St Pete Story - Jake of The Irons Club
When it comes to golf, Jake Solomon has seen the game from every angle: caddying for celebs like Justin Timberlake and Tom Brady at the exclusive Yellowstone Club; competing professionally himself; and now shaping how St. Pete experiences golf altogether.
As Director of Golf at The Irons Club, Jake is helping transform the local golf scene into something more approachable and social. From leading lessons that meet players where they are, to building “Fore the Girls,” a growing women’s golf community, his focus is on connection through competition, conversation, and camaraderie.
Jake’s story is proof that even in a game built on precision, the real magic happens in the people you meet along the way & how St. Pete’s community continually shows up.
I didn’t land in St. Pete in a straight line.
Out of high school, my dream was to play golf for the University of Michigan. I’d been recruited, had all my eggs in that basket, and then the head coach, Andrew Sapp, left for UNC. Overnight, that plan kind of evaporated, and I had to figure out what was next. I took a gap year in Orlando, played the Future Collegians World Tour, and ended up the top-ranked American out there in 2011–12. That became my resume when I started talking to schools down south.
That’s how Eckerd College and St. Pete entered the picture. Andrew Sapp had been teammates with Bill Buttner, who was coaching at Eckerd. He called Bill, told him about me, and Bill invested in me in a big way. I knew I’d get real playing time, room to compete, and a chance to get better in a place where people play golf year-round. I wanted to play professionally, and St. Pete was the kind of environment where that dream actually made sense.
After Eckerd, life rerouted me. I wrecked my left shoulder in 2016: torn labrum, dislocation, rotator cuff damage and suddenly I wasn’t sure I’d ever swing a club again. I moved back to Minneapolis, spent two years not hitting a single shot, just rehabbing and trying to get healthy enough to caddie, then eventually play. I started looping at Hazeltine National, where I met the director of golf at the Yellowstone Club. That connection changed everything.
Yellowstone was my break. I went out there as one of nine caddies, eventually helping run the caddie program. More importantly, it was where I found people willing to sponsor me so I could actually chase professional golf without working three other jobs. I practiced, I rehabbed, I learned how to be disciplined. In early 2019, I turned pro at Yellowstone, knowing it would be my last chapter as a full-time caddie and the start of my full-time grind as a player.
When the Pelican Golf Club opened in Belleair, I knew I needed to get back to Florida, back to St. Pete. I literally drove from Montana to the half-finished Pelican clubhouse in my Hyundai Sonata, walked in with my resume, asked for the caddie master, and promised him I’d be one of the best caddies he’d ever hired. That job gave me a base: a place to work, a place to practice, a community. From there, I spent the next six years playing professionally, bouncing around mini-tours, sleeping in what feels like every Holiday Inn Express in Florida.
Did I make it to the Masters? No. I missed full status at Q-Schools by a couple shots more than once, razor-thin margins that hurt. But I built my own sponsorships, my own budget, ran my own “agency,” and played professional golf full time for over half a decade. To me, that’s making it. People believed in me, and I did enough to deserve that belief.
At the end of 2023, I re-injured that same left shoulder. It forced me to zoom out. I’d been treading water financially, living the minor-league baseball version of golf, doing everything I could just to stay afloat. I realized it was time to take all the skills I’d built – communication, sales, marketing, content, golf knowledge and actually build something bigger than my own scorecard.
That next chapter started at a coffee shop. I was doing work at Bad Mother inside Station House when Chris Reynolds, the owner, commented on my golf hat. One conversation turned into another, and he said, “You need to meet Bill.” Fifteen minutes into our follow-up chat, Bill Grueninger – my now boss – walked into the shop. We talked vision, experience, and what an indoor golf club could be. A few weeks later, I started at The Irons Club as Director of Golf.
Now my grind looks different, but it’s still golf. I run the golf side of the house – membership sales, a big chunk of the marketing, and all the teaching and performance work. We’re building something that feels like a modern, approachable country club: great golf on TrackMan, incredible food, events, leagues, charity tournaments, reciprocal partnerships with on-grass clubs like Innisbrook, and a community of people who enjoy being around each other.
One of the things I’m most excited about at the club is our “Fore the Girls” social membership and Tuesday happy hour. It’s built for women who are curious about golf but maybe intimidated by the traditional range or old-school pro. You get a fun, private, air-conditioned space, food and drinks, a supportive group, and me walking around helping you with setup and grip without turning it into a two-hour lecture. It’s about enjoyment first, improvement second.
If there’s a throughline in my St. Pete story, it’s this: you absolutely need luck, but you better be ready for the luck. A coach leaving Michigan, a phone call between old teammates, a shoulder injury, a caddie loop in Montana, a guy noticing my hat at a coffee shop – none of that was on a five-year plan. But every time the ball bounced my way, I’d already done the work to capitalize on it.
St. Pete is where all those bounces met: where I first showed up as a college kid chasing a dream, where I came back as a pro trying to make it, and where I’m now helping other people fall in love with the game and the community around it.
