CEO's Report

Jeff Ellison, PGA

This week marks the 93rd playing of the Muckleshoot Casino Washington Open Invitational. We are fortunate to be contesting this championship at Meridian Valley for the thirteenth time and welcome back our title sponsor Muckleshoot Casino as we support the Folds of Honor Foundation. After raising $90,000+ last year, our goal is $100,000! Look for an email this week with a link to the online auction. Please share with your members and customers who would like to help us raise funds for the Folds of Honor. There are some great items. Take a look.

Oregon Open entries are out and we are looking forward to our first visit to Pronghorn. It’s not too late but I recommend entering soon if you want to play. Our thanks to our sponsors – Skechers-CMC-Sun Mountain-Saintnines (Mike Worden); Greg Norman-Legendary (Ren Weaver); AMA-Sun Dog (Ryan Chin); EPEC Golf (Scott Nelson, Bill Jackson, Scott Stephens) and Club Car (Mac Mitchell) for their support. This is always a great week in Central Oregon. We hope to see you there.

https://www.pnwpga.com/event/2019-oregon-open-invitational

May is a busy month on the National front. Entries are out for our three PGA National Championships: the PNW PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, Club Car and OMEGA, September 17-19 at Indian Summer G&CC; the PNW Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, September 5-6 at Bear Creek G&CC; and the National Car Rental PNW Assistant PGA Professional Championship, August 5 at Arrowhead GC. Entry is through National, but the championships are ours.

Your dues bill should have arrived earlier this month and are delivered via email. If you did not see it, it’s not coming via snail mail. Your dues include National, Section, Life Insurance and the Member Assistance Program. To pay, simply log into your pga.org account. You can pay by credit card, give your employer “proxy” access to pay with a company credit card or print an invoice and pay via check. Every year I caution professionals to walk their invoice through the club payment process. Checks must be delivered to National by June 30, not mailed by June 30. Each year we have professionals suspended because the club put the invoice in the July 10 payable batch… “because that’s how we do it”. Help yourself avoid the late fee and walk it though.

New for 2019, we have partnered with Wine Valley GC and Chris Manley to revive the pro-am before the Northwest Open. The plan is for a fun event to support the Folds of Honor. Join us and visit wine country with your friends. Take a look and build a team.

https://www.winevalleygolfclub.com/events/northwest-open-pro-am

It’s off to full speed for all of us in the business. I hope to see you at one of our fine tournaments or a Drive Chip and Putt event. As always, never hesitate to call your staff in the Section Office or one of our chapter people, we are here to help you.

Jeff Ellison, PGA
CEO, Pacific NW Section PGA

District #14 Director's Report

Don Rea, PGA

As I write this, I am preparing to leave for New York and the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black.  It will be our 1st PGA Championship in May in over 60 years.  The move to May was a tough decision.  Of course, with Tiger winning the Masters, we are looking like geniuses as the event is sold out of tickets and sponsorship. Nonetheless, it was a very difficult decision at the time.

The motion and subsequent vote was one of the first decisions that I was involved in as your District Director that would clearly be controversial.   As a refresher, a DD’s term is 4 years.  The first year you shadow the current director, as Doug Doxsie is doing now, and then you have 3 years at the “big” table.  I shadowed Dan Hill and he was an awesome mentor. I felt included, engaged and encouraged to ask questions so that I was fully prepared when it was my time.

Kerry Haigh, our Chief Championship Officer, provided the Board all of the information we needed to make a good decision.  A decision that was in line with our mission of serving the member and growing the game.  Weather, broadcast agreements, sponsorship, promotion of grow the game initiatives, host sites, the Olympics, player comments, member comments, course conditioning and the financial impact to our Association are just some of the many factors that were presented to us.  The data was almost overwhelming.  After the decision I received close to 100 emails about the decision.  Some were in favor, but many were not.  Of course, they didn’t have all of the information we had as a Board, but they were passionate all the same.

