Ralph Haas and the Transit Valley Country Club had a lifelong relationship.

The son of Norman E. Haas, longtime greenskeeper at the club in East Amherst, he grew up on the golf course, in the greenskeeper’s house about 500 yards from the first tee.

He went on to become his father’s supervisor when he was named Transit Valley’s pro in 1953. He headed golf operations there for 46 years.

When he retired in 1999, he told Buffalo News sports writer Mark Gaughan, “An 80-hour week is not unusual at all in this profession. But we do have plenty of time to rest in the winter, and we have the opportunity to go away (in the offseason), which is nice. But when you enjoy what you’re doing, it doesn’t seem like 80 hours.”

Considered the dean of Western New York golf professionals, he died June 2 in

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