May 1, 2020

President's Report

Before I sat down to write this article, I reviewed Greg Morris’ article from May 1st, 2019.  The second paragraph from that article said, “Here we go – spring is here, and the 4-5-month grind is on.”  While things may be far from normal this year, I sincerely hope we will be growing the game of golf at our respective facilities by the end of the month so we can all get on with that seasonal grind we all love.

April has been wild for many of us.  With the nicer than normal weather, golf has been on full tilt in some parts of our Section. Customers and members have been flocking to courses in Oregon, North Idaho and Western Montana. On a personal note, my facility is up well over 200% from years past.  For those of you in Washington, I know it has been hard to watch a 70-degree day roll by with no golf at your facility. Thankfully, Governor Inslee recently announced the reopening of golf courses in Washington on May 5 under a specific set of conditions.  Click here for the order and click here for the golf-specific details. This is just one more example of just how crazy things are for all of us.

As many of you know, we had to postpone our Washington Open. The new dates are June 27th-30th.  Thank you to Greg Manley and the members at Meridian Valley Country Club and the Muckleshoot Casino for working with us to find a new date for our event.  I hope you can find the time to join us in Kent, Washington at the end of June. It is now a 2-day competition, as your Section staff and board both felt strongly that a move to a 36-hole event was best for all of us. Thank you to Ryan Benzel, our Section Tournament Committee Chair, and Molly Cooper, our Tournament Director, for your hard work and forward thinking. Sign up today by clicking here!

After discussions with Black Butte Ranch, the decision was reached to not conduct the Oregon Open Invitational on June 16-17.  Thank you to PGA Director of Golf Jeff Fought for his long support of the Section. We are working on plans to enjoy Black Butte Ranch’s famous hospitality in the very near future.

Unfortunately, we will also be canceling The Rosauers for 2020.  It was a difficult decision, but our Rosauers partners and the many sponsors that are part of this event felt it was the best decision at this time. We look forward to next year’s event in 2021.

Please save the date for both the Northwest Open/Folds of Honor Pro-Am on August 15th-19th. Wine Valley is always a treat in August, and from what I have heard, there are a few wineries that exist not too far from the course.

A full list of Section events can be found by clicking here!

I hope you all had a chance to join us for our series of Chapter Town Hall meetings in mid-April.  Please be on the lookout for additional online meetups soon.  Our Section office staff and many of our Chapters are also putting together some great webinars.  Topics include: handicapping changes, Golf Genius, PGA Junior League, online merchandising and more.  Have a suggestion for a topic you’d like to see?  Let us know by sending an email to myself, Jeff or Molly.

A full list of PNW PGA “Stay Involved” webinars can be found by clicking here!

As I wrap up this article, I want to thank once again the Section and Chapter staff, committee members and our Section and Chapter Board members for their efforts.  Between Zoom calls, Google Meets and personal phone calls, they all have been hard at work in charting a path on your behalf.  We are here to serve each of you and grow the game of golf.

Special shout out to our District 14 Director Doug Doxsie.  There is no PNW PGA Professional more equipped to serve each of us at the National level. Thank you, Doug, for all you have done for us these past few weeks.

Like I have said before, we are ALL in this together and we will ALL get through this together.

Sean Fredrickson
Head PGA Professional – Oswego Lake Country Club
PNW PGA President
Cell: 503-476-7668
sfredrickson@oswegolakecountryclub.com
 

Upcoming Events

PNW PGA "Stay Involved" Education Series

• panelists: Marcus King, David Kass, Bryan Tunstill, David Stead, Jason Jerman, Bill Shea, Chris Nowlen and Tyler Sweet
• moderator: Monte Koch, PGA Career Consultant

• presented by Bob Wampler, PGA and Justin Scott, PGA of Golf Genius

•  presented by Barb Trammell, PGA – CEO of the Oregon Golf Association

• presented by Branden Thompson, PGA – Regional League Manager

• presented by Matt Brown, PGA – 2016 PGA National Award Winner, Merchandiser of the Year – Public Facility

Holk's Highlights: Bo Baker

This month, beginning with Bo Baker, we begin 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: Bo Baker, PGA

Facility: The Creek at Qualchan

PGA Member Since: September 2019

Who or what inspired you to get into golf?

