CEO's Report

“One for All and All for One”

Frank Talarico

The Three Musketeers, as we know, is a popular, historical novel written in 1844 by Alexander Dumas.  In it, we are regaled with the stories of three (ultimately four) friends as they become living examples of friendship, courage, and honor.  In 2022, our three musketeers are Tim Feenstra, Austin Hurt, and Colin Inglis as each of these gentlemen is teeing it up at Southern Hills Country Club to compete in their first PGA Championship.  We congratulate them and wish them well as they join the others in the “Team of 20” competing in the Tour season’s second major. 

One of the many themes prevalent in Musketeers is fraternity.  The spirit of fraternity is very much alive and well across the Pacific Northwest Section.  Last year, despite the many challenges due to Covid, the PNW PGA launched our first “100 Hole Marathon” fundraiser.  In 2021, across multiple venues, we collectively raised $50,000.  Erik Olson with Caliber Home Loans was our very generous title sponsor.  This year, the tradition continued.  Thus far, collectively, the participants have raised more than $99,000 for local charities! The last group of participants will take the challenge on May 24 at High Cedars Golf Club.  There is still time to participate and to donate.  Anyone who may be interested in doing either may contact Molly Cooper at the Section office. I would like to extend once again our special thanks to High Cedars for hosting us and offer my sincere appreciation to Erik Olson for returning as our sponsor.

Mark your calendars:  the 2022 PNW PGA Merchandise Show registration is now open! Please join us September 25-26, 2022, at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center. Note that the schedule is slightly different this year, with the show being held on Sunday-Monday and the annual meeting taking place on Monday morning at 7:30 AM. Stay tuned for information on the 2022 Fall Education Seminars. 

Register for the show (free!)

There are two other important calendar items that I encourage you to save now.  This year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Senior Oregon Open Invitational.  Entries will be available on May 25.  On August 1, you will have the opportunity to get “PGA HOPE certified” to work with veterans in a FREE one-day seminar at Tualatin Country Club.  Those who attended our Spring Meeting had the opportunity to hear Brandy Cain, Senior Director for PGA HOPE speak about the program and its many opportunities for members.  The Section invited her to speak as we aggressively expand into several, exciting player development programs. 

Register for PGA HOPE training (free!)

We are now in full, seasonal swing.  As we continue to pride ourselves in the depth and breadth of our sectional programming, we are reminded that the value we bring to our members is deepened alongside value partners.  One of our newest partners is Tagmarshal.  I am very proud to announce a new, three-year deal with the Atlanta-based software company.  Tagmarshal, the leader in golf course intelligence software, optimizes on-course operations. The industry trusted system provides full operational oversight and reporting, proactive, real-time management of field flow and data-driven management, which drives cost savings.  Established in 2014, Tagmarshal has partners in nine countries and four continents.  In addition to supporting member education, Tagmarshal is our newest, presenting sponsor to the Northwest Open. Additionally, my sincere appreciation to Club Car for continuing their sponsorship of the Club Car Skins program.

Lastly, I want to again encourage you to consider registering for PGA.Coach. Since I shared in last month’s column our plan to continue to aggressively grow our Consumer Marketing Initiative, the Section successfully launched our 2022 “Year of Free Golf” Sweepstakes on April 21 to grow our expanding golf consumer database.   We boast approximately 50,000 unique golf consumers, all of whom eagerly receive PGA Professional promotions.  This is a fantastic, new channel for us to promote our Members to a growing audience of enthusiasts.  These are your current and future clients.  My thanks to each of the facilities who are participating in this promotion.  This is a cost-effective, innovative opportunity for your facility and your larger business operations.  The Section would LOVE our professionals to contact us for inclusion in an upcoming email to our growing golf consumer database.  Those of you registered on PGA.Coach are especially encouraged to contact Marlena Cannon, Director of Marketing and Communications.

MCannon@pgahq.com

As always, if I or any member of our amazing Section staff may assist you with anything, please do not hesitate to call on us. 

Frank Talarico, CEO
Pacific Northwest PGA

Frank Talarico, CEO
ftalarico@pgahq.com

District 14 Director's Report

Doug Doxsie, PGA

As I write this article, we are getting ready for the 2022 PGA Championship held this year at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Not only is it one of golf’s four recognized major championships, it is a significant asset for the PGA of America financially and more importantly, promotionally for our association. Once a year, it gives an opportunity to tell our story about what our PGA Members and Associates do for the game of golf in their jobs, communities, and for golfers. As you tune in to watch, you will see terrific stories about PGA Professionals, programs run by the PGA of America like PGA Junior League, PGA Reach, Make Golf Your Thing, and much more. I am confident you will enjoy the marketing efforts on behalf of you, the PGA Golf Professional during this event watched by millions of golfers.

