Foreword Press Player Development

CEO's Report

Jeff Ellison, PGA

Labor Day weekend is just around the corner and I trust you are all hosting a Patriot Golf Day at your facility this year. This pandemic has impacted us in so many ways and organizations like the Folds of Honor and PGA Hope have been slammed due to the inability of so many to hold events for their benefit. Please look at your operation and be creative in how you can help these great organizations. Any facility, course, indoor teaching, range, retail or vendor can develop their own special promotion to help. Your support, whether a $100 or a $1,000, will go a long way to helping the people served by these organizations. Thank you!

Continuing with our theme for 2020, this fall will look nothing like we envisioned in drafting our Business Plan. Your board is working on solutions for virtual meetings at both the Chapter and Section level. Stay tuned for details. Our goal will be to maintain engagement for you while keeping everyone safe. It’s hard to see gatherings of over 100 permitted anytime soon, so please read your email.

As we reported earlier, the Pacific Northwest Section Merchandise Show has been canceled for the first time in its 54-year history. Angela and Marlena are working on a Virtual Show project to help you connect with our vendors. Please take advantage of this opportunity to support these people who support all of us every day. The impact on your retail operations has been multiplied on all of them. Please participate to support our partners in this business.

The Northwest Open kicks off on Monday for our third major in a month. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation with social distancing, face coverings and our reduced operations as we conduct these events in a safe and responsible manner. No one wants to get back to normal operations more than the team you have conducting these championships. Thank you for your understanding.

Looking into September be sure you enter our championships. The Senior PGA Professional Championship will be contested September 2-3 at the great Royal Oaks Country Club and the PGA Professional Championship makes the trek to the always-popular Canyon River Golf Club in Missoula on September 22-24.

PNW Senior PGA Professional Championship

PNW PGA Professional Championship

Before we leave tournaments, a big shout out goes to Chris Manley, everyone at Meridian Valley Country Club and Muckleshoot Casino as the Muckleshoot Casino Washington Open raised $50,000 for the Folds of Honor. Amazing work in this day.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to your staff. They have been working reduced hours since April to help us make the budget work and use your money wisely. The revenue cuts were significant this spring and they all made your budget work this year. At times, it has been a real challenge getting everything accomplished but they always found a way to get the important things done. We thank you for your patience if we were a little slower at times. It’s during difficult times when you see the true quality of people. With the office closed, we have not been together in person as a team since mid-March and this group is still as tightknit as before, supporting each other and getting the job done. You have a great group serving you and they have become even better through this stressful time. I can’t thank them enough.

Jeff Ellison, PGA
CEO

District 14 Director's Report

Doug Doxsie, PGA

The focus of the golf world was on our PGA Championship last weekend and our Association could not have shone brighter. To present the first major championship during this pandemic in such a successful way does wonders for our game, our profession, and most importantly our 29,000 PGA Professionals. The golf itself was phenomenal, with a course, set-up, and field equal to none in golf. Kerry Haigh is the best in the business with tournaments and set-up and we are blessed to have him and his team work on our behalf. Beyond the golf, I hope you got a chance to watch the coverage and were as proud as I was with the content, messaging, and stories about the PGA of America and our Professionals during the television and media coverage of the event. The golf world got to see how the PGA of America and our Professionals inspire, lead, and promote golf. The stories about all the ways we impact the game, our communities, and all types of golfers were inspiring. Our leadership and staff did an amazing job showing everyone what our brand means.

As you know, our long-time Pacific NW Section PGA CEO Jeff Ellison is soon riding off into the sunset to a well-deserved retirement. His 30+ years of service to our Section and our PGA Professionals cannot be overstated. Jeff has been a tireless worker on our behalf, always with our professionals’ best interests at heart. I will certainly miss Jeff’s amazing attention to detail, financial stewardship, and relentless quest to make our section one of the best ‒ if not the best ‒ in the country. We all have benefited from Jeff’s dedication and service.

