CEO's Report

Let's Get Together

Frank Talarico

4.7 billion people will use social networks this year, and that number is expected to continue to grow each year. With the ever-increasing use of smartphones and the opportunities for online networking, it’s easy to think we’re shifting away from in-person meetings.

But Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple and inventor of the iPhone, knew a long time ago that face-to-face meetings would never go out of style. He once said, “There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by email and Slack chats. That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.”

Jobs was onto something. According to a recent study, even after the Covid pandemic shut us all down and shut us all away for far too long, 84% of people still say they prefer in-person meetings. This confirms what Steve Jobs already knew: that people prefer to be in a room together to really get the ideas flowing.

And it’s no surprise why. Here are three reasons face-to-face meetings matter.

1. When we get together, we more clearly communicate goals and objectives.

Face-to-face meetings allow for clearer communication. In addition to being able to read facial expressions, body language, and inflection, in-person meetings often end up being more positive and considered more credible than online or virtual conversations.

Without non-verbal cues, you also run the risk of misinterpreting information. In fact, 60% of people regularly misread tone or message when communicating via email or phone.  What does that mean? Talking trumps typing.

2. Bonding and building relationships.

No matter how much we may like social networking, in-person interactions are at the very core of relationship building, both personally and professionally. In fact, 85% of people believe face-to-face meetings contribute to stronger, more meaningful business relationships.  So, if you want to form true, concrete connections, try to meet in-person rather than online whenever possible.

3. Face-to-face meetings are more focused and more productive.

Not only do in-person meetings tend to be more positive, but they also tend to be more productive. On average, an in-person meeting generates about 13.36 ideas versus a virtual meeting, which generates 10.43. And although virtual meetings are sometimes more convenient, nearly 70% of people admit to browsing social media to pass the time during audio-only conference calls.

The Good News is that we have immediate opportunities to test my theories – the 2022 PNWPGA Merchandise Show and Fall Meeting.  I again invite you to attend this year’s events, both hosted at the Tacoma Convention Center, September 25-26, 2022.  I also invite you to participate in this year’s Fall Education sessions, held September 24 and September 26.  My special thanks to TaylorMade Golf for sponsoring this year’s very special guest presenter, Mr. Chris Trott, Monday, September 26, 2022