Just as importantly, we also get a chance to show off the great players in the PGA of America with our “Team of 20” club professionals who earned their way into the tournament from the recent PGA Club Professional Championship. We are excited to cheer on our three Pacific Northwest Section Professionals who qualified: Tim Feenstra, Austin Hurt and Colin Inglis. What a terrific opportunity for these gentlemen to play with the golf greats. I hope I will have the opportunity to announce them on the first or tenth tee for their rounds as part of my “starting duties” as a member of the PGA Board of Directors. It would be a great honor and experience for me! Good luck gentlemen, enjoy the experience and make us proud!

I hope you all enjoy our PGA Championship,

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

As we get into regular season play, here are some items that I hope you find useful.  Good luck with your PGA Jr. League season!

PGA Jr. League Resources and Tech Support

The site below has a ton of great information and has been overhauled to be easier to navigate for Coaches and Consumers.  There are step-by-step instructions and videos to help you with almost any technology-related task regarding PGA Jr. League. Visit this site and bookmark it for quick reference:

https://support.pga.com

The Apps

There are two apps to help you run PGA Jr. League, and other PGA programs, more efficiently.  Coaches (that would be you) download the PGA Coach app.  Use the same login as you use for PGA.org.  If you’ve registered for PGA Jr. League, that information will load. 

Consumers use the My PGA app.  Have all your players’ parents download it.  As long as they log in with the same account used to register the player, the team information will automatically be loaded. 

Remember:

Post-Season Dates

Section Qualifiers - 13u and 17u will be at the same sites and dates (*Western Washington Chapter Team sites will be assigned by June 1st)

  1. August 6th at Kalispel Club in Spokane, WA (All Western Montana and Inland Empire Chapter Teams)
  2. August 7th at Meadow Park GC in Tacoma, WA (Some Western Washington Chapter* Teams)
  3. August 9th at Rope Rider Suncadia in Cle Elem, WA (Some Western Washington Chapter Teams* and All Central Washington Chapter Teams)
  4. August 10th at OGA Golf Course in Woodburn, OR (All Oregon Chapter Teams)

Section Championship - August 20 at Eagle Crest Golf Resort in Redmond, OR

Regional Championship - September 9-11 at Canyon Springs GC in Twin Falls, ID

National Championship - October 5-9 at Greyhawk GC in Scottsdale, AZ

PGA.Coach

We are getting close to the PGA Championship, which means a big marketing push for PGA.Coach.  You don’t want to miss out on the leads that could come your way, so get your profile created soon! 

We’ve added some new content focused on creating more value from PGA.Coach and more revenue in your pockets. Log back into PGA.Coach and check out the following courses.

  1. Building Your Profile and Closing Leads - This will help you get the most out of driving consumers to you through PGA.com and the 1 million people who visit that site each month.
  2. Becoming A Modern Coach - This can be a very powerful course to help you manage your time better and make more money.

Using On-Course Assessments - Drive deeper engagement with your students and increase your revenue by getting on the course with them.  This is a great tool to move your students up from just a couple lessons and into a full coaching program.

One-on-one Assistance

Want to  discuss PGA Jr. League or just bounce some ideas around? The following link will take you to my Calendly page where you can choose a time that works for you, and eliminate the need to email back and forth. 

Click Here to schedule

Regards,

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

Candidate for Secretary: John Grothe

  1. Seeking the Section Secretary position is obviously your first goal in the governance process. Where do you see yourself at the end of the eight years?
  2. How will you contribute to the upward trend of the Section's prominence on the national level?

It has been my pleasure to serve our Oregon Chapter PGA Professionals for almost 10 years and our Section Professionals as a director on the Section Board for four years.  Originally, I raised my hand for the Player Development Committee, then the Mentoring Committee. In 2015, I ran for the Oregon Chapter Board of Directors and finally I was elected to serve as Chapter Secretary in 2017.  That 10-year process has allowed me the ability to not only develop the necessary skills and experience to serve as Section Secretary, but it has also allowed for the perspective of serving in each of the Chapter Officer positions. 

Moving from Chapter President to Section Secretary allows for a seamless continuation of my service for our Section Professionals and I am excited for our opportunity to continue our rise as a Section.  Together we have seen the PNW PGA Section take bold steps in every aspect to increase our voice at the national level.  Navigating through the tough issues we have faced allows for the momentum to take our Section to even greater heights. 

