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.
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.
The story below, written by Utah PGA member AC Cox, is reposted with permission from the PGA of America. This story was originally published Feb. 16 on PGA.com.
I was born and raised in Pass Christian, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast, about an hour from New Orleans. My grandfather was introduced to the game as a teenager in Mississippi when he started caddying at a local country club.
As was typical with most caddies in the 1920s, he learned the game from being around the golfers at the club and the opportunity to play the course on caddy play days. My grandfather taught his five sons to play the game, and they all became accomplished golfers. He gave me my first golf club (which I still have) when I was 10, and I’ve been playing the game ever since.
The aspect of the game that makes me continue to return is the challenge of conquering the unconquerable. As said in the movie Tin Cup, “perfection is unattainable,” and I think this is what motivates me.
I like the dynamic of golf being an individual game played with others, and I appreciate the value of spending time alone while being with others. One bonus to the coronavirus pandemic is that it brought me back to walking when I play — something that I missed for years.
It appears that Braydon Swapp, the 2022 Rolex Assistant Player of the Year, hasn’t missed much practice time since his win of last season’s Assistant Championship and his playing of the Assistant PGA Professional Championship in Florida.
Wintering at Southern Highlands Golf Club near Las Vegas will do that for you.
Swapp earned the winner’s trophy in the Championship division of the RMT/EZGO Winter Classic Feb. 7-9 after 36-holes of play at SunRiver and Copper Rock Golf Clubs. His two day total of 82 Stableford points was six points better than runner up Michael Yates and seven points better than Bruce Summerhays, Jayme Backos, Tele Wightman and Tommy Sharp.
First round leaders Adam Whitt (74), Casey Fowles (73) and Zach Johnson (72) fell off their opening round pace in cold and windy conditions of the final round at Copper Rock while Dustin Volk completed the top 10 leaderboard with 71 points.
Utah PGA members and guests gathered Feb 7 for the 2022 Awards Banquet and recognition of last season’s champions. The event returned to the Courtyard reception center in St. George.
All 2022 award winners were recognized for their efforts in growing, improving and protecting the Section and Utah golf as a whole. Those in attendance gave acceptance speeches validating the importance of each award and its meaning in the career of those celebrated.
As is tradition, the highlight of the evening was the honoring of Utah PGA Section Executive Director Devin Dehlin as the 2022 Professional of the Year. A very grateful Dehlin, who has been energized by his selection, spoke to the strength of the Utah PGA family and recognized that the Section officers and members are some of the very best in the country.
All former Professionals of the Year in attendance posed with Dehlin, (front row, center) for a historic photo to conclude the evening.
Click here to watch the Professional of the Year tribute video.
After enjoying a few rounds of golf with Section officers and members, newly elected PGA of America Secretary Nathan Charnes gave the keynote speech during the Utah PGA Annual Meeting Feb. 8 in St. George, Utah.
It was his first trip as a national officer of the PGA and his first address to any Section’s Annual Meeting.
Charnes echoed the “Utah PGA Family” theme quoting from a sign in his home that reads, “Family – A group of people that TRUST, CARE, and LOOK OUT for each other.
“That’s why I do what I do. That’s what’s important to me. That’s what the PGA needs.” he said. “The people that I’ve met, you have some of the best, here. I can’t compliment it enough … you’re all very well represented on the national level, it is very impressive group of individuals. And you should be very proud of what they’re doing.”
A transcript of Secretary Charnes’ keynote speech is available by contacting Annie Fisher in the Section office.
Click here to learn more about PGA of America Secretary Nathan Charnes.
PGA of America President John Lindert addressed the PGA Show attendees at the opening ceremonies earlier this week saying how important it is for the industry to “gather together”. He later spoke with media members and touched on his introduction to the game, the entrepreneurial aspects of being a club professional and his vision of his new position.
Get to know PGA of America President John Lindert with these interviews with Global Golf Post and Golf Today.
Photo by: Utah Section PGA/Aaron Goodman
Sunset View Golf Course Head PGA Professional Casey Fowles has been selected to the 2023 All-Pro Second Team by Global Golf Post, a popular weekly digital golf publication. The national honor was announced this week ahead of the annual PGA Show in Orlando, Florida.
Global Golf Post Publisher Jim Nugent said, “For all they accomplish in their respective operations – which is substantial in and of itself – many of these individuals also play the game at a remarkable high level both nationally and locally. To recognize their competitive achievements, Global Golf Post is proud to salute the best on-course performance among PGA golf professionals by naming our 8th annual PGA of America All-Pro Team.”