Which leads me to my point.  Whether serving on a committee, chapter board, section board or the PGA board, decisions will be made at every meeting.  Some issues are easier than others, but all decisions affect the member.  It is possible that some Board decisions don’t seem to make sense, but rest assured your leadership are members first and leaders second.  There is a great amount of research, deliberation, investigation and time that is given to each decision.  The impact on the member is always first and foremost in their minds.  Having interacted with your Section Board for three years now, I am impressed with the talent and passion that is in the room.  Kudos to you for voting them in.  Your trust in them is well founded.

Please never hesitate to give me a call at Augusta Ranch – (480) 354-0802 #102. email me at: [email protected]

Once again, thanks for the opportunity, God Bless and have a great day. 

Don Rea, PGA

Get More out of Your Hours This Season

Monte Koch, PGA of America Employment Consultant

“If you can’t manage your time, you’ll never effectively manage your life or your leadership.” – Carey Nieuwhof

“How many times have you gotten to the end of a day only to wonder where all the time went? Or more accurately, wondered where your productivity went? Welcome to the club. Productivity must be easier to measure if you work at, say, Starbucks or Walmart, where you’re dealing with tangibles (how many lattes did you make in the last hour…how many customers did you check out?),” writes leadership author Carey Nieuwhof in his post “How to Reclaim 1-3 Productive Hours Starting Today.”

https://careynieuwhof.com/how-to-reclaim-1-3-productive-hours-today

I find it easy to agree with him. Not everything a PGA professional does is easily trackable, and the impact of many tasks, interactions and conversations are hard to measure at the time. Why? Because effective golf professionals are leaders, they are influencers and community-builders. As leaders and influencers, we make “investment efforts” that often build trust and build connections that lead to business transactions.

I can say in my past roles at green-grass facilities, and even now as a Career Consultant, I still battle the very same “time stealers” (as Nieuwhof calls them) as you do. In his article (I referred to earlier), Nieuwhof continues, “What actually did happen today? Great question…The enemy of many leaders and their mission is time stealing bad practices that seem to suck up massive volumes of available time. And if you can’t manage your time, you’ll never effectively manage your life or your leadership.”

NIEUWHOF’S “TIME STEALERS” (FIVE WAYS TO RECLAIM 1-3 PRODUCTIVE HOURS IN THE DAY)

  1. ELIMINATE CONSTANT INTERRUPTIONS WITH PESKY QUESTIONSCan you tell how I really feel by how I titled this section of the post? How many times in your day do you get interrupted by people with pesky questions that honestly aren’t that important or that urgent? Let me guess… all the time.

My thoughts on Nieuwhof’s #1:

  1. SILENCE YOUR CONSTANTLY BUZZING PHONE – Sure, you get interrupted by other people. But how often do you get distracted by what you allow to push through on your phone? A few years ago I shut off almost all notifications on my phone and my devices except for text messages. Do you really need to know instantly when someone likes your Instagram pic? Of course you don’t. Ditto with emails. Why leave email notifications on when you can jump into your inbox once or twice a day and deal with what needs to be dealt with then? (According to the New York Times, the average office worker gets interrupted every 11 minutes. And it takes 25 minutes to return to focused work after each interruption.)

My thoughts on Nieuwhof’s #2:

  1. GET OUT OF LOUD OFFICES THAT CONSTANTLY DISTRACT YOU – Nieuwhof writes, “Even if you have a closed-door office, carving out a few hours in an office environment can be tricky. Here are some quick hacks: Close your door. Sometimes you may even need to put a note on the door that says “Please do not disturb until 11 a.m.” Try to work offsite. Try a home office or coffee shop (they can be loud too, though) or park…or anywhere where you won’t be disturbed.”

My thoughts on Nieuwhof’s #3:

Professionals Communication Matrix

  1. DON’T WORK WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS WORKING – Nieuwhof says, “If you have some flex on when you show up at the office, flex that muscle. If you can, try coming in an hour or two early. It’s not that hard to be the early bird in our culture. Most people don’t even try. And you really do catch more worms if you start early. As I’ve outlined before, Work patterns are a lot like traffic patterns: at 5 a.m. you have the road to yourself. At 8 a.m., it could take you three times as long to travel the same distance.”