As Section Secretary, I will focus on our efforts to become a national leader in areas of Governance, Awards, Player Development, as well as our Events/Tournaments, all while continuing to support our section staff as they deliver the best member service in the country.  My focus remains on our Section Professionals now and forever.  The question this month is “where do you see you yourself at the end of 8 years?” which implies continuing service at the national level.  My direct answer is I see myself continuing to serve our membership in any capacity. My current goals remain within section leadership and remain in the PNW.

Thank you for you consideration and I appreciate your vote as Section Secretary.  If I can be of any service to you or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

John Grothe, PGA | Head Professional
Oregon PGA Chapter President
Willamette Valley Country Club 
900 Country Club Place • Canby, Oregon 97013
Golf Shop: 503-266-2102 • Direct: 503-266-0140      

Candidate for Secretary: Chas Holmes

  1. Seeking the Section Secretary position is obviously your first goal in the governance process. Where do you see yourself at the end of the eight years?
  2. How will you contribute to the upward trend of the Section's prominence on the national level?

I want to begin by congratulating our three Pacific Northwest Section PGA Professionals in Tim Feenstra, Austin Hurt, and Colin Inglis for qualifying for the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills May 19-22. This is a dream come true for many of us and we know you will represent us well; enjoy the process and play well gentlemen!

It seems as though our wet cold winter is continuing into early May and I think many of us are preparing our teams for another busy golf season. Preparation can be difficult as staffing challenges continue throughout all service industries, especially golf. This leads me into the first question for this month, which asks where we see ourselves at the end of the eight years as section officers. My answer follows my campaign mission and aims to address the staffing challenges just mentioned. That mission is to increase the value of our Section PGA Professionals by educating the community about what we do. Also, providing more resources and services to all Section Professionals through chapter alignment and professional development opportunities. Our communities need to understand the benefits that come with a career in the golf industry for them to want to join our association and it is our responsibility to educate them on this.

My eight years as a section officer would begin by continuing to do what I am currently doing as a member of your section board. That is, listening and conversing with my fellow board members, officers, all of you, gathering ideas/best practices from these conversations, researching and gathering data, and providing educated input that best serves our Section PGA Members and Associates. Then we will propose and examine programs and services designed to follow the mission stated above; to increase the value of the PGA Professional in order to recruit our community to join our association and pursue a career in golf. Near the end of the eight years, I would hope to continue my passion for governance within my local chapter, our section, and at the national level.

Our next question asked how we plan to continue with the upward trend of our Section’s prominence at the national level. We all know that the pandemic required everyone to pivot from their normal lives into isolation and uncertainty. On a positive note, it created a sense of community outreach and willingness to help those in need. I would argue that people are excited and motivated to help one another now more than ever. Let’s keep the momentum going and use our Section resources and ideas to create programs and services to lead the golf industry in serving others. Together, we are the PGA Professionals and Associates that will be the local heroes of our communities in the largest geographical section in the country, the Pacific Northwest Section PGA.

Thank You Pros and Happy Spring!

Chas Holmes, PGA, CMAA
General Manager
Bear Creek Country Club
13737 202nd Ave NE, Woodinville, WA 98077
Office – (425) 883-4770| Mobile – (206) 550-5135
holmes.chas@yahoo.com
CWC PGA Vice President

How to Flourish This Season

In the business of golf, the PGA professional faces “periods when we must work long hours, sometimes with intense pressure and very little time for rest.” In each of the three “career paths,” there are unavoidable situations in which it becomes a necessity or makes sense. In this era of (or near the end of) “The Great Resignation” it is important to note that a career in golf is not the only one that seems to require long hours and thus struggles for work/life balance.

In fact, Alice Boyes, PhD, (a former clinical psychologist turned writer and the author of The Healthy Mind Toolkit, The Anxiety Toolkit, and Stress-Free Productivity) wrote about “getting through an extremely busy time at work.” She wrote: “While this kind of overwork is not ideal, there are undoubtedly situations in which it becomes a necessity or makes personal sense. I’ve certainly done it for periods of my life, for instance, in the lead-up to exams or to put final polishes on my books. At times like this, when having full weekend off seems like a distant dream, advice on the importance of maintaining work-life balance, reducing the stress, and getting enough sleep can feel like a slap in the face. You don’t need to be scolded to work less. You need practical tips for surviving and thriving when you have to be fully committed.” 

Boyes provided some tips we may be able to apply to a golf career including: 

Use Premack’s principle.

Boyes wrote, “Premack’s principle (as it applies here) is to use an easier behavior as a reward for a harder behavior. For instance, you can reward yourself for finishing a cognitively demanding task (like writing a complex report) by completing a low-key but necessary task, like running an errand that helps you stay organized.” For a golf professional in any of the three career paths, this could mean:

Boyes concludes with, “This approach can help you pace yourself during your work day, ensuring that you get regular breaks during which your mind can shift into a more relaxed gear, while still being productive.” 

