August 1, 2020

President's Report

First and foremost, we mourn the loss of Sean Fredrickson. Sean served this Section with distinction for many years and he was always focused on “members first”. More importantly, Sean was a great husband, great father, and he was a great servant to his community. Please continue to hold his family in your thoughts and prayers. Many of you have asked what the Section and the PGA of America are doing to honor Sean. Our former Section President Bryan Tunstill and his team are working with Sean’s wife, April, on a plan. I will share more details as they are available.

During the difficult times, the professionals that serve you, your Board members at the Chapter and Section level, have been tremendously supportive in this time of transition. Please take the time to say thank you to them for their service.

We continue to operate Chapter and Section events where we can be safe. I was delighted to see so many players at the Oregon Open. We had a very successful Oregon Open at Arrowhead. Thank you, Rob Gibbons and the ownership group, for stepping up to host the event. Congratulations to PGA professional Brady Sharp from Wine Valley Golf Club as the winner of the 86th Oregon Open.

COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in areas within the Pacific Northwest. We had to make the tough decision to cancel the Senior Oregon Open at the Wildhorse Resort. Wildhorse has been a tremendous sponsor for us, and the tournament staff is working diligently with the resort to find a way to reschedule the event to a time when it can be safely conducted.

There are a couple of critical deadlines approaching. The Senior PPC at Royal Oaks closing date: August 19; PPC at Canyon River closing date: September 9. If you can play, please sign up.

Please join me in congratulating two of our Section Professionals for winning national awards. Chris Runyan, GOLFTEC, is the National Patriot Award Winner, and Jacob Lippold, Chambers Bay, is the National Merchandiser of the Year for Public Facilities.

Most of you know that Jeff Ellison, after thirty years of service to the Pacific Northwest Section, will be retiring on August 31, 2020. We all knew that we couldn’t replace Jeff, but we also knew we had to select a new CEO. Greg Manley did a terrific job of leading a search committee to find the new CEO. After three months, the committee recommended Frank Talarico Jr. to the Board. The Board approved, and Frank will take over as CEO on September 1, 2020. Frank is a very experienced Senior Executive. Among other roles, he served as CEO of the Goodwill Industries of Orange County. Frank has been active in the Southern California PGA Section. He started the Section Foundation and recently served as the Foundation Chairman. He will be a great listener, a great cheerleader, and, most importantly, a great leader of our Section for years to come.

I will close with a gentle reminder. Our jobs are only one aspect of our lives. Our family, friends, and relationships should be driving us. Slow down! Hold the ones you love a little bit tighter.

Howie Pruitt, PGA
Director, Golf Operations, Aspen Lakes GC
President, Pacific Northwest Section
Cell: 541-390-7875
[email protected]

Sharp Wins the 86th Oregon Open Invitational

by Molly Cooper, PGA - Director of Tournament & Member Programs

Arrowhead GC played host to this year’s edition of the Oregon Open Invitational over two days of competitive golf. PGA Professional Brady Sharp of Wine Valley GC came out on top and captured his second PNW PGA major title. Sharp previously won the 2017 Rosauers Open Invitational.

Sharp won by one stroke over PGA Professional Liam Kendregan of Sand Point CC and amateur Robbie Ziegler of RedTail GC.

The first two days of the tournament included two Pro-Am team competitions: a best two net of four and a four-ball component, with each a professional paired with an amateur in teams of four. In the best two net of four format, the Portland GC team of PGA Professional David Lebeck, PGA Professional Tyler Carlson, Carson Little and Jamie Sumner fired scores of 128-131-259. Their team won by three strokes over PGA Professional Bruce Stewart of Stone Creek GC, PGA Professional Jeff Fought of Black Butte Ranch, amateur Gregg Chianello of The Reserve Vineyards and amateur Tya Seth also of Stone Creek GC.

Winning the net Four-Ball competition were PGA Professional Tyler Carlson and Carson Little. They fired scores of 63-64-127, 15-under par. PGA Professional Liam Kendregan and amateur Allen Fleckenstein of The GC at Echo Falls finished in second two strokes back.

When asked about first PNW PGA major of the year, how it felt different to him with COVID-19 and playing a 36-hole major, Brady responded that it “definitely felt different. Seeing everyone was great but you did not know how they are/were handling the COVID issue. Everyone did a great job of not hanging around and making sure social distancing was being met. It is the new norm that hopefully will get better from here on out!”

When reflecting on his time after his last Section major win in 2017, and how he took a temporary leave from the PGA to pursue playing golf professionally full-time, Brady commented that he “basically drove the wheels off the truck I had and saw some of the coolest places. What I missed the most was being around our players, volunteers and workers here in the Section. Being on the road can be lonely and hard to find your way but I will never stop pushing the limits on my game and I have that year to thank for that.”

We would like to thank Arrowhead GC for making the 2020 Oregon Open Invitational, our first PNW PGA Section major of the year, a fantastic event. Special thanks to GM Bryce Fisher, Director of Golf Robert Fisher, PGA Head Professional Rob Gibbons, and Superintendent Adam Vidourek and their tireless staff for all of their hard work to make this tournament a success.

Brady Sharp put it best when he said, “Arrowhead is really special to me for a lot of reasons. We played the Hudson Cup there last year and it was done right. Every part of the staff from top to bottom should be thanked and applauded for their awesomeness.”

The Pacific Northwest PGA is proud to have a supporting field of sponsors including Greg Norman, Legendary Headwear, AMA Golf, Sundog Eyewear, Pacific Golf & Turf, Sun Mountain, Sketchers, CMC, Epec Golf, NFP, Voice Caddie and Flag Assist.

We would also like to thank our players and our volunteers. We hope to see you at another Section event this season!

Final Results

Open Events

PNW PGA Professional Championship presented by ClubCar and OMEGA

Missoula, MT - Canyon River GC
September 22-24, 2020

PNW Senior PGA Professional Championship

Vancouver, WA - Royal Oaks CC
September 2-3, 2020

PNW Hawai'i Pro-Am

Maui, HI - Kaanapali Golf Courses
January 14-21, 2021

Holk's Highlights: Connor Sproull

This summer, we are highlighting PNW PGA Professionals who have contributed Best Practices to the Section. We hope their programs will inspire you! Search the full Best Practices archive at https://www.pnwpga.com/bestpractices.

Name: Connor Sproull

Facility: Missoula CC

Hometown: Missoula, MT

PGA Member Since: 2010

Tell us about your golf beginnings. How did you get started? Why did you decide to pursue this career?

I played every sport in the book growing up. I started playing golf when I was 16 and immediately fell in love with the challenge of golf. My best friend Norm and myself bought a junior pass to the local municipal course and mowed lawns in the morning and golfed in the afternoon. The next year both of us got jobs as bag boys at the Missoula Country Club.

Who are or were your mentors?

Being in the golf business for 22 years, I feel like I have a lot of mentors. The ones that really made an impact on me were my boss of 17 years, Skip Koprivica, PGA, my current boss Chris Nowlen, PGA and the three gentleman I worked under in Seattle, Steve Bowles, Mark Sursley, PGA and Marcus King, PGA.

You had success in 2019 with your Junior Golf Tour. Have you had to make any changes this year for social distancing?

We have spread out our tee times and have reduced from 4-somes to 3-somes to accommodate social distancing on the course and after the event when they have lunch.

Do you have any suggestions for PNWPGA professionals about starting a Junior Golf Tour in their area?

When I moved back to Missoula from Seattle in 2014 I was teaching some junior golfers and I kept getting the same question, “Why isn’t there anything for junior golfers in Western Montana?” After that I made it my mission to improve junior golf in Western Montana. Cameron Milton and myself started working on a plan for PGA Junior league and now he has a 72-player league at Polson and we have a 52-player league here at Missoula CC. I developed a few week-long junior camps that are open not only to members of the club, but also non-members. As far as the Missoula Junior Tour goes, I started that with the hopes of getting 30-50 kids that would play golf each week at a different course and meet new golfing friends while playing competitively. My first year we had 75 kids and we have had 70-100 kids every year since 2015. Not only is it a great program for the kids, it’s a great program for the golf courses as they pick up new junior members that get involved in golf.

Read Connor’s Best Practice Here

Search the full Best Practices archive at https://www.pnwpga.com/bestpractices

Employment Opportunities

Monte Koch, PGA of America Employment Consultant

These are primarily “PGA Professional” only positions posted on the PGA Career Services Job Board: https://jobs.pga.org

Internship, non-PGA positions, strictly retail and “franchise” ownership positions will not be listed here.Please visit jobs.pga.org to see these types of opportunities.

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

Note: these are listed as of 3 PM, July 31, 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	The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, WA	Caleb Kraus, PGA
ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	White Horse GC, Kingston, WA	Bruce Christy, PGA
ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, OR	Steven Borror, PGA
ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	Twin Lakes Village Country Club, Rathdrum, ID	Kathy Brown, PGA
ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	Mill Creek Country Club, Mill Creek, WA	Jake Hanson, PGA
FIRST ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	White Horse Golf Club, Kingston, WA	Bruce Christy, PGA

Management Positions

Note: not all positions like these will be posted here in all cases; instead, postings here will, generally, be at the request/approval of the Employer.

Job Title	Facility	PGA Contact (if applicable)
HEAD GOLF PROFESSIONAL	Roseburg Country Club, Roseburg, OR

Back2Golf Resources

PGA's Recommendations for Getting Back2Golf:

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.

For more information and to access the below resources, please click here.

Details on how you and your facility can responsibly get Back2Golf, while adhering to state and local guidelines
Back2Golf Guidelines for Opening Up Golf, presented by the Allied Golf Organizations
A PDF version of the Operations Playbook

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 (If Back2Golf is more stringent than your county, or less stringent, we suggest you operate according to the county guidelines.)