My thoughts on Nieuwhof’s #4:

  1. DON’T FIGHT YOUR LAGGING ENERGY – All of us have times in the day where our energy lags. So what do you usually do when you could almost fall asleep at your desk or just stare blankly at the wall for an hour? Most of us try to push through it, right? And sometimes you have to. But what about those other times? Well, what if you didn’t? What if you cooperated with your energy levels instead of fought them? Instead of blinking mindlessly at your screen for another 30 minutes, get up. Stretch. Take a nap. Go for a walk. Grab a coffee. Or maybe…call it a day.

My thoughts on Nieuwhof’s #5:

Now that you’re in execution mode as a golf professional, leader and more, I know you’re busy…but, I still want to help you if I can.

As your Career Consultant, and your business coach, this is my professional why. I hope to inspire you, and engage with you (like you should be doing with your customers) to help you find your best level of career success. I define this as you experiencing the following: greater job satisfaction, greater career stability and increased income as you progress in your career. I look forward to the chance to learn more about you, your facility and your career vision.

Monte Koch, PGA Certified Professional/Player Development | Career Consultant
PGA Career Services | PGA of America
Serving PGA professionals, employers in the Pacific NW & Rocky Mountain PGA Sections
Email: [email protected] Cell: 206/335-5260

Career Planning and Coaching

PGA Jr. League

Branden Thompson, PGA - Regional League Manager

It’s game time for PGA Jr. League!  If you haven’t submitted for your team kits, you will want to do that as soon as possible.  It’s OK to add players later if you need to.  To order the team kits go to www.pgajrleague.com/crc and click the orange Order Team Kits link.  This will walk you through a form allowing you to choose your arrival date and the team names for the jerseys. 

www.pgajrleague.com/crc

Utilize the Captain Resource Center for game day tools and other useful resources.  Bookmark www.pgajrleague.com/crc to access it quickly.  There you can print scorecards, tee sheet, scoreboards and find other things to make your preparation for a game a lot quicker.  The 2019 Conditions of Play are also available on that site.  Please go through them as there have been a few changes for 2019.  Here is a one-page guide to the major changes:

2019 Conditions of Play Major Changes.pdf

Scoring games on the SportsEngine app is extremely easy.  If you have the game scheduled on the website or the app, simply follow the directions include at the link below. Once it is scored and finalized, the league standings will update automatically. 

How to Score a Game in the Mobile App

Post-Season Update and Schedule

First Round Games – to be played by August 5th. 

Teams will be matched against another team from their geographic location.  One team will be designated the home team via coin flip and is responsible for hosting the game by the deadline.  By mutual agreement, teams may opt to play their game at the visitor’s facility.  The winning teams of the First Round Games will advance to a Regional “Fab Four”. 

Regional “Fab Four” Rounds – Played August 10th or 11th

There will be eight locations hosting Regional “Fab Fours” across the Section.  Those locations will be courses in or near to the following areas:

The league and region assignments will come out shortly.  The goal it to balance the regions and keep travel to a minimum as much as possible.

Each site will host four teams playing single elimination bracket play, with one team advancing to the Section Championship at Eagle Crest Resort.  The two rounds of play are scheduled to be completed in one day.  A sample schedule is:

Section Championship – August 24th – 25th at Eagle Crest Golf Resort in Redmond, OR

The eight teams that won their respective Regional “Fab Fours” will play an eight team, single elimination bracket.  Rounds 1 and 2 will be played on Saturday, August 24th.  The final will be played the morning of Sunday, August 25th.  The winner and runner up at the Section Championship qualify for Regionals.

Regionals – September 14th – 15th at The Cascade Course at Gold Mountain Golf Complex in Bremerton, WA

National Championship – October 10-14th at Grayhawk GC in Scottsdale, AZ

Roster Requirements

All-Star rosters are due August 1st.  Rosters will consist of 10 players representing the league you competed in during the regular season.  Each team is required to have at least one player on the All-Star roster.  No team may have more than five players on the All-Star roster.  Permanent roster replacements are allowed.  New for this year, there will not be any roster penalties through the Section Championships for teams that have less than the full 10 players available for a match.  The roster penalty and requirement is in effect for Regionals and the National Championship.