Watching Tiger inspired me to play and get involved. Rob Sanders, PGA was my local Club Pro in Delta, Colorado, at Devil's Thumb Golf Course. He introduced me to the PGA program and helped keep me on track to membership. I also love to compete and play the game. I wanted to instill this same desire into junior golfers by coaching them through various programs.

How did your market your Junior Golf Academy?

When I was hired on at The Creek at Qualchan, I was tasked with the goal of creating a long-term junior program from scratch. I spent the winter months of 2019 creating brochures, social media posts and email templates that I could start sending to families that played at the facility. Many of these marketing materials came from the Operation 36 Network resource center.

Knowing that marketing materials are never enough, I spent some time educating and equipping the pro shop staff with conversation topics to prospect interested families. A prospective family would receive an email (saved as a template in Gmail) immediately following their conversation with the staff member, containing all of the necessary information about the programs we had to offer and my direct contact information. Having the email template saved in Gmail was a crucial piece to creating and managing leads for the program. It was simple, easy for the staff to use, and timely for the family to receive. We also promoted and hosted a Spring Parent Orientation Meeting that educated interested families about the programs being offered.

We totaled 44 kids in the program with an average of 32 being enrolled for all three 8-week semesters. On top of Operation 36, we also launched PGA Junior League and filled two 13U teams and one 17U team, totaling an additional 27 players.

Is there anything else you would like to mention about your program?

If you haven’t implemented Operation 36 as a critical curriculum in your Junior Program, I would highly encourage you to take a look at it. The support staff at Operation 36 do a great job of helping you get your program up and running, along with technical support of the software. Don’t be afraid to host informational meetings and orientations for your families. The more you can educate parents about the game, the correct expectations for their juniors, and show them a clear set of goals, the more success you will have.

Read Bo’s Best Practice Here

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 8 AM, April 30, 2020. Positions listed here are not guaranteed to be available. Visit jobs.pga.org to see the most current listings.

Unemployment Resources

State Labor Offices

Click the link, and then click on your home state – then click in the table to go directly to the labor department website. Do you feel that you are not receiving the same amount of income now as you did in 2019? If your answer is yes, you should consider applying for unemployment right away.

If you are a 1099 employee, an S-Corp or an LLC (some part of your income is from a source that is not a W-2, or own your own shop), there may be options for you. As a 1099, you may benefit most from unemployment. If you’re an S-Corp or an LLC, your best option may be the Payroll Protection Program (PPP).

Pros on the Move

by Robin Lindsey, Tournament & Membership Coordinator

• Charles O. Holmes III, PGA (A-1) - from Tam O'Shanter G&CC to Yakima CC
• Marcus S. King, PGA (A-13) - from Overlake G&CC to Sahalee CC
• Daniel B. Wickman, PGA (A-13) - from The GC @ Redmond Ridge to Michelbook CC
• Roger G. Hults (B-8) - from Stone Ridge GC to Grants Pass GC
• David M. VonBrethorst (B-1) - from Kalispel G&CC to Circling Raven GC

• Blake A. Netter, PGA (Creekside GC) - from A-8 to A-1
• Jim Pike, PGA (Sahalee CC) - from A-13 to A-4
• Andrew J Soderberg (Jefferson Park GC) - from B-1 to B-13

Newly Elected Members

• Katelyn M. Burnett, PGA (A-1) - Tetherow GC
• Zachary J. Culpepper, PGA (A-8) - Wildhorse Resort GC
• David R. Currie, PGA (A-8) - The Idaho Club
• Blake A. Netter, PGA (A-8) - Creekside GC

• Andrew J. Osburn (B-8) to Meriwether National GC from Southwest Section
• Nickolas J. Harding, PGA (A-1) to Stoneridge GC from Utah Section
• Douglas Hood, PGA (LMA) to Bandon, OR from Unaffiliated Section
• Andre P Chiddick (B-8) to Saint Helens, OR from S. California Section
• K L Gildersleeve-Jensen, PGA (A-6) to Kalispel G&CC from Southwest Section
• Jared A Lambert (B-6) to Meadow Lakes GC from S. California Section
• Clint R. O'Neil (B-8) to The Home Course from N. Texas Section
• Harrison M. Taylor, PGA (A-8) to Buffalo Hill GC from S. California Section