CEO's Report

Jeff Ellison, PGA

Welcome to the new normal. We now have all five chapters operating events, each doing so within a responsible manner. We all appreciate the cooperation of everyone involved to minimize the interaction of players, maintain social distancing and follow the ever-changing guidelines of our local governments. The goal of your Board is responsible operations in alignment with the government mandates. We will stay current with each of our five states and adjust operations with the changing environment.

Each chapter is working with the Board to be flexible and operate in the best interest of the events they manage. Please read Chapter and Section emails to keep current with the changes, as we expect the pace of changes to accelerate as we move to higher levels in each state. Past practices have been to make last minute changes if they will benefit the event. Please, stay current so you don’t get trapped.

The Section has published entries through the Northwest Open Invitational in mid-August. Once we start playing at Arrowhead in the Oregon Open Invitational, it’s going to be a busy summer for us all. We hope to see you frequently but understand the demands this compact schedule places on all of you. Because of this, the OR, WA and NW Open Invitationals will all be contested at 36 holes. We hope one less day away from work, one less day of expenses, and one less donated day from our host courses will benefit everyone. We all prefer a 54-hole championship from just the competitive perspective, but we have learned there are many competing aspects of our lives right now. This temporary decision is part of that same balancing process.

As we look to the fall, our plan is for a more normal operation. If the situation allows, we plan to host Chapter and Section meetings, run the full 54-hole PGA Professional Championship at Canyon River and bring the Merchandise Show to you once again in Tacoma.

PGA Junior League has become even more relevant this summer, as it may be one of the few games in town for our young people. The new guidelines allow for maximum flexibility at your club as you serve your members and grow the game at your facility. Reach out to PGA Junior League Regional Manager Branden Thompson for ideas on how to structure your local program this summer. Call 503-869-2827 or email:[email protected]

Your Section staff continues to work remotely with a gradual opening of the office on the horizon. Our limited hours will remain through most of July as we deal with the significant budget shortfall due to the loss of important programs. Please reach out to us and we will get back to you, just extend a little patience to this great team that remains dedicated to you. I could not be prouder of your Chapter and Section staff as they have really pulled together as a group through this difficult time. You have a great team to carry you forward into the future.

Jeff Ellison, PGA
CEO

District 14 Director's Report

Doug Doxsie, PGA

I know everyone is hyper-focused on operating golf at their facilities so I will make my message this month short and simple. We have all seen that golf has become one of the few things people can still enjoy during this pandemic. We have an opportunity to welcome more people to the game and spread the positives of our great game and business. Let’s take this unique opportunity to grow the business and turn this challenge into an opportunity.

Phase 2 of the Golf Emergency Relief Fund was rolled out and again there was a huge response from those in our industry applying for assistance. Phase 1 granted assistance of about 4 million dollars, Phase 2 will likely be the same. This is an incredible initiative by the PGA of America to assist our golf professionals and others within the industry who need help.

The national PGA staff has done an incredible job working with the CDC in developing protocols, safe practice procedures and phases for operating golf. I hope you have followed the updates to this document, the latest version being Back 2 Golf 4.0. This provides a template of providing safe operations at your facility. One thing to note: your state, city or county regulations take priority for the guidelines you follow, but this document provides a road map of things to consider, implement or follow for whatever stage your jurisdiction is in.

Our PGA of America championships are certainly a focus by our association right now. The collaboration, planning, logistics and execution of these events are challenging to say the least during the health crisis we are experiencing. How each of these events will look is fluid and changing rapidly. The PGA Professional Championship has been rescheduled for July 19-22 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas. This will be our first PGA of America event this season. The PGA Championship has been rescheduled for early August at TPC Harding Park and the Ryder Cup is still scheduled for Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in late September. The PGA of America is doing everything possible to provide these championships, given the constraints we are dealing with. Keep watching for information related to all of these events and how they will be conducted.

As I stress in most of my messages, PGA.org is a valuable resource for you to use daily. There is excellent information about what is going on within our association as well as within the industry. I encourage you to make it a regular habit to check it out.  If you need anything, please reach out to me, I am happy to help.

Stay safe and healthy,

Doug Doxsie, PGA
Seattle Golf Club
PGA District 14 Director
425-681-8889
[email protected]

Succeeding with Soft Skills: 12 Traits for Emotional Intelligence

Monte Koch, PGA of America Employment Consultant

Newsflash: “The Golf Business Is Different Now.” But does that blanket statement really tell the story? No, it doesn’t. It seems that around mid-March 2020, the world was fundamentally disrupted. An untold number of facets of our lives are no longer taken for granted until we get comfortable with the “new normal.”

