By Kurt Kragthorpe
The board of directors and staff members of the Utah Section PGA prefer to give awards, rather than receive them. Yet from his vantage point as the Section president, Valley View Golf Course Head Professional Dustin Volk recognized that one of 2020’s awards needed to stay in-house.
Volk nominated the Section staff, led by Executive Director Devin Dehlin, for Governor’s Golf Industry Service Award. He didn’t have to do much convincing of the other voters.
“I think we have the best Section staff in the country, for all that they do,” said Section Vice President Kent McComb. “As Section officers, they just make our job so easy. It’s pretty impressive.”
The Section staff’s defining trait of 2020 is how so many PGA programs and events were staged in normal fashion, or as close to it as possible amid a pandemic. Two undertakings, in particular, reflected both the staff’s determination to stay on schedule and willingness to make adjustments.
In the absence of sanctioned high school girls golf tournaments, the Section conducted an individual competition (two separate events, actually) for players in each classification. And with the innovation of off-site pro-am events at Thanksgiving Point Golf Club, the Siegfried & Jensen Utah Open stayed on track at Riverside Country Club.
Dehlin’s staff includes Annie Fisher, assistant executive director; Aaron Goodman, tournament director; Cecily Bloxham, office manager; Jesse Dodson, media and communications; and Cassie Campos, junior golf.