From a personal standpoint, I have enjoyed working closely with Jeff during my service as a Board member, Officer, Committee Chair and now as a District Director. Jeff has always been an incredible resource and partner during my Association service. His leadership of not only of our section but District 14 was exceptional. I can honestly say I will forever be grateful for his guidance and assistance. Like many of you, I will miss working with Jeff, but I am thrilled for him and the next chapter in his life. You have worked hard, my friend, and you deserve the time to catch up with your family and the things you have missed while serving all of us. I believe everyone in our section will miss you but hopefully we will get see you more on the other side, enjoying our activities and golf tournaments as a “regular” PGA Member! Thank you Jeff, and best wishes for a fabulous retirement.

Finally, I hope everyone is doing well managing this golf boom we are experiencing during the pandemic. I encourage you all to stay engaged with your PGA through our section website, PGA.org or the “5 things to know” weekly PGA emails. If you have any questions about what is going on with our Association, please contact me.

Regards,

Doug Doxsie, PGA
Seattle Golf Club
PGA District 14 Director
425-681-8889
doxpga@msn.com

PGA Jr. League

Branden Thompson, PGA - Regional League Manager

Well, it’s almost time that the season winds down, school starts and football takes over the consciousness of a lot of golfers. Errr...scratch that.

Circumstances will actually remain ripe for golf this fall. Most areas are distance learning, school sponsored sports have been postponed and a lot of people are working remotely. Opportunity abounds right now so TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!

I’ve seen a lot of kids new to the game, giving it a shot as they’ve had their sport delayed. Invite them to take part in a Fall PGA Jr. League program at your facility. You’ve got kids and families looking for some kind of physical outlet and golf is a great way to provide that in a responsible way. Contact me to discuss how to set it up.

Regardless of whether you jump on board with PGA Jr. League, you should be providing coaching programs focusing on the following opportunities:

New to golf for teens - This is the population I see joining the game, many for the first time. Think about how to make your program more engaging with the teen age group.
New to golf for spouses - As people continue to work from home, golf has become more central in the family. Offer something for the spouse who would like to play well enough to enjoy an afternoon with the family on the course.
Practicing efficiently - Working from home has given some of our more avid players time to practice. Teach them how to do this effectively instead of just banging balls. A 4-6 week session where the students come out with an understanding of how to get better could be easy to fill, and increase the use of your facility as well.

Those are just some ideas. I know there are many more, and better, ideas out there amongst you. Please share them with me so I can pass them along.

I do have one request. If you have established a successful winter program, let me know. I am looking to schedule a call, or series of calls, dedicated to sustaining our coaches during winter. The “off season” doesn’t have to be “off”.

During this time, do not neglect your personal development. Register with PGA.Coach and complete the ADM training. Many PGA Professionals pay hundreds of dollars to go through great programs like TPI. Your membership gives you access to PGA.Coach for free and the information you will learn is just as valuable. You will come away with a deeper understanding of how golfers develop at certain ages and stages. You’ll learn how to increase your coaching revenue. For those PGA Jr. League champions, there is also a section dedicated just to that program and how it can be hugely beneficial to you and your facility.

Lastly, next to me is Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game. Read it. I can’t say enough about how relevant it is to the situation we are in right now. I’d love to chat with anyone about it when you do read it.

Let me know how I can help you,

Branden Thompson, PGA
561-293-2585
bthompson@pgahq.com

Celebrating High-Trust Operators in the PNWPGA

Monte Koch, PGA of America Employment Consultant

This year, 2020 sounded so cool to me in the 2000s and beyond. We saw clever names for strategic plans and similar called “Vision 20/20” and more. Maybe we (or at least I) built it up too much?

Either way, I believe we can all agree that 2020 has been epic. We have seen massive gains in demand for golf that none of us could have predicted. We have also seen changes in how we live, how we work and how we operate at our facilities. We also have lost friends, colleagues and seen trusted friends and peers retire. (Frankly, I wasn’t ready to write about this last month. Too close to the moment for me, and I needed time to process. Probably still do.)

I know that we were all rocked by the tragic loss of our friend, peer and Section leader Sean Fredrickson, PGA early in July 2020. At the same time, many of us were coming to grips with the pending retirement (and what feels like loss) of our friend, peer and Section CEO, Jeff Ellison, PGA. I have had many conversations over the phone, via text and in person about both of these individuals in the past month or more. One PGA professional, who interacted with both very closely in recent years said this to me, “This situation is making me reconsider my impact. I tend to get so focused on my own career…how can I make a difference like him?”