One unexpected result of the pandemic was a resurgence in demand. If someone told us that a private club in Oregon would do 3x its normal guest fee revenue in April (compared to budget), we would laugh at them, long and hard. If that same person told us that facilities in Washington State would be closed to golfers for over six weeks, we would have kept laughing in disbelief. During the closure, no one was laughing in Washington. On one hand, we saw golf professionals dealing with rounds sunup to sundown, frustrated by having to serve and operate with bare bones staffing levels and near burnout. Conversely, we saw golf courses on the other side of the state line equally frustrated because they couldn’t be open at all.

What does this new normal look like for our businesses in golf–our facilities, our clubs and even the golf alliances we come together around? Can the management methodologies we relied on in pre-COVID deliver the same outcomes after the spring of 2020? I suggest that if a department head or an executive wants to truly find success, they need to rely less on the “hard and tough nature of management” and more on the “soft skills of emotional intelligence.”

In the book Emotional Intelligence (1996) author Daniel Goleman first started to popularize the term. It’s generally described as: “An ability to realize, understand, recognize and manage our own emotions as well as the emotions of other people in our environment.” Further, this concept of emotional intelligence is not just about someone’s ability to perceive (their own emotions and those of others), but it also relates to the ability to influence others, so that we can help produce a change in behavior (emotional intelligence is a requirement to “de-escalate a bad situation”).

It’s been said by researchers that the difference between any two employees with the same set of technical skills and abilities is the much less measurable components of emotional intelligence (or EQ vs IQ). In fact, these same researchers found that a smarter team member or leader who lacked emotional intelligence was generally less effective when compared with any other team member or leader who was not as smart, but had more EQ. Martin Luenendonk (the founder of Finance Club and co-founder of Cleverism.com) wrote, “Emotional intelligent people are the perfect candidates for leadership and the positions on the top of the ladder.”

Why is that, you may ask? It’s about people: the ones we serve as customers, the ones we lead as managers and the ones who choose to employ us. If you want to be more successful in the people part of this business, read on.

Twelve traits for emotional intelligence: (How are you doing in these areas? Good in some, others need improvement?)

