Rick was born in December 1962 in Jacksonville, FL at the Naval Air Station, to parents Rear Admiral Gordon “Dutch” Schuller and Anita (Faustini) Schuller. He was the youngest of 5 children with older brothers Jeff (now deceased) and Ron, and older sisters Donna and Laura (now deceased).
Rick moved around a bit as a youngster, but feels he got the best end of the deal compared to his siblings because his father had progressed in rank (and better housing) by the time the youngest child was growing up! His Dad was often deployed for 6 months at a time, but his mom was an amazing superhero to get 5 kids everywhere they needed to go and to finish their homework!
Rick became exposed to golf when the family was stationed in Japan at Atsugi Naval Air Station. Their family housing backed up to the golf course, and there was a 60-yard golf hole in their shared backyard. He loved playing around and started working at the driving range at the golf course. As the only family member who played (at the time), he taught himself to play and is still essentially self-taught. He played in his first tournament in Japan, and still has the press clipping. He still played all the other sports and feels that helped his game immensely.
When Rick and the family moved back to Virginia, he joined the golf team at Fairfax High School with Frank and Rob Ferguson and was coached by their dad. He loved playing and practicing with the team, played many rounds at Army Navy Fairfax, and got good enough to draw attention from college coaches. He was recruited to Old Dominion University to play golf by Murray Rudisill. Even though Rick graduated in 1985, Coach Rudisill is still there!
Rick tried the minitours for a grueling 5 years. He relocated to Florida and had his ups and downs. Ultimately, afterward he quit golf altogether for 2 full years. A request for a lesson from his Father-in-law got him reenergized
in the game. He was able to land a job at Congressional CC as the junior golf professional in 1992. Rick next went to Chantilly CC, where he worked under a man he would call his mentor, Dick Canney. Dick was very connected to his PGA peers, and also a good player. After helping to open River Creek Club with Bud Lintelman, Rick was playing well enough to earn conditional status on the then Buy.com tour in 2000 (Now Korn Ferry Tour), which got him a dozen starts or so.
A move to Richmond later that year, first working for John Sarrett at Willow Oaks CC, led to Rick’s first Head Professional job at CC of Petersburg. He then moved to the same role at River’s Bend GC. After that didn’t work out, Rick returned to his love of teaching, at Swader’s Sports Park, then Stonehenge CC, and now at Meadowbrook CC.
Rick’s Section playing record is almost impossible to quantify. He has been an outstanding player in the Section for many years. Rick won the Section Championship 4 times (’03, ’04, ’08, ’09) and was Section Player of the Year 5 times (’98, ’04, ’07, ’09, ’14) and Senior Player of the Year 6 times (’13, ’15, ’17, ’20, ’21, ’22). In 2009, Rick won both the National Match Play and the National Stroke Play on the way to winning National Player of the Year honors. He also won the National Match Play in 2006 and 2011. He played in the National Club Pro Championship 15 times, and the PGA Championship 3 times (2001, 2003, 2016). He also played in 3 Senior PGA Championships, a US Amateur (1984) and two US Opens. Rick’s list of playing accomplishments includes over 100 wins in MAPGA
Section events and qualifiers.
Rick says he owes his success to his parents. They instilled discipline in his upbringing. You set goals, and then worked hard to achieve them. His Mom and Dad, complimented by his siblings, taught him perseverance and
persistence. He was driven by a desire to keep up with his older brothers and sisters, which developed into a lifelong habit.
Rick is married to his wife, Wendy, of 24 years. They have adult children Lee, Sam, and the late Hannah (Schuller) Horr.