Tim and all who knew him.

Favorite Bible passage: Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.