  1. SELF-AWARENESS: The capability to be introspective allows one to examine and observe their own actions, words and behaviors objectively while at the same time examining the inner monologue and “thought life” driven by their experience. The goal is not to be unfairly hard on yourself. Instead, it is to reach a fair, accurate and unbiased conclusion about the individual in question – who, in this case, is yourself.
  2. SELF-DISCIPLINE/SELF-MANAGEMENT/SELF-REGULATION: Being aware of your emotions, what your triggers are, what inspires you, maddens you, etc. is not valuable without self-regulation. This ability to “stay within the lines of professionalism” when you instinctively want to react impulsively, is what maturity is all about. Having a sense of our own “internal state” is required before we can start to observe and be aware of how our actions and words affect other people both physically and emotionally.
  3. EMPATHY: This is the art of “considering how the world is occurring for the other person(s).” Being able to put yourself in another’s shoes is such a powerful aspect of EQ. Not to be a doormat, feeling waves of emotions because others do, but to make others feel valued and like they belong.
  4. POSITIVE OUTLOOK: In the pursuit of objectives, perseverance fueled by a positive outlook, even in the face of challenges and the hardship, is what differentiates successful leaders. As I’ve written about before, it’s about seeking out the opportunities within the threats and/or hardships. This requires positive focus to see the opportunities and not fixate on the threats.
  5. ACHIEVEMENT ORIENTATION: This is the wonderful and powerful combination of humility, self-awareness and a positive outlook. If you have this orientation, you might be thinking, “Yes, I have to get better here in this area, and over there too.” If you work hard on personal development because you want to be better and more effective as a leader, you are on your way due to an achievement orientation.
  6. ADAPTABILITY: It’s about compromise, being willing to sacrifice one thing or experience to gain another thing or experience. Adaptability is a willingness to change. The willingness to risk discomfort or pain in order to get something more valuable is an expression of self-awareness.
  7. INFLUENCE: Luenendonk states, “This one’s really easy. If you’re keen on emotional fluctuations, both yours and your colleagues, if you’re aware of them at all times, you can understand them and feel them, it’s easy for you to do something to steer their changes.” These are subtle points of communication, and they require high social competency blended with a servant leader’s heart and some empathy.
  8. TEAMWORK: Naturally, leaders, managers and similar are in a great position to influence and direct others’ behaviors. Equally so, in order to be an effective influencer, every leader must be open and available to be influenced as well. The best will take these influences and “separate the wheat from the chaff” (or they’ll separate the positive influences while refining, tweaking or disposing of the negative influences).
  9. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: Generally, as golf professionals, we have to be pretty good at this. Placating the customer or the employee, though, is not conflict management. Instead, it’s using emotional sensitivity to recognize and identify the emotions of the unhappy customer (as well as our own in that moment of stress) so we can de-escalate the emotional engagement before it blows up into a conflict. Would you like to be better at resolving problems? Apply Occam’s Razor theory which stated, back in the 12th Century, “Plurality must never be posited without necessity.” In other words, we will find that the answer requiring the least number of assumptions will most often be the correct one.
  10. COACH AND MENTOR: This is so important in our world now. A book can’t teach someone how to be likable or inspirational. It takes someone who cares and has a high EQ to coach how to act, how to think and how to be. A coach or a mentor is more apt to guide versus just giving orders.
  11. ORGANIZATIONAL AWARENESS: How sharp is your mind? Are you observant? Do others’ actions and non-verbal communication give you a read on how they’re doing, or how they’re feeling? They should. Think about the last meeting (in person) where someone showed up significantly late. What was the message they sent? (You people don’t matter as much as me.) People with organizational awareness know how to observe and intentionally act to “balance out the collective dynamics of the organization” while understanding there are several individuals with dynamics of their own who make up the whole of the organization.
  12. INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP: Luenendonk again has a great quote. He states that, “Leadership is one thing and it can be perfected, but the ability to inspire is on the borderline of art.”
    1. What gets those you lead, those in your golf community you serve “started?” What engages them? What “shuts them down?”
    2. To answer this question, first you have to know them well enough. This takes study, effort and is necessary BEFORE you can pull the strings, flip the levers that will inspire and/or motivate them.
    3. Once you have them inspired, they have to feel safe, they need to “know trust” and feel valued and respected. As the leader, you take "Extreme Ownership" and full responsibility for the team’s failures even though they willingly partake in taking the blame and the fall.

If you’re like me, you probably saw a few areas that you felt you’re handling well. You also probably feel like there are a few areas to improve on as well. Here’s the good news – as a PGA professional, you get to practice and improve on these areas every single day in our business. So, don’t be daunted in the pursuit, let’s get out there and start working on these practices – one interaction at a time.

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

Identify Your Unique Value Proposition

Employment Resources

PGA Job Board

https://jobs.pga.org

Internship, non-PGA positions, strictly retail and “franchise” ownership positions will not be listed here. These are listed as of 8 AM, June 12, 2020. Note: each posting is subject to the “resume close date” and will close at the time set by the employer.

Assistant Golf Professional Positions (Full-time, not Internships)

Listed in order of most recent first. Note: these are listed as of 8 AM, June 12, 2020. Positions listed here are not guaranteed to be available. Visit jobs.pga.org to see the most current listings.

Job Title Facility PGA Contact (if applicable)
ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL – CLUBFITTER RedTail Golf Center, Beaverton, OR  

Teaching & Coaching Golf Professional Positions

Job Title Facility PGA Contact (if applicable)
JUNIOR GOLF DIRECTOR & FULL TIME INSTRUCTOR RedTail Golf Center, Beaverton, OR  

Back2Golf Resources

As golf facilities begin re-opening, it is vital that we do so in a responsible manner that protects the entire golf community. In collaboration with our Allied Golf Organizations and in alignment with the Center for Disease Control (CDC), we have developed a comprehensive plan that allows golf to be played while observing recommended social distancing guidelines.

Our industry understands there are various restrictions in different parts of the country and emphasize that all should be adhering to state and local guidelines to ensure our sport comes back in a healthy way. This action plan, broken down into three phases, can be implemented on a statewide or county-by-county basis.

Click here more information and to access the below resources:

A key understanding for Back2Golf: “Our industry understands there are various restrictions in different parts of the country and emphasize that all should be adhering to state and local guidelines to ensure our sport comes back in a healthy way.”  

