Happy September!
As you receive this month’s Foreword Press, we will be gathering in Missoula for the annual fall meeting and Section Championship. The Western MT Chapter is excited to host and participate in this years event. Thank you to Canyon River and PGA Professional, Joey Esh for hosting. The meetings will be held at Missoula CC. Thank you to the many pros making the trip to my home town and our facilities.
I have to say the last month was a whirlwind in my world. The last several weeks we have conducted so many events at our club, wrapped up our leagues, and started budget planning for MCC. Busy times! I am sure many of you are experiencing the same end of season rush to get things completed, and balance all that with no more seasonal staff. Our PGA HOPE program is almost complete for the year. My team and I get such joy out of spending time with veterans at our club!
In addition, this is our time to play more golf as PGA Members. Hopefully, you have been able to play in Chapter events and maybe a Section event around your crazy work life. I don’t seem to score well, but I sure love teeing it up with my peers and connecting.
At the upcoming Board meeting, we will be reviewing the year and begin discussions for our strategic planning session in December. The PNW PGA continues to be a top performing Section in the Country. We plan to stay that way and continue to strengthen our programs and serve the member.
Over the next few months, I am going to share more information about the performance of our Section compared to other Sections taken from National’s Benchmarking Study, so you are informed about what we do and how we compare in our efforts. It is quite amazing. We have, for the last five years, been recognized as a best practices Section in everything from Tournament Administration to Educational Programming. Recent National survey and comparison results on our tournament program are only rivaled by the North Texas Section in total payouts annually and payouts per member, as an example.
National engaged the services of The Nielsen Company to conduct a comprehensive membership satisfaction study. Their surveys also provide individual Sections with valuable insights into their own member’s feelings around Section operations. Below is one response to what does our section do well and what can we do better. We want to thank you for participating in this study, and while we are proud of these results, we believe in a constant state of improvement for our members. This information will help us with our annual Strategic Planning process in our upcoming winter planning session.
Responses from your Section membership were filtered through AI with a request to list the three most common answers to the questions “What do you believe your Section does well, or could do better?”
Section Does Well:
- Tournament Organization and Management: Comments like “PNW Section is outstanding with its tournament program” and “Our Section does a great job in attracting sponsors for our tournaments and keeping the fields very full!” appeared frequently, highlighting the section’s strength in managing and hosting successful tournaments.
- Education and Communication: Responses such as “Education and communication” and “Education opportunities, tournaments,” were common, indicating that the section excels in offering educational opportunities and maintaining efficient communication.
- Playing Opportunities: Feedback like “Provide playing opportunities” and “Playing opportunities are great” suggests that the section is recognized for providing ample playing opportunities for its members.
Section Could Do Better:
- Recognition and Awards: There is a recurring concern regarding the need to push for better recognition at the national level and improve the awards process. Comments highlight that too many outstanding golf professionals are overlooked for national awards.
- Communication and Inclusion: Many responses point to the need for improved communication and inclusivity. This includes ideas like individual check-ins with PGA members, making the section more inclusive in national events, and providing equitable opportunities for non-traditional club professionals.
- Education and Professional Development: This includes calls for more educational opportunities and points (PDR points), support for PGA associates to progress more quickly, and better opportunities for professional development at local levels and in remote regions like Alaska.
We have an incredible tournament program and team in Tanner and Molly, and the staff behind them does so much more than most members know. We have a special team.
We also have a special leader in our CEO. Frank’s work to advocate for us Nationally, drives revenue through partnerships, delivers exceptional programs and serves our members. This is second to none.
I hope that you will take time this fall to thank them for all they do. We are extremely lucky to have such a great Section.
Chris M. Nowlen, PGA