That criteria certainly fits Fowles, the 2022 Utah Section PGA Player of the Year. To read more about the national All-Pro Team selections, click here.
As the great Bobby Jones said, “Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball as it lies.”
When meeting Michael Simons, PGA, his wife Anna and their son Bennett – you’d have no idea how many “bad breaks from good shots” they’ve gone through based on their positive outlook on life and the way they treat others.
Simons, born in San Jose, California, but raised in Utah, didn’t learn how to play golf until later in life. But when his father introduced him to the game in 2011, he never looked back.
Soon after being bitten by the golf bug he made the ever-wise decision to call Red Ledges Director of Instruction Jon Paupore, PGA, for lessons.
Typically future PGA Professionals have played the game for years before considering turning it into a career, for Simons, he learned the game and started his PGA Journey about the same time.
“At that point, I was hooked,” said Simons. “In the first lesson, we chatted about my golf goals and I told him I was potentially interested in the PGM Program. He offered me a job after our first lesson together.”
In addition to Paupore, working at Red Ledges led to creating influential relationships with Utah Section Members JR Cummings, John Johnson and Derek Butts which sparked Simon’s desire to pursue his PGA Membership.
This pursuit led the Simons family to Atlanta, Georgia, where Simons landed a spot at the historic East Lake Golf Club. More importantly in the course of their life, it’s where they began having to “play the ball as it lies” with the premature birth and passing of their first child Calvin, in 2017.
Then, four weeks before Tiger Woods completed one of his many historic come-backs with a win at East Lake in the 2018 Tour Championship, Bennett Simons was born in Atlanta.
“Bennett was born at only 24 weeks gestation, so he has overcome a lot in his short life,” said Simons.
Many complications came with Bennett arriving early, which led to many nights in the NICU, causing daily visits from Michael and Anna to the hospital, but it also led them to a moment that inspired strength that would change their outlook on life going forward.
“When Bennett was about a week old he was very sick,” said Simons. “It was bad enough that the doctors didn’t think he would make it.
“One day when we went to the hospital, Bennett gave us a little muscle flex. We needed this at that time. That was the day we started using the phrase “Strong Like Bennett.” This kid has so much fight in him and has already overcome so much in life.
“He is an example of strength. Every single day is a new journey that presents different challenges but we will always go about it with optimism and ultimately just try to be Strong Like Bennett.”
Four years later, the Simons are back in Utah, where Michael works at Park Meadows as the communication manager and Bennett goes to pre-school and has grown to be the most “outgoing, people-loving, caring and happy little guy I know.”
The Section, under the direction of Past President Kent McComb, has had an extra focus on being a family, looking after one another. That mission was put to action over the 2022 holidays when Bennett required neurosurgery.
“Surprisingly enough,” said Simons, “neurosurgery was his first major surgery outside of general MRIs, numerous hearing tests and plenty of doctor visits.”
Facing enormous medical expenses from major surgical procedures, the Utah Section Family embraced the opportunity to support one of their own through the creation of a GoFundMe campaign for the Simons.
“The PGA member is the main focus of the Utah Section Officers, Board and Staff” said Utah PGA Assistant Executive Director Annie Fisher. “Sometimes our support of the member comes by way of career support, facility support or education support. And sometimes it comes through the avenue of a bond that is so tight with the entire Utah PGA family looking out for each other in times of need. We raised over $10,000 to help with medical expenses in just a few short days.”
The surgery was a success and Bennett is on the road to recovery, already exceeding his doctor’s expectations with his brain miraculously starting to fill in the space in his skull, which typically doesn’t happen this quickly.
“We’re optimistic that he will continue to make day-to-day improvements and this surgery will allow him to do things he hasn’t been able to do yet,” said Simons. “Especially with his hearing loss, speech delays and other cognitive and physical functions.
“We cannot thank the Utah Section enough for the kindness and generosity shown to us. The texts, phone calls, words of encouragement and money have eased this burden, especially during the holiday season.
“The Utah Section has been an extended family for me. Even when we lived in Georgia, some of my Utah Section friends were the most supportive when my wife and I lost our first child. This Section will always hold a special place in our hearts.”
The Simons family is a shining example of “playing the ball as it lies.” They are the perfect example of the good that can come from the game of golf, when PGA Members and family come together to support something bigger than the game.
“A lot of our life circumstances and experiences are out of our control,” Simons said. “So if we can accept that there will be bad “shots” in our lives, the good “shots” will feel that much sweeter.”
Jesse Dodson is the PGA of America public relations lead, membership & inclusion and a frequent contributor to Utah PGA Monthly. Originally appeared in the January issue of Utah PGA Monthly digital magazine, Click Here