I don’t want to diminish the impact that both of these PGA professionals had on anyone else in this Section, but I would like to highlight the similarities I noticed in both of these men in how they “operated” and interacted with so many of the PGA professionals in the PNWPGA. By doing so, I’m thinking we can do a bit of celebrating of their work and impact and consider how we can apply their “leadership style” and more to our own PGA work.

In 2017, the Section published an article called The Value of High-Trust Networks for me. In that article, I shared an article written by author Geoffrey Moore. Primarily, I focused on how expensive low-trust networks and low-trust operators can be to any golf operation. However, if you read that article or re-read it (and you know Jeff Ellison, PGA well and/or you knew Sean Fredrickson, PGA well), I believe you will immediately recognize them as high-trust operators or “HTOs.” They both have the following on their “career resumes.” They have:

Built strong teams at their facility/the Section;
Built high-trust networks with healthy culture at the Chapter and Section Board levels
Been proactive leaders who maximized the capacity and performance of these teams, networks and boards through consistency, professionalism, trustworthiness and authenticity. Both have learned to admit their weaknesses, while relying on the strengths they bring to these teams and networks.

In my view, below are some reasons why I (and others) hold them and their legacies with high regard. Both Sean and Jeff learned how, then lived out, and lead out in these ways:

They learned to be a mentor to others (and they looked for opportunities to mentor). I know of several professionals who saw Sean as a big brother, a father-figure and more. This is one of the aspects I admire most about Sean. Jeff has been a great resource for me since 2012, and an even better working partner, supporting me as I seek to support the Section’s professionals. He often came up with ways where the Section could help me be more effective in my role, or give me the platform I needed to raise visibility.
They both believed in “lifelong learning” and naturally modeled it in virtually every area of their professional lives (you will notice I keep repeating their learning – this is very important – I’m sure they both felt failure in each of these areas at times, but they kept working at it. That is the takeaway here.)
They learned (and tried) to be better, more trusting delegators
- Yes, each got to their position by producing and getting it done.
- As leaders, I believe those they lead would agree that both grew and believed that “empowerment comes with responsibility” line. Both had high expectations of their teams, but higher for themselves.
- They modeled being worthy of trust and worked hard to give trust through empowerment with the support of training and mentoring. This is not easy work either. Allowing others in one’s charge means allowing them to get closer to failing than we would on our own; letting go of this is where the work is, but when it works, the result is far better.
They sought to see others get recognition and worked hard to give credit for good work done
They both “stood for what they believed in” and sought to teach and share the context for those beliefs – words like professionalism, consistency, leadership and respect are now synonymous with both of these men. (I hope that you would like the same words to be associated with you and your PGA impact and legacy. I know I do.)
They both “saw the big picture.” Even though Jeff and Sean were focused, if not driven, golf professionals and leaders, I wouldn’t say they were myopic. In multiple situations, I know about how they adjusted their perspective on the good information or context shared by someone else who “knew more” about the situation. That takes maturity.
- I also know about how both adjusted their approach to a situation or an individual so they could help “nudge” that individual to adjust their actions, and that nudge ended up creating a “winning outcome” for that professional or group of pros
- I witnessed both do the same in Section Board meetings multiple times
They both have “horsepower.” Sure, they’re both very talented, quick to learn things and pick up skills, but they’ve got the HP. The intangible energy that comes from belief in the noble cause, belief in the group or individual they were working with at that time. This same energy is what gave them the grit to nudge (and maybe push) those under their influence to grow in areas they themselves wouldn’t have gotten to. They have both shown a willingness to “have the difficult conversation” with individuals at all levels, not because they like the conflict, but because they valued the individual enough. In the end, the conflict and discomfort was worth it to them, because the person (and the outcome) was worth it.
Finally, they both have a legacy. That legacy is spelled out differently for both of them, and differently in each professional in our Section as each of us has interacted with Jeff and Sean in different ways and at different levels.

No matter who each of us is, or what level we interacted with them, their legacy is irrefutable. I could lay out even more reasons than I did above. In closing, I hope you see their legacy is “one worth having.” I also hope you’ll think about how you can learn from their legacy, their approach and their impact and find ways to start applying it to your professional (and personal) life starting today. I know that both Sean and Jeff did this very thing every single day. This made them the “high-trust operators” they are and it’s what made them so valuable to so many professionals, sponsors and “friends” of the PNWPGA Section.

