The Boston-based company attracts emerging golfers by conducting inclusive team golf tournaments and experiences for young adults, college students and high school students through the National High School Golf Association, National Collegiate Club Golf Association and City Tour.
PGA Merchandise Show Wraps Up in Orlando
Attendance included more than 7,500 PGA Professionals among nearly 40,000 golf industry professionals. The more than 1,000 exhibiting golf companies and brands included more than 200 companies that were new to this year’s show. Show highlights included awards in the first Global Golf Innovation Competition and for the Best New Product, Inventor’s Spotlight, and Buyers…
PGA to Relocate Headquarters to Texas
The new headquarters will anchor a 600-acre, mixed-use development with an initial investment worth more than $500B that will include the building of two championship golf courses and an Omni resort. Under the agreement with the city of Frisco and other partners, two PGA Championships and a potential Ryder Cup will be brought to the…
PGA of America Holds Inclusion Event for 2019 Championship
To help “local and diverse” suppliers participate in one of golf’s major championships within the $84.1 billion golf industry, the PGA invited businesses owned by minorities, veterans and other groups to learn how they could partner with larger prime, or “tier one,” suppliers that will be engaged in the 2019 Championship when it’s held on…
Deaths of Golf Icons Gus Andreone, Willie McRae Reported
Andreone, the oldest member of the PGA of America, died at the age of 107 on October 27 in Sarasota, Fla. He was the long-time golf professional at Pittsburgh’s Edgemont Country Club and a decorated World War II veteran. McRae, 85, died on October 28. He had caddied at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort for 75 years,…
Finding the Perfect Balance at Bellerive CC
After reaffirming its status as a major golf championship venue, the St. Louis, Mo. club will now return its focus to the other half of its ongoing mission: providing a family-oriented, full-service atmosphere around the big events. Some eyebrows were raised when it was announced earlier in this decade that Bellerive Country Club in St.…
Playing By Their Own Rules
Most golf-industry efforts to grow the game include initiatives to introduce the sport to women. And that’s “A-OK” with Head Golf Professional Garrett Kent, who started the “It’s OK” golf league at El Dorado (Ark.) Golf & Country Club this summer. The program is designed as a women’s empowerment group, to allow females to learn…
Seth Waugh Named New CEO of PGA of America
The former CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas will succeed Pete Bevacqua, recently named President of the NBC Sports Group, to guide the business and overall strategy of the association that serves nearly 29,000 PGA professionals. Seth Waugh, a former CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas CEO, has been named Chief Executive Officer of the PGA of…
Eighty PGA Members Add General Manager Title During 2018’s Second Quarter
A total of 181 PGA members have been classified as GMs during the first half of 2018. The trend validates the recent repositioning of the PGA Career Services Department, the Association feels. The PGA of America announced that 80 PGA Members were either promoted, hired or declared as a General Manager (GM) at public, private and…
Thirteen PGA Professionals Earn Advanced Certification
The managers from facilities across the country have completed the requirements to achieve advanced certification through the PGA Certified Professional Program 2.0, in career categories that include General Management, Golf Operations, Player Development and Teaching & Coaching. The PGA of America announced that 13 PGA Professionals have completed the requirements to achieve certification in categories…
Garden City (N.Y.) GC Stands Firm by Male-Only ‘Tradition’
The presence of the U.S. Open on Long Island prompted a new spotlight to be shined on the male-only membership policy of the club that first opened in 1899. “As a private club, any rule change must be voted on by its membership,” said club President Brian Nelsen when contacted for a statement. “Although our…
Fourteen PGA Professionals Earn Advanced Certification
The managers from private and public clubs throughout the country have completed the requirements to achieve advanced certification through the PGA Certified Professional Program 2.0 in one or more categories, including General Management, Golf Operations and Teaching & Coaching. The PGA of America announced that 14 PGA Professionals have completed the requirements to achieve…
Report Finds 22% Rise in Golf’s Economic Activity
The U.S. Golf Economy Report, a five-year study by GOLF 20/20 and TEConomy Partners, found that $84.1 billion of economic activity was generated by golf, an increase from the previous study conducted in 2011. The study was delivered as part of the 11th annual National Golf Day on April 25. The findings of the new U.S. Golf…
CC of St. Albans, Governors Club GM Take Top KemperSports Honors
At the management firm’s annual awards dinner, The Country Club of St. Albans (Mo.) was named Facility of the Year, and James Fitzsimmons, General Manager of The Governors Club in Brentwood, Tenn., earned the James R. Seeley Award at General Manager of the Year. Joe Smith of Swenson Park Golf Course and Van Buskirk Golf Course in Stockton, Calif. was given the Emil Esposito Golf Professional of the Year Award, and Jason Pierce of Heron Glen Golf Course in Ringoes, N.J. was named Superintendent of the Year.
NGF Survey Finds Positive Impact from Topgolf
The National Golf Foundation studied guests at the entertainment facilities who play traditional on-course golf as well as those who don’t, and found that overall, nearly a third said that playing Topgolf leads them to play more traditional golf. Among non-golfers, more than half said that playing at the venues had positively influenced their interest in playing green-grass rounds.