Compartmentalize.

Boyes states that, “Tasks you actually enjoy can become tense, unpleasant experiences if, while you’re doing them, you’re mentally elsewhere, feeling stressed and anxious about the other hundred things on your list.”

Boyes’ comments on this included: “By articulating distinct, enjoyable aspects of tasks, you can be more mindful and savor them.”

Save small scraps of time for mental rest.

We all probably do this when we’re exhausted because our body basically gives us no other choice. However, when we’re feeling good physically, but under tremendous pressure, Boyes says, “When you’re very busy, it’s tempting to try to cram productive activity, like responding to email or thinking through decisions, into any small crack of time…When you’re slammed, it can seem essential to work during these moments. However, you don’t have to. Instead, consider using brief waiting times for true mental breaks. Take some slow breaths, drop your shoulders, and just chill.”

Add physical decompression rituals to your day.

Boyes hit on a huge part of the job in a golf career. She wrote, “When we’re overloaded, we can hold a lot of physical tension. This is partly due to our in-built fight/flight/freeze response to fear or stress…Some people breathe faster when they’re stressed. Some adopt an aggressive, dominant tone of voice or body language. Since these reactions are often unconscious, you’ll need prompts to correct them.” Boyes suggest building and leveraging “Context Triggers.” It could be leaving your office or the golf shop and going to the restroom or locker room. When you pass that threshold, take some time to:

Emotions can also be triggers. Boyes suggests scanning your body for tension and then working proactively to release any spots you find. Besides the examples above, the simplest “momentary release movements”  include opening/closing your fists a few times, clenching/unclenching your jaw, or scrunching/dropping your shoulders. 

Boyes stated this important fact on how to “read ourselves.” She wrote, “Our thoughts, emotions, and bodily reactions are a feedback loop. When you mimic the physiology of someone who is relaxed, you’ll find that your thinking becomes less closed, and psychologically challenging activities in which you need to think openly, like taking in feedback, will seem easier.” 

Pair pleasure experiences with other activities.

In Boyes book, The Healthy Mind Toolkit, she states that “people often put off pleasure, especially when they feel too busy or undeserving because they haven’t gotten enough done.” She suggests more intentionality to buffer ourselves “against the stress of feeling rushed and overloaded (by) recurrently pairing simple sources of pleasure with particular activities you’re not as excited to do.” 

Boyes wrote that, “I pack peanut butter sandwiches whenever I fly, which is about the only time I ever eat them, and now the two experiences are mentally linked. No matter how stressed I am about my trip or all the work I need to do before, during and after it, I feel just a little bit more relaxed because I’ve packed that treat for myself.” 

Talk about simple pleasures. What is something you can do that brings you joy or makes you feel calm? For me, it’s dark chocolate almonds when I’m stressed or writing. I also really like a wintergreen lifesaver when I’m stressed or have “first tee jitters.” What works for you? 

With all this said, I’m not remotely suggesting that you should be a work-aholic or that you have to be one to succeed. This is a simple case of working smarter especially when we have to work harder. Focus on:

Do you have any work/life balance solutions that you might share? Or concepts specific to professional development that will truly add value to the opportunity you have for your staff? What other ideas or solutions have you seen or would like to see that might apply in the narrative above? I would love to hear from you.

Employment Opportunities

Click here to access the PNW PGA job postings

Monte Koch, PGA Certified Professional, CEIP
PGA Career Services | PGA of America
Business, Operations & Career Coach in the Pacific NW and Rocky Mountain PGA Sections
Email: Mkoch@pgahq.com | Cell: 206-335-5260

Career Planning and Coaching

Upcoming Events

PNW PGA 100 Hole Marathon

May 24 @ High Cedars GC
Support the causes!

Pelzer Golf Oregon Open Invitational

June 14-16 @ Sunriver Resort - Crosswater
Enter online

Rosauers Open Invitational

Franz Bakery Pro-Am: July 13-14, 2022
Championship: July 15-17, 2022
Spokane, WA - Indian Canyon GC
Enter online

PNW PGA Merchandise Show

September 25-26, 2022
Tacoma, WA – Greater Tacoma Convention Center
Register online

PNW PGA Mexican Fiesta Pro-Am

Oct 31 - Nov 5 @ Villa Del Palmar Beach Resort & Spa/TPC Danzante Bay
Enter online

PNW PGA Arizona Sun Pro-Am

December 4-8 @ We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort
Enter online

May 16, 2022

Foreword Press

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