Indeed, both will be missed. But, I’m confident there will be innumerable situations that will arise in the coming years where many of us will be reminded of them and what they did for the Section and for individual golf professionals in their careers. In each of those instances I come across, I will certainly celebrate their impact and be grateful for their impact on me and my professional career. I hope you’ll be doing the very same.

If there’s anything I can as a Career Coach or Consultant for you or those you lead; or in adding value to your PGA career, through coaching on applying player development and/or professional development principles, please don’t hesitate to reach out at your earliest convenience.

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: Mkoch@pgahq.com Cell: 206/335-5260

Career Planning and Coaching

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)

Listed in order of most recent first. Note: these are listed as of 11 AM, August 14, 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	Allenmore GC, Tacoma, WA	Mitchell Berschauer, PGA
ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	White Horse GC, Kingston, WA	Bruce Christy, PGA
2ND ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	Twin Lakes Village CC, Rathdrum, ID	Kathy Brown, PGA
ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	Mill Creek CC, Mill Creek, WA	Jake Hanson, PGA
FIRST ASSISTANT GOLF PROFESSIONAL	White Horse Golf Club, Kingston, WA	Bruce Christy, PGA

TEACHING & COACHING GOLF PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS

Job Title	Facility	PGA Contact (if applicable)
CERTIFIED PERSONAL COACH	GOLFTEC-Bellevue, Bellevue, WA

MANAGEMENT POSITIONS (HP, DOG, GM or similar)

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

Job Title	Facility	PGA Contact (if applicable)
GENERAL MANAGER/HEAD PROFESSIONAL/INDEP CONTRACTOR – RFP	Port Townsend GC, Port Townsend, WA
ASSOCIATE HEAD GOLF PROFESSIONAL	Fairwood G&CC, Renton, WA

The current Port Townsend Golf Course operations lease expires at the end of the year and the City is seeking new proposals for golf services management and operations.

View the RFP

It’s Time to Say Goodbye to Your CareerLinks Profile

CareerLinks is Phasing Out Soon! Take just afew minutes and update your Job Preferences today. If you want to see current job opportunities, you need to update your Job Preferences on PGA.org. Unlike the old CL profile, this just takes 2-3 mins (not 20+.)

By updating your "Job Preferences" on pga.org, you'll start to see open positions similar to your preferences listed on your PGA.org dashboard (see picture below.)

We are asking PGA Members and Associates to make these updates, even if you aren't an active job seeker:

Click here to get started

94th Muckleshoot Casino Washington Open Invitational

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

PGA Professional Colin Inglis of Shadow Hills CC won the Muckleshoot Casino Washington Open Invitational at Meridian Valley CC by one shot after rounds of 69-68-137, 7-under par for the two-day tournament.

“It feels incredible to win a major at such a great course,” said Inglis. “I love coming to Meridian Valley. I haven't been playing very well this year so it was just nice to play some good golf again, let alone win the title. Any time you win a section major, you played some great golf with all the players we have in our section.”

This is Inglis’ second PNW Section major, having previously won the Oregon Open Invitational in 2018.

Inglis was trailing the first round leader Birk Nelson of Orange Whip after the first round. When asked how he prepared for the final round three back, he responded, “I didn't change my game plan at all the second day. The first day I played so good and didn't get much out of my round, so I knew if I hit it like I did the first day and just made some more putts I would be right there. It's easy to feel like you need to push to catch the leader, but I just tried to take it hole by hole and give myself as many birdie putts as I could because it is hard to putt at Meridian Valley.”

Inglis said that the most fun aspect of event was the way the course suits his game. “You have to hit it straight and the greens are very undulating, which I am used to from home.”

First round leader Birk Nelson ended up in second place, one stroke back of Inglis. Low amateur honors went to Costas Panay of Sahalee CC, whole finished in lone third, two strokes back.

