Pacific Northwest Section President Greg Morris will be leaving us on August 31 for a new position at the The Summit Club in Las Vegas. It’s a tremendous opportunity for Greg but we will miss both his leadership and his friendship. I’m sure you join me in wishing Greg nothing but the best in his new endeavor.
The departure of our Section President initiated the clause in our Section Constitution that addresses these situations and the transition of leadership. On September 1, Vice President Sean Fredrickson of Oswego Lake CC will assume the role of President and Secretary Howie Pruitt of Aspen Lakes GC will move into Sean’s vacated Vice President seat. Our Constitution provides that the Board of Directors fill the vacancy in the Secretary position, and they have appointed Roger Wallace of Polson Bay GC to serve out the remainder of the 14-month term.
So, what happens in October 2020? Sean and Howie will run for President and Vice President as they were originally scheduled and Roger Wallace will step down and our normal election process for Section Secretary will resume. If you don’t know Roger, he’s a past Western Montana Chapter President, Past Section President and a former National District Director. He was also a National Bill Strausbaugh winner. Roger definitely has the experience to step in. Sean, Howie and Roger are looking forward to continuing to serve you, feel free to give them a call.
The Pacific Northwest Section Merchandise Show is quickly approaching. Scheduled for October 15-16 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, this will be a busy week. Not only do we have a change in city, we moved to the venue near the Moda Center instead of the Jantzen Beach venue. We also moved the Pro-Vendor to Monday night at TopGolf! Finally, Joe Daniels will be presenting education on Monday and Monte Koch will team with Tim McElhinny on Wednesday. Education registration will be out shortly. Please invite your buyers to the Show. Registration is important.
Click here to register for the Merchandise Show
Click here to enter the Pro-Vendor
Only two Section Member Championships remain in the season – the Senior PGA Professional Championship, September 5-6 at Bear Creek CC in Woodinville and the PGA Professional Championship at Indian Summer G&CC in Olympia on September 17-19. These are your championships, open to PGA Members only. The Senior PGA Closes on August 21 and the PGA closes on September 4. Visit pnwpga.wpenginepowered.com for complete information.
Labor Day Weekend is fast approaching and that means Patriot Golf Day. I hope you are planning a fundraising effort to benefit the Folds of Honor. You can collect donations, run an event, just do a special KP contest or anything that works at your facility. If you need ideas, reach out to our new Director, Golf Relations – West with the Folds of Honor, Michael Haywood. You’ll remember Michael as our District 14 Director a few years ago. He’s there to help you! [email protected] or 520-822-6200.
A special pat on the back to all of you who engaged in PGA Junior League, either as captains or just host facilities. This is one of the best growth of the game programs we’ve ever seen and I applaud your efforts to make it successful for the kids. As you look to 2020, put PGA Junior League into your plan, make your 13U the focus of your efforts. There will be new bells and whistles dangled out there, grab onto them if they work for you but don’t back off your great work with 13U.
Finally, the 2020 Tournament Schedule is ready for distribution. It’s solid from a date standpoint, we just have a few venues to firm up. We’ll keep updating the web site as we complete the process.
I hope to see you at one of our Section Member Championships!
Jeff Ellison, PGA
CEO, Pacific NW Section PGA