Richard Harrod Blank Jr.
Rick Blank Jr. knows his way around a golf course. But the Stephens Capital Partners managing director says that golf has taught him the ways of the world. That motivation was the impetus for his involvement with the First Tee golf program, which teaches kids how to live life effectively through golf.
In the right hands, a golf club can perform a seeming miracle, launching a small golf ball 150 yards to a precise spot on a green right next to the hole.
Of course in different hands, the same club can hit a snap hook where the ball goes opposite of where it’s supposed to go to land in the water. Then the frustrated golfer can throw that club in the water after the ball.
For the kids taking part in Central Arkansas’ First Tee program, golf clubs can also be essential tools to unlock life lessons. First Tee aims to “create learning experiences that combine character development and golf.” It’s hard to find a day where the young golfers of the First Tee program aren’t out on the First Tee golf course off of University Avenue. You can find them getting lessons and practicing putting on the practice green or playing a round on the 9-hole par 3 course.
Rick Blank, Jr., managing director for Little Rock’s’ Stephens Capital Partners, sees First Tee playing a crucial role.
“I like golf and [First Tee] has a good mission,” Blank says. “It’s about teaching kids about golf but more than that, it’s about how to live life. Golf can give the training to deal with what life has for you as you grow older.”
Born and raised in Florida, Blank has spent much of his working life at Stephens. As an avid golfer, First Tee was a natural fit for Blank. He has been a board member of the program since 2014, serving as chairman in 2015 and again in 2022. He helped do the heavy lifting for First Tee’s 20th Anniversary, a celebration that raised nearly $500,000 and helped establish the Jackson T. Stephens Scholarship.
“[Blank] is really a leader on our board,” says Monica Blake, executive director of First Tee-Central Arkansas. “He not only has a commitment to our mission but also to the youth we serve. We have grown a ton under his leadership. He is incredibly giving of his time.”
First Tee is bearing fruit in a number of ways, reaching an estimated 15,000 children through the Building Game Changers program at the golf course as well as school and community initiatives. First Tee is especially proud of Jackson Wolfe, a high school student and longtime participant in the golf program, who competed in the Pure Insurance Open in September at the famed Pebble Beach course in California.
“There are some sharp kids involved,” Blank says. “The ones that are coming out of the program are quite accomplished. [First Tee] has a great staff out there. It continues to get better every year.”
ON THE WATER
Blank, the second of four children, grew up in Tampa, Fla. His father was a cardiovascular thoracic surgeon and his mother would eventually own an antique shop when her children got older.
Water was a prominent feature in Blank’s early days.
“We lived on a bay,” Blank says. “It was great place to live. There were a lot of kids in the neighborhood. There was lot of water skiing and lot of swimming. There was a beach down at the bay. We spent a lot time down there. My mother always said, ‘The swimming pool was the best babysitter you could find.’”
The great love Blank has for golf didn’t happen right away.
“I stated [playing golf] when I was 9 but gave it up because I wanted to play baseball,” Blank says. “I didn’t pick up golf again until I was out of business school and working again. I played Little League baseball. I even tried football for a little bit but the practices were so hot.”
Both Blank’s parents had grown up in Tampa and this meant his extended family, immigrants from Spain and Cuba, lived nearby. A yearly family Mass translated into a big gathering with aunts, uncles and cousins.
“It was very important to us to be a family,” Blank says. “We always took a family vacation. A lot of my family is still there in Tampa. My kids have been there a few times.”
Family rituals like having dinner together was important to Blank’s family. His father “would try to have dinner with us but he was working a lot.” That devotion to his job made an impression.
While Blank notes, “I couldn’t think of a better father,” a passion for science and medicine wasn’t passed down from one generation to the next.
“The way [my father] conducted himself, I admired that and wanted to be like him,” Blank says. “I took some science classes. Biology was good but chemistry was awful. I went with some friends to watch him perform surgery one time when I was in college. It was amazing. He was down there operating and asking us questions about college and what we were doing. This was openheart surgery. I was thinking don’t ask us questions, pay attention to your patient. But the surgery went well. My father couldn’t get enough of his work.”
