March is here, let the golf season begin! Spokane courses are opening, I see Polson and Mission Mountain playing… if it will just stop raining, we may get off to a great start!
Coming up quickly is the Spring Meeting and Special Awards Ceremony at Tualatin Country Club. On Sunday, March 20 we gather to honor 14 of the Section’s top professionals. In addition to their invited guests, all Section members are invited to attend and support their peers. Click here to RSVP. The following day, we hold the Section Spring Meeting in conjunction with the Pro-Assistant Championship, again at Tualatin. That evening at 7:00, President Tunstill and the leadership team will guide you through the key elements of our Strategic Plan as well as updates on important Section initiatives in the coming year. Please make time in your schedule to attend.
Bryan Tunstill mentioned the Yamaha Player Development Grants above. The Pacific Northwest PGA Junior Golf Fund is offering another $10,000 in similar grants for Youth Player Development. Click here for the application.
As you have come to expect, we have another great tournament schedule this year. Out right now are entries for the Pro-Assistant Championship at Tualatin CC on March 21-22. This will prove to be a great event with sponsorship from Bushnell, Cutter & Buck, PTE Golf, Pro-Tag and this year Hole-in-One USA is offering up a $10,000 HIO prize! Entries close soon.
Next up is the Senior Players' Championship, April 19-20 at Wine Valley GC in Walla Walla. Always popular, Wine Valley offers great weather, a fun golf course…and we set it for Seniors, not the Northwest Open! Ken Allen and ClubGlove are supporting us again this year.
The Muckleshoot Casino Washington Open Invitational is on track to be even bigger and better than last year. Thanks to the hard work of Chris and Greg Manley, the pro-am is nearly sold out, sponsorships are on pace with last year, and we are gaining significant traction with auction items to support the Folds of Honor. This event raised $43,000 in 2015. With your support, we should be able to increase that donation in 2016. For details on the Pro-Am Benefiting Folds of Honor, click here.
Be sure you become familiar with the changes to the Rules of Golf for 2016. In addition to the changes to Anchoring, there are other important Rule changes and new decisions that require your attention. Click here for a full page of resources from the USGA that highlight the changes for you. Be sure you order new Rule Books and Decisions books as your old ones are now worthless.
Your staff is looking forward to a great year in 2016. We just signed a deal to employ Golf Genius software to manage both our Chapter Pro-Ams and Section Championships. You will enjoy the new features we will be able to offer, especially online scoring for pro-ams. You’ll see your scores and where you stand in each of the competitions on the drive home! A big thanks to Troy Flateau of Golf Genius for his help in making this transition possible. He will be sponsoring us as well! Watch your email as we roll out the features of this new system.
Please call the office if we can help. You have a great team here. They are extremely capable and this month they will handle things professionally while I’ll be at the WW Chapter Meeting, OR Chapter Meeting, CW Chapter Meeting, PGA Super Regional in LA, Holcomb-in-One in Vegas, Awards Ceremony, Spring Meeting, Pro-Assistant, Nike Mentoring and my 17th PGA/USGA Rules of Golf Workshop. A busy month but we are never too busy to “serve our members”.
Have a great March. Here we go!
Jeff Ellison, PGA
CEO, Pacific Northwest Section PGA
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