Prior to the tournament, a weekend Pro-Am benefitting Folds of Honor took place. 29 sponsored teams of four amateurs, each lead by a PGA Professional, competed in a scramble format day 1 with a shamble format day 2. PGA Professional Chris Griffin, along with sponsor team from DCS with amateurs Gary Sherrell, Colt Sherrell, Nathan Cogswell and Sean Langham, took home the Pro-Am victory. This event raised over $50,000 to help provide scholarships for the children and spouses of those killed or disabled in service to the United States Military. For more information on this incredible foundation, visit www.foldsofhonor.org.

“I always look forward to this tournament and the people at Meridian Valley are just awesome,” said Inglis, and we couldn’t agree more. We would like to thank Meridian Valley CC, Muckleshoot Casino, our great sponsors and the players for making the Washington Open Invitational and Pro-Am such a special event. Special thanks to General Manager Greg Manley, Pro-Am Tournament Director Chris Manley, Superintendent Craig Benson and their staffs for a fantastic week and course, in addition to their efforts in making this event even happen with two date changes due to the craziness of COVID-19.

Final results

National Car Rental PNW Assistant PGA Professional Championship

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

PGA Assistants and PGA Associates battled in the National Car Rental PNW Assistant PGA Professional Championship supported by Srixon, Cleveland, XXIO, ASICS, John Deere and the PGA Tour at Bear Creek CC, with the hopes of representing the Pacific Northwest Section in Florida in November. Shane Prante of The Home Course captured the title of PNW PGA Assistant Champion by two strokes over Brady Sharp of Wine Valley GC (who recently won the Oregon Open Invitational) and Colin Inglis of Shadow Hills CC (who recently won the Washington Open Invitational).

With the win, Prante earned a spot to the 44th PGA Assistant Championship, which will be held November 12-15 at the PGA Golf Club, Wanamaker Course in Port St. Lucie, FL and will be joined by Sharp and Inglis.

With only three spots up for grabs, the field knew that a well-executed 36 holes of golf would be needed to see their name atop the leaderboard and earn a coveted spot to Florida in November. The morning round started at 7:30 with tee times. Brady Sharp took an early lead after posting a 2-under par 70. With many PGA Assistants and PGA Associates within shots of the early leaders, the championship and the spots to advance were still up for grabs.

After a short lunch break and tee times starting again at 12:30, the players headed out for the second and final round in the perfect weather.

After the conclusion of the 36-hole event, Prante captured the title. He previously has won the Northwest Open Invitational in 2013, 2017 and 2018 and the Washington Open Invitational in 2019.

“I am excited to have a chance to represent the PNW PGA and do my best to have a high finish in Florida,” said Prante.

Comparing his latest victory to his other section wins, Prante said, “It feels a little different than a normal major in the section. I think I enjoy the day-to-day grind of a major win a little more than a one-day marathon, but anytime you can qualify for a national event that is a great feeling.”

“The full day of playing requires patience and some mental discipline, being that it's such a long day, and there are ups and downs that need to be dealt with if you want to score well overall,” he added.

Bear Creek CC’s tight, tree-lined fairways also appeared to pair well with Prante’s game.

“I think, for me, it really creates defined shots and shapes,” explained Prante. “I move the ball a fair amount both ways and I can see the lines of the shot well out there, more than a more open venue.”

We would like to thank National Car Rental for their title sponsorship. Thank you also to our supporting sponsors Srixon, Cleveland Golf, XXIO, ASICS, John Deere and the PGA Tour. Another thank you goes out to PGA General Manager David Kass, PGA Head Professional Jon Larson and Bear Creek CC for the accommodations and exceptional golf course.

Final results

Open Events

Pacific Golf & Turf PNW Pro-Am Championship

Warrenton, OR - Astoria G&CC
October 8-9, 2020
enter by August 26 (August 19 for exempt teams)

We are now accepting entries for the Pacific Golf & Turf PNW Pro-Am Championship at Astoria G&CC on October 8-9. John Kawasoe, PGA will host the return of this popular event to Astoria G&CC. Enter your team today!

Online Team Entry

Team Entry Form (pdf)

Learn More

PNW Hawai'i Pro-Am

Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa
Kaanapali Golf Courses
January 14-21, 2021

We are excited to return to Maui for the 46th Pacific Northwest PGA Hawai’i Pro-Am. We will stay at the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa and play the Kaanapali Kai and Royal Kaanapali courses.

Online Entry

Pricing & Schedule (pdf)

Learn More