Tampa is a good-sized city, but Blank went to a small Catholic boys school with about “20 kids in my class.” Blank looks back today at his education and considers it rigorous.
“I had to take Latin and, still to this day, I’m intrigued by words and where they come from. I attribute that to that Latin class. Algebra gave me fits. We did learn how to write. There are a lot of places these days where kids don’t learn that skill.”
A LIGHT WENT OFF
Though Blank had no problem with his high school years, he was ready to move on once he received his diploma.
“I was looking forward to go to college,” Blank says. “My parents were pretty clear that [all of the kids in the house] needed to get out of the state. I thought I would go to a school in Virginia or North Carolina, where we spent a couple of summers.”
Blank ended up at Virginia’s all-male liberal arts Hampden-Sydney College where, as he notes, “I did fine. There weren’t many kids from Florida there.”
It looked like law school was going to be Blank’s ultimate destination. He took some time off after college and got a job at a court house in Tampa. Then Blank decided to take a couple of classes at the University of Tampa.
“I took a criminal law class and an accounting class,” Blank says. “The accounting class was when a light went off. It was easy and made so much sense to me. I am a logical person and accounting fits into that. I remember taking economics in college where you are talking about theory. Accounting was different. So, after accounting, I thought I’d go to business school.”
Blank would go on to earn his MBA at Wake Forest University. While he learned a lot in Wake Forest classes, Blank would make an important connection.
“One of my classmates was Warren Stephens,” Blank says. “He dressed like me. There were a couple of other guys and we hung out together and got to be friends. I got to know [Warren]. He was a regular guy and still is a regular guy. His children carry that same demeanor.”
After Wake Forest, Blank returned to Tampa and married a young teacher named Pam Jackson. The plan was to settle down and start a family there in the couple’s hometown. Then Blank decided he wanted to visit his old friend who was in business in Little Rock.
“In June 1983, I came out here to Little Rock and had lunch with Warren, his dad and his brother,” Blank says. “I came home and asked my wife, ‘What do you think about moving to Arkansas?’ She turned around to me and said, ‘Where?’”
In order to soften the blow of the move, Blank promised his wife that they’d be in Arkansas two years and then return.
“At the end of the two years, [Pam] practically had her bags packed and was ready to go back home,” Blank says. “After talking, much to her credit, she said, ‘I get it’ and we have been here ever since. We love it here. We made friends and this is our home.”
BACK ON THE COURSE
Greg Feltus is a senior executive vice-president at Stephens Capital Partners. He estimates he has worked beside Blank for 39 to 40 years. He has nothing but praise for his colleague.
“He’s somebody you want in your foxhole,” says Feltus of Blank. “On the work front, he is on his game. We worked together with some tremendously large clients, major banks. It’s incredibly challenging work but has been incredibly successful. Rick is the key to all of that.”
Blank is at the grandparent stage of life. He has three grown children and six grandkids with “one coming. What everybody says is right. [Being a grandparent] is the best thing in the world.”
He shares his avid love of golf with his family whenever possible. He has no trouble explaining his love for the game.
“You are outside playing a game in some of the most beautiful courses,” Blank says. “It takes a lot of concentration. As I have gotten older, I know my limitations. When you hit a good shot, it’s so cool. It makes you think you can do that again. My wife has started playing and we play a lot together. My son played high school golf. Both of my sons-in-law play.”
In April, Blank was involved in an accident that threatened to end not only his time on the golf course but also his life.
“I got hit by a car. I told my wife I was going to walk to Kroger to get a few things. They say I stepped out in front of a car. I cannot remember leaving my home. Apparently, I was tossed up over the car. This happened on a Tuesday and I remember waking up in the hospital on Sunday. I broke my pelvis among other injuries. But I’m here now. God was good to me.”
Incredibly, Blank was able to swing a golf club some months later. After that, he took a golf trip to Scotland with his son. He sees no reason to slow down or to stop playing something that is rewarding in so many ways.
“You can play golf your whole life,” Blank says. “You can play with anyone. They are out there because they enjoy it too. It’s such a social game. You can learn something about somebody at a golf course. You can learn how they handle adversity and how they handle success. It’s a great game. ”