In other words, use the playbook and guidelines IN RELATION to where your facility is located. We urge you to understand and follow the health regulations in the following order: Your municipality -> Your county -> Your state -> Back2Golf (e.g. If Back2Golf is more stringent than your county, or less stringent, we suggest you operate according to the county guidelines)

Reminder: Let’s Stick Together -- If you are a golf professional, operator or similar with a concern about how your neighboring facility is operating within the “appropriate guidelines” (though all of these guidelines are based on best practices, not legal requirements), please BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR and take the time to go directly to the golf professional who is leading the operation. Ask them about what they’re doing and why…don’t take what you heard they’re doing as fact. Seek to understand their situation and then, only then, can you offer suggestions on how they might improve things (and maybe you’ll learn something you could do differently or better too).

Let’s work together as we “educate” golfers to the appropriate behaviors in our “new normal”.

Candidate for Secretary: Chris Nowlen

As we look into the future operations of the PNWPGA- how to you see our section evolving?

To evolve is to advance, grow and progress.  I believe the key to future success for our Section is to follow our mission statement which is to serve our members and grow the game. We need to hold true to our strategic vision, which is to constantly pursue excellence and commit to innovation, collaboration and improvement, while teamwork and talent define our culture and are exhibited in our communications and accountability, while staying committed to diversity and inclusion in our activities and programs through our six key components: tournaments, player development, professional development, employment, community outreach/charity, and governance.

The PNWPGA is one of the best in the country.  That speaks volumes to the leadership by staff and boards over the last 20 years. We are entering a new era with Jeff Ellison’s retirement. Employing a new leader will bring fresh perspective for our staff and opportunity for growth. The new CEO will need to be committed to the programs and best practices Jeff and his team have implemented during their evolution, while embracing our changing world and pursuing excellence into the future.

The Board of Directors has a large role to play in the evolution of our Section.  Through recent months, we have seen strong leadership by the officers and board and improved collaboration among our Chapters.  Communication has been vital to our success.  In the future, there will be a greater focus on consistent contact among our leaders.  There will be more opportunities for members to get involved in governance.  Technology will add value to the process and save time and resources for the Section.  Our leaders will focus on the financial strength of our Section, evaluate programs, and find new ways to serve the membership and grow the game.

Our evolution as a Section begins with being more member-centric in serving our PGA Professionals.  To advance we must strive to use the PGA brand and the game to grow the benefits to our membership. We need to find better ways to tell our story, showcasing that we are the experts in the game and the business of golf.  We need to stay relevant and give ourselves all the opportunities possible to excel as PGA professionals through professional development.  Now more than ever, we need to embrace technology to improve services and communication and give our members the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills that elevate employment opportunities and compensation.

We will continue to positively impact our communities across the Section and our five Chapters. Our membership enhances charitable impact through tournaments and events locally and regionally year-round. We need to improve media programs, websites, and social media use to strengthen our value to our partners and employers. Celebrating our success as PGA professionals through tournaments and player development programs, like PGA Junior League and Drive, Pitch & Putt, are excellent ways to tell our story.

The PNWPGA has one of the strongest tournament programs of all the Sections. We will continue to develop partnerships that provide playing opportunities for our professionals and the amateurs they serve.  With strong partnerships, we can continue to enhance the lives of our PGA professionals through competitive purses and playing opportunities and raise money for wonderful charities, like Folds of Honor.

The Pacific Northwest Section will continue to represent the PGA America at the highest level, achieving diversity and inclusion, showcasing our community impact, solidifying our significance, and serving our members.  Our PGA Professionals will grow the game and our Section will provide programs, tools, and resources to boost the success of our PGA professionals and to achieve our mission.

Chris M. Nowlen, PGA
GM/Director of Golf, Missoula Country Club
406.251.2404 / 406.241.9854[email protected]

Candidate for Secretary: Bill Shea

As we look into the future operations of the PNWPGA- how to you see our section evolving?

Hello fellow PGA Professionals. I hope that this article finds you all healthy and are enjoying the boost in rounds our facilities have been experiencing this past month. These are certainly interesting times.

One of the biggest changes coming to our Section within the next few months will be the addition of our new CEO. We had many excellent applicants pursuing this position and have narrowed the search down to a few candidates. Our hope is to have that position filled by July 1st and have that person on-site by August 1st. The new employee has some big shoes to fill as we have been extremely fortunate to have Jeff Ellison steering our ship for 16 years. He is regarded nationally as one of the best CEO’s of our 41 Sections. It has truly been a pleasure working with him these past six years. I applaud him for his tireless efforts in supporting our professionals and growing the game. He is a true ambassador.