Fall Leagues

There will be a formal fall league season this year for those of you that would like to take advantage of our great autumn weather.  There will be a different team kit for this season.  Let me know if you are interested.  Registration for the fall league will begin after July 1st. 

Have a great season!

Branden Thompson, PGA
561-293-2585
[email protected]

Open Events

Oregon Open Invitational | June 18-20, 2019

Entries close on May 29 for the Oregon Open Invitational at Pronghorn on June 18-20.  Get your team entry in before this popular event fills! Spencer Schaub, PGA and Jerrel Grow, PGA are excited to host this year’s four-person team event in beautiful Bend, Oregon.

Oregon Open online entry form

Oregon Open entry form (pdf)

Learn more

Rosauers Open Invitational | July 19-21, 2019

The Rosauers Open Invitational is set to take place at Indian Canyon GC on July 19-21. Host PGA Professional Doug Phares welcomes you to a great competition in almost certainly great weather. Compete for the largest purse in the Section! Get your entries in by Wednesday, July 3 to this fantastic event in Spokane, WA.

Rosauers Pro online entry form

Rosauers Pro entry form (pdf)

Learn more

National Car Rental PNW Assistant PGA Championship | August 5, 2019

Assistants – plan on entering! Bosses, give your Assistants time off to play in their Championship! Entries are available for the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship on August 5, 2019. The entry deadline is Wednesday, July 24 at 11:59 PM. Please pay close attention to the entry deadline! You may register for this event through PGA of America Membership services at 800-474-2776, www.pga.org or at www.pgatournaments.com.

Assistants, this is your qualifier for the National PGA Assistant Championship! The top 3 finishers will advance directly to the 43rd PGA Assistant Championship, held November 14 – 17, 2019 at the PGA Golf Club, Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, FL.

Learn more

Northwest Open Pro-Am benefiting Folds of Honor | August 17-18, 2019

Preceding the Northwest Open Invitational, the Northwest Open Pro-Am will pair four amateurs with a PGA professional to enjoy two days of golf with carts at Wine Valley Golf Club. On Saturday evening the cocktail party, dinner and auction will raise important funds for Folds of Honor. Players will receive tee gifts, two rounds of golf with carts, two hosted meals, on course beverages and compete for a nice prize fund. Please join us!

Learn more

PNW Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac | September 5-6, 2019

Entries are now available for the 2019 Senior PGA Professional Championship at Bear Creek CC in Woodinville, WA. The event will be held September 5-6 with the optional pro-am on September 4 (we will pair you with another PGA Professional and amateurs from Bear Creek CC). Please take the time to enter ALL events you wish to participate in. You have TWO options: 1) qualify for the 31st Senior PGA Professional and play for the purse or 2) only play for the purse.

Seniors, this is your Section Championship & Qualifier for the National Senior PGA Championship! The top five qualifiers from the 2019 PNW Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac will advance directly to the 31st Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac. The event will be played October 3-6 at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas.

Learn more

PNW PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, Club Car and OMEGA | September 17-19, 2019

Entries are available for the PNW PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, Club Car and OMEGA. This year’s championship will take place September 17-19 at Indian Summer G&CC. The entry deadline is September 4th at 11:59 PM. You may register for this event through PGA of America Membership Services online at www.pgatournaments.com or by phone: (800) 474-2776.

This is your Section Championship & Qualifier for the National PGA Championship! The top seven qualifiers will advance directly to the 2020 PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, Club Car and OMEGA, held at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas on April 26-29, 2020.

Learn more

Hawai'i Pro-Am | January 16-23, 2020

In January 2020 we return to the newly remodeled Mauna Lani Resort for the 45th PNW Hawai’i Pro-Am. The new Mauna Lani features a new restaurant, three completely new pools and remodeled rooms. Those of you who have stayed at the Mauna Lani know it has one of the best beaches on the island! We will play both the North and South courses. Contact Denise Bacon or Jeff Ellison with questions: 360-456-6496.

PNW Hawai'i Pro-Am online entry form

PNW Hawai'i Pro-Am entry form (pdf)

Learn more

Employment Opportunity

Position Title: Central Washington & Inland Empire Chapter Executive Director / Section Tournament Manager

Manager’s Title: Chief Executive Officer and Director of Tournament and Member Programs

JOB SUMMARY:

This full-time position will provide administrative support to Central Washington and Inland Empire Chapters.  Assisting the  Chapter Board of Directors, managing Chapter communications and providing support to our on-site Chapter tournament personnel.   Duties will also include Section tournament support both in the office and on-site.   This position will report to the CEO and Director of Tournament and Member Programs and will serve out of the Pacific Northwest PGA Section office in Tumwater, Washington.

ORGANIZATION:

The Pacific Northwest Section PGA of America, located in Tumwater, Washington, has an opportunity for dedicated individual to grow their career in association management.   The Pacific Northwest Section provides membership, educational and tournament services to 1,200 PGA Professionals in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.  Conducting over 230 competitive events annually, the Section staff takes pride in providing excellent service to the membership.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

  1. Event Management: Pre-event preparations for Chapter Pro-Ams and Championships – Golf Genius, local rules, player management and host course communications. Event follow up – results to accounting and points lists.
  2. Communications: Responsible for web site content, membership communications, social media communications and support for sponsorship activities.
  3. Governance: Responsible for preparations for Board Meetings, Membership Meetings, minutes and records, Tournament Regulations, Special Award assistance and financial oversight.
  4. Section Tournament Management: Manage Section tournament equipment, Golf Genius preparations, on-site operations, tent & leaderboard construction, assist with course marking and calligraphy.
  5. Other Duties as Assigned: The Section PGA currently has full-time staff, part-time staff and a seasonal intern. Key to our success is the interaction with and support of fellow employees so all employees support the efforts of the whole team.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES:

  1. A passion for golf!
  2. Skills in oral, written and interpersonal communications, including public speaking and presentations. Experience with social media platforms.
  3. Skills in planning and organizing, event management and managing multiple priorities.
  4. Strong moral character and unquestionable integrity.
  5. Knowledge of tournament administration, the golf industry and PGA of America activities, programs and governance.
  6. Ability to work independently with little supervision and a creative mindset.
  7. Ability to travel frequently within the PNWPGA geographic boundaries and work some nights, weekends (particularly Sunday afternoon) and/or holidays.
  8. Positive and upbeat personality, high-energy individual.
  9. Proficient computer skills including MS Office Suite of products and the ability to quickly become literate on Act-On Marketing and Golf Genius Tournament Software.
  10. Ability to present self in a professional manner and appearance.
  11. Team player motivated by the success of the organization.

FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:

  1. Responsible for managing, maintaining and functioning within assigned budgets.

POSITION/PHYSICAL CONDITIONS:

  1. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is: frequently required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to manipulate, handle, or feel and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms; climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. This position must be able to travel for extended periods of time in various modes of transportation.
  2. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and the stamina to work extended periods both indoors and outdoors in cold and hot climates.
  3. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.
  4. While performing the duties of this job, the employee occasionally works in adverse hot, cold and wet outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
  5. The employee must be able to drive the company vehicle and/or drive to and from various locations throughout the Section.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

  1. PGA Member or Associate
  2. Prior tournament or association management experience a plus.
  3. Calligraphy skills a plus and the ability to develop skills required.

Compensation/Benefits: Non-exempt hourly employee.  Starting hourly wage:  $16.00 per hour.   Overtime expected to be an  additional $1,800 annually.  Anticipated bottom line:  $35,000 plus benefits.

In addition to the above compensation, a competitive benefit package is also offered including:

Deadline for Resumes: May 20, 2019 or until filled

Anticipated Start Date: negotiable

SEND RÉSUMÉS:

Jeff Ellison, PGA
Chief Executive Officer
Pacific Northwest Section PGA
P O Box 14819, Tumwater, WA  98511
E-mail: [email protected]
360-456-6496

MAY 15, 2019

Foreword Press

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