Polson grad takes reins at Mission Mountain

The Mission Mountain golf course outside of Ronan continues to add to its business. The course, which recently opened a new pro shop, now has a new golf pro as well.

Joey Esh, a graduate of Polson High School, hopes to lead the course into the future.

Esh and his wife, Jaime, met in high school and are now looking to return to the area. Esh’s father-in-law, Joe McKethen, was his golf and basketball coach during the late 1980’s. During high school, Esh ranked in the top five golfers in the state for three years.

Esh’s wife and two daughters are currently in Lewiston, Idaho, where the family has lived since 2002.

After graduating from Polson in 1988, Esh went to work as an assistant professional at the Polson course under Roger Wallace. That work relationship turned into a lasting friendship. “Roger has been one of the bigger influences in my whole life. He’s been a mentor to me and has done a ton for me professionally and personally,” Esh said, “For me to be able to have to opportunity to come back and work with Roger to grow the game in this area is a blessing for me and one of the reasons for coming back.”

Wallace, who is still the head golf pro in Polson, said Esh and his family are a good fit for the Ronan course. He listed a few reasons why he thinks Esh has been so successful. “His overall professionalism, attention to detail, his ability to treat everyone the same, and his instruction programs,” Wallace said, “I think he’s really going to shine in the instruction program.”

Speaking of being successful, Esh has a long list of accomplishments and awards. He’s been named the Pacific Northwest Section Junior Golf Leader of the year and the Western Montana Chapter Golf Professional of the Year, just to name a few.

Esh is not the only one in his family to be successful. His wife, Jaime, has been named Teacher of the Year in the Lewiston school district, and his daughters have both won state golf tournaments, the youngest at just nine years old. His other daughter, who is currently a sophomore, is a four-time state champion and is getting looks from Division I schools.

During his time as head golf professional at the Lewiston Golf and County Club, Esh received a phone call from Under Armour asking him to become a sales representative for the company. Part of the reason he received that call had to do with one of his awards. “We introduced 2,400 kids to golf in Lewiston through our junior program, which led to the junior golf award,” he said. After that, he started working for Under Armour full time. What he started out, his 37 accounts turned into 98 accounts throughout Montana, Idaho, and Eastern Washington.

While he enjoys his job with Under Armour, Esh said he was very excited to get a call from Mike Maddy last January asking him if he was interested in the job at the Mission Mountain golf course. “I’ve wanted to be a golf pro since I was 13, and I was really missing it,” he said.

Today, Esh goes back and forth between Lewiston and Ronan. He’s not quite sure where in the area he and his family will end up. “It depends on where my wife lands a teaching job,” he said. Until that time, Esh makes the five-hour trip every week to be with his family.

As for the goals of his new job, Esh said he wants to work on player development and marketing. He said he hopes to get both locals and people from further away to the course. “We need to get people from outside our area to come play the course,” he said.

He also wants to develop a golf-in-schools program for Ronan, Pablo, and Charlo. In the mean time, he’s been helping out with the high school team. Head coach Matt Olson said Esh has been a great help to the program this year.