Carl Francis Paul

Carl Francis Paul passed away January 12th 2024 at the age of 83. Carl was born on January 24th, 1940 to Carl W. Paul and Olga R. Paul in Pennsauken, New Jersey. The family moved to south Texas (Mission, TX) when Carl was seven, and Bishop, TX (where Carl grew up) when he was eight.

Carl is preceded in death by his parents, Carl Walter and Olga Ruth, and both of his brothers Frank and Charles “Chuck” Paul.

Carl is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Barbara. His three daughters Beth and husband Barry Rinke, Kelly and husband Scott Redding, and his sunshine and favorite daughter, Marnie Saylor Paul, all of Austin, TX. He is also survived by seven grandchildren: Braydon Rinke and wife Michelle, Ben Rinke and wife Anna, Haley Redding Andrade and husband Erick, Bo Rinke, Grace Redding, Behr Rinke and Lottie Redding. His first great-grandchild is due in April to Braydon and Michelle Rinke.

Carl was born in New Jersey but was a Texan through and through. His childhood was spent in the south Texas town of Bishop near Kingsville. He went to Bishop High School where his mother, Olga, taught English and he lettered in nearly every sport. His father, Charlie, was a welder. Carl didn’t travel far for college and attended Texas A&I (now, Texas A&M Kingsville). He graduated with a B.S. in General Engineering in 1963. From there Carl moved to Philadelphia, PA and worked as a civil engineer. During this time, he was assigned to the design and construction of an earthen dam near Stroudsburg, PA. While on that job he met his true love and wife of 58 years, Barbara Mary Cyr.

After Carl and Barbara were married, Carl took a job with the Federal Power Commission in New York City. From the time they were married, Carl and Barbara had the entrepreneurial spirit and dreamed of working for themselves. In 1967, a neighbor invited Carl to play golf for the first time. This outing sparked Carl’s interest in starting a golf company. Being an engineer, he truly felt like better club design could improve his game, so he started taking the clubs apart, shaving down the wood heads and putting them back together. He loved the tinkering so much, he felt others would enjoy the same, and so starting a golf club company seemed like the perfect idea. Once the decision was made, they moved both daughters, Beth and Kelly, into their room and turned their room into the golf shop. Carl was always proud of the fact that he and Barbara started the business in one of the bedrooms of a two-bedroom apartment and turned it into a multi-million-dollar business with over 1,200 employees.

Carl used green stamps to buy a drill and designed and built most of the other equipment necessary to repair and build custom golf clubs. For four years he commuted to his full-time job in New York City while working nights and weekends developing his homegrown golf clubmaking business. In 1970, Carl and Barbara sent out their first mailer offering the parts necessary to make golf clubs. This was the first “catalog” of its kind, which began the “golf club components industry” as it is known today. Eventually the orders poured in faster than Carl, Barbara and eight part-time workers could handle, so Carl and Barbara offered his brother, Frank, one third ownership in the business if he would join them.

The first major decision the threesome made was to move the business to Texas. In 1973, they moved to Austin and began to map out a plan that would eventually lead to Golfsmith. From starting in an old army barracks on Manor Rd. then moving to the yellow buildings on I-35, they developed an impressive 40-acre site just a ¼ mile north of the yellow buildings. That was the headquarters for Golfsmith International, Inc. The facility included phone sales for catalog support, retail sales, driving range and teaching facility and a massive high tech distribution center and shipping facility to handle the catalog orders and retail store replenishment. They hosted thousands of clubmakers from all over the world who would travel to Austin and go through the Golfsmith clubmaker’s school. In the beginning, most clubmakers would stay at Carl and Barbara’s house for the week while attending the school. He would do anything to help someone succeed in their clubmaking business. Golfsmith was also the home of the Harvey Penick Golf Academy which hosted two- and three-day golf schools teaching the training methods of the great teacher Harvey Penick. Golfsmith also originated the Golf Clubmakers Association (GCA) which was the largest association of clubmakers in the world. Every year they would host the 3-day GCA conference, where hundreds of clubmakers from all over the world come to Austin. This location served them well from October 1992 till the day they sold the company in October 2002. At that time, Golfsmith had over 1,200 employees, 35 retail stores across the country and the biggest golf retail and component catalog circulation in the world mailing more than 30 million catalogs per year.

Carl’s keen instinctual decision-making ability fueled Golfsmith’s phenomenal growth for more than 35 years. His emphasis on the value of quality customer service was an inspiration to thousands of Golfsmith employees and customers alike.

Even though Carl was a demanding and successful entrepreneur that spent countless hours at his golf shop, he always said the best decision he ever made was choosing Barbara as his wife. He felt blessed to have all his children and seven grandchildren living only a drive and a chip away. Carl cherished the time spent with family at their family ranch. Carl’s kind heart also led him to be very philanthropic in Austin community and beyond. He loved helping others, but he never wanted any publicity or recognition. Most of Carl’s giving was done anonymously due to his humble nature. With his youngest daughter, Marnie, having cerebral palsy and confined to a wheelchair, he had a special place in his heart for people like Marnie. This led to their support of Dell Children’s Hospital and other special needs service providers.

The family would like to thank everyone for their love, support and the sharing of all the amazing memories they had of Carl. They are especially thankful for the services provided by the Suncrest Hospice team those final few days. Most of all, the Pauls, Reddings and Rinkes are forever grateful for the endless love, support and tireless dedication provided by the amazing team of Marnie’s caregivers over the years. His life will be celebrated on Friday, January 19, at Weed Corley Fish funeral home at 5416 Parkcrest Dr., Austin, TX 78731. Viewing at 1:00pm and service at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers please send any donations to Dell Children’s Hospital – The Marnie Paul Specialty Care Center.

Mailing:

Dell Children’s Foundation

4900 Mueller Blvd., Austin, TX 78723

In honor of Carl Paul: Marnie Paul Specialty Care Center

Online:

www.supportdellchildrens.org

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