One lesson I have learned through this pandemic is how all businesses have had to change and adapt to an unpredictable shifting environment.  Although golf is now allowed throughout our Section, I wish I had a crystal ball to see what it will look like the remainder of this year, into 2021 and beyond. So strange to watch the Charles Schwab Cup today without any spectators. The word “normal” is hard to say without putting “new” in front of it. There are certainly some practices that I see us evolving to.  On-line communication is one. Zoom stock value was $66.79 on December 31st of 2019 and today it is worth $222.07. For it to increase almost 3 ½ times its value in 6 months greatly indicates how meetings are evolving. The PNWPGA is the largest geographic Section in the country covering 5 different states. If any one Section is particularly prone to more of these types of communication, I would imagine that it would be ours.

I also feel that we have become a stronger section during this time and expect that to continue in the future. The collaboration with our section board these past few months has been amazing. Five individual chapters like fingers on a hand spread out have now come together as a fist and share one common voice and vision.  We have become more efficient, resourceful, and forward thinking in our approach to all topics.

The PNWPGA has one of the strongest tournament programs in the country. We have seen both cancellations and adjustments from 54-hole to 36-hole events in some of our majors this season. A shorter event can not only affect the size of the field, but potentially sponsor interest levels as well. Sponsor recruitment and retainment plays a crucial role in our financial stability. Now is an incredibly important time to strengthen those relationships and show great appreciation for previous years involvement.

However, I am confident golfers want to compete as I prepare to host our annual Best Ball tournament this weekend at Dungeness with a sold-out field of 160 players.  We have had to change certain criteria to the event to ensure the safety of our guests and employees, but the desire to get out and play is extremely evident. Looking at new event formats in our chapter and section tournaments could be crucial. I have had the pleasure of working for a casino the last 13 years. This experience has enabled me to have the insight and understanding that we are in the entertainment business. Golf just happens to be our vehicle instead of a craps table. Players come to us hoping to win, expecting to lose, but above all else wanting to have a good time. Venue, format, price, and course-setup are all paramount to the level of a player’s enjoyment.

To thrive in constant change, we must learn to transition. As William Bridges states in his book Managing Transitions, “Nimble people and teams survive and thrive in a changeable world because they have the capability and resilience to anticipate, initiate and respond to change, and even more importantly, to transition.”

Now is the time to heed this advice more than ever. Remain confident that your Section leaders are poised as a collaborative fist and are proactively prepared for whatever challenges threaten our Section next and will transition accordingly to the best interest of serving our membership and growing the game.

I hope you and your families continue to be healthy and safe.

Cheers,

Bill Shea, PGA
Director of Golf / General Manager, The Cedars at Dungeness
O: 360.582.4903 | M: 360.775.0714

Open Events

Northwest Open Invitational

NWOpen

Host Professional Chris Isaacson invites you to take part in this fun and historic championship! We are excited to return to Wine Valley GC, which Golf Week named one of the top 100 courses you can play in 2019. This event is a 36-hole championship in 2020.

Northwest Open Online Entry Form

Northwest Open Entry Form (pdf)

Learn More

Preceding the Northwest Open Invitational, the Northwest Open Pro-Am will pair four amateurs with a PGA professional. Please join us in raising important funds for Folds of Honor!

Pro-Am details and entry

Oregon Open Invitational

WAOpen

Entries close soon for this popular team event! The practice round will be held on Monday, July 13.  This event is a 36-hole championship in 2020.

Learn More

Muckleshoot Casino Washington Open Invitational

WAOpen

Thank you to Muckleshoot Casino, the members at Meridian Valley Country Club and MVCC Director of Golf Greg Manley for working with us to find a new date for our event. This event is a 36-hole championship in 2020.

pro online entry
pro entry form (PDF)
Learn More

Section Championships & National Qualifiers

You may register for these events through PGA of America Membership Services by calling 800-474-2776 or online at www.pgatournaments.com.

National Car Rental PNW Assistant PGA Championship

PNW Senior PGA Professional Championship

PNW PGA Professional Championship presented by Club Car and OMEGA

June 15, 2020

Foreword Press

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