Where has the season gone? October is already here and if you are like me it’s time to wind down 2018 and start preparing for 2019. Our focus right now is on the Pacific Northwest Section Merchandise Show, Annual Meeting and Education programs…. yours should be too! The Show is your chance to BUY from your favorite vendors and just maybe find that hot new item you’ve been looking for to jump-start new sales. We have a great group of vendors there for YOU, please plan to join us October 23-24 and write a few orders. Each year YOUR vendors add up their orders to judge the success of their show. Please support them!
Show week is full of opportunities for you. Play in the Pro-Vendor at The Home Course (I’m there right now and it’s in great shape), attend the Annual Meeting on Wednesday morning and finally attend any of the education programs – “Developing the Five Tools for Leadership”, “Unconscious Competence, The Orange Whip Way” or the “2019 Rules of Golf”. Of course, don’t miss the Pelzer Golf hosted breakfast Wednesday morning before the Annual Meeting.
We are hard at work finalizing the Section and Chapter tournament schedules. A big thank you to all our host professionals for both their role in securing their facility and helping with operations, your support is appreciated. Without you, our 225 events would not be successful. Thank you! The 2019 Section Tournament Schedule is available on the website. We have a great line up. Check out these new venues: Pronghorn is hosting the Oregon Open Invitational, Indian Summer will host the PGA Professional Championship and Seattle Golf Club has agreed to host the Pro-Assistant Championship.
Thank you also to all of you in the Section who captained one of our 288 PGA Junior League teams. You reached just over 2,900 kids with the benefits of this great program. Your facilities realized $425,000 in just registration fees along will all the additional spend on equipment and F&B. Drive Chip and Putt is our other junior program and we involved a record 1,900 kids in the Section. The Regional was at Chambers Bay in September and 5 of the 8 kids headed to Augusta came through our Section’s qualifiers! Be sure to include a DCP Prep Clinic in your 2019 plans. Both of these programs drive kids to the game and dollars to your facility… participate!
We ramp up our governance activity in the fall. I’ve attended two chapter meetings so far, with the balance on each of the next three Mondays. Your attendance is important as you vote for both your chapter leaders and the next Section Secretary. We conclude the Secretary vote at the Annual Meeting in Tacoma. If you missed voting at your chapter meeting, join us in Tacoma.
Also in Tacoma, your Board of Directors will conclude the selection of our next District 14 Director to serve on the PGA of America Board of Directors. Dan Hill and Doug Doxsie have been engaged in a Q&A process all summer and the final vote will be taken following interviews with the two candidates.
Enjoy the first rains of the season and a short break before you begin planning for 2019. Plan to form a PGA Junior League team, host a Drive Chip and Putt Prep Clinic, develop your own Player Development program and spend a little time on yourself expanding your skill set.
I look forward to seeing all of you in Tacoma,
Jeff Ellison, PGA
CEO, Pacific NW Section PGA