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Passion comes first for PGA Professional Rob Krieger.  

As the PGA Director of Instruction for Southgate Golf Course in St. George, Utah, Rob aims to create a unique experience through golf for all of his students.  Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, Rob took to golf from the ripe age of six and, since then, hasn’t thought twice about what he would do for the rest of his career.  While playing for his golf team in high school, Rob even volunteered for his golf coach to help teach beginner adults the game.  

“I just fell in love with figuring out why I struggled with my own game,” says Krieger.  “This led to me wanting to learn more about why some players were challenged with their own games and why others weren’t – it was like a big puzzle to me that I couldn’t put down.  To this day, I am still searching for the answers to help people ‘swing their swing’ as the great Arnold Palmer once put it.” 

Along Krieger’s journey, he’s discovered a new path through his craft of teaching and is now dedicated to helping Veterans discover their own swing — and with it, a newfound joy — at Southgate Golf Course through the power of PGA HOPE.

Read more here from Hayden Lewis, PGA, on PGA.com.

In 2003, Annika Sörenstam became the first woman in more than 50 years play in a PGA TOUR event at the Colonial in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex. At the event, she was paired with Dean Wilson and Aaron Barber for the opening rounds connecting them as part of the storyline moving forward.

Today, officials at the Invited Celebrity Classic presented by Choctaw Casinos & Resorts have announced that Wilson has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to play in the PGA TOUR Champions event and will be paired with Sörenstam as she competes in the celebrity portion of the three-day competition as the tournament celebrates the 20-year reunion of this historic moment in golf in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

Click here for the rest of the PGA TOUR story.

PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) is the flagship military program of PGA REACH, the charitable foundation of the PGA of America. PGA HOPE introduces golf to Veterans and Active Duty Military to enhance their physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being.

The first step to getting involved with PGA HOPE is to attend a PGA HOPE Training Session. This is a single-day session that covers military culture and different situations you may come across while teaching Veterans and Active Duty Military (PTSD, Limb-Loss, Deafness, Blindness, Service Animals). This training session is free to all Active PGA Members and Associates and LPGA Members.

Anyone can attend this valuable training, even if you don’t plan to run your own PGA Hope program. There is NO COST to attend.

PGA HOPE Training

Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Glenmoor GC

Contact Cecily Bloxham to register, cbloxham@pgahq.com

Don’t miss this annual publication of Utah golf resources including all-inclusive tournament calendars, Utah golf course directory and so much more! Please share with your club’s associations and customer email database. 

Live link to share: https://tinyurl.com/2p843skt

Many thanks for your support of the Digital Book of Golf this year.

Melissa Hatten, a PGA professional at Tuhaye – Talisker Club near Park City, has been selected to be a part of the PGA of America 2023-24 PGA LEAD class.

Established in 2016, PGA LEAD is the Association’s leadership development program, created to identify, mentor and progress PGA Members from diverse backgrounds along a guided path to volunteer leadership roles at the Chapter, Section and national levels of the Association. PGA LEAD also helps PGA Members who have a desire to serve and make an impact on nonprofit boards within the communities where they work and live.

This 18-month leadership development program reinforces the PGA of America’s commitment to create a game, workforce and industry supply chain that better mirror America’s demographics. More specifically, the PGA is committed to inclusive governance, environments, systems and structures that create the opportunity for all PGA Professionals to develop, grow and lead.

Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/5adytwwe

The PGA of America has released the following statement regarding the recent Distance Proposal from the USGA and R&A:

As we have previously stated to the USGA and the R&A, we are strongly opposed to any rules changes that will make the game less fun for recreational golfers. Regarding this specific area of interest, we are pleased that there is no longer a focus on changing or modifying the ball or clubs that recreational players may use.

We are not in favor of bifurcation and do not anticipate individual club’s implementing such a Model Local Rule as it is meant for elite players.

In regards to the PGA Championship, 2026 is still a long way off and until we know the specifics of the proposed Model Local Rule we are not in a position to make that determination.

Click here for USGA/R&A Distance Proposal Includes Model Local Rule for Elite Competitions

Utah PGA Section Members are invited to be among the first in the industry to experience the Omni PGA Frisco Resort at PGA Frisco, the new Home of the PGA of America, as the host venue for the 2023 PGA Buying & Education Summit in Frisco, Texas.

From sunrise to sunset, the schedule will offer plenty of opportunities to:

• Meet with a curated group of apparel, accessory, equipment, technology and golf lifestyle brands
• Learn through education sessions at the State-of-the-Art Professional Development Center
• Participate in experiential networking opportunities across the expansive PGA Frisco campus

Each evening will offer a chance to unwind but stay connected through a Demo Night, fashion show, nightly industry networking events and fun golf competitions at the PGA District, which features The Dance Floor, a lighted 2-acre, putting course; The Swing, a lighted, 10-hole, par-3 short course; The Ice House with six live hitting bays; Lounge by Topgolf featuring Topgolf Swing Suite technology and a variety of virtual games; and the tech-focused, high-touch and data-driven experience of the PGA Coaching Center.

Join us at PGA Frisco to learn, source products and network, while experiencing the new home of the PGA of America. 

Sign up to learn more!

The best salespeople in the golf industry think of themselves as partners of PGA Professionals they work with, as opposed to merely trying to sell them products. The Utah Section PGA benefits from many longtime relationships with salespeople in the territory, including some who are Section members.
Read more in Utah PGA Monthly, Click here: https://tinyurl.com/3xs4k3c7

The PGA of America is doubling down on its mission to serve its Members and grow the game through its integrated pathway of Player Engagement products designed to help PGA Professionals connect with golfers at every age and skill level.

PGA President John Lindert said, “The integrated Player Engagement pathway provides programming that takes players of all skill levels through their personal golf journey. It provides a framework for PGA Professionals to create a welcoming golf environment at every level of a player’s journey.”

The PGA Player Engagement pathway is built upon and guided by the principles of the American Development Model (ADM), a proven long-term athlete development model designed by sports scientists to help foster a lifetime affinity to sports and develop athletes to their greatest potential. PGA Coach was developed to provide golf industry professionals a full suite of resources, tools and trainings around the ADM and more. For more information please, click here.

To view the PGA Player Engagement pathway, click here.

Many people seek out the game of golf, but for Quentin Sasser, PGA, golf came to him. He wasn’t looking for the game as a 10-year-old, playing with his friends in a big open field in Atlanta, Texas.

However, in that same field, between Booker T. Washington High School and Pruitt Elementary, Howard Warren, a high school teacher, would show up after school and during the summer with a six iron and some golf balls, using the old oak tree as his target since the nearest available golf course was 70 miles away.

“We would always bet him a dollar that he couldn’t hit that tree,” Sasser remembers. “And that’s kind of when I really knew anything about golf, or knew anything about African Americans playing the game of golf.

“Later on, when I was a freshman in high school, he ended up being one of my teachers, and he would talk about the Blacks in the game of golf, which was Calvin Peete, Teddy Rhodes, Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder. He created a passion within me for the game. But I didn’t know that at the time.”

Click here to read the complete feature by Jesse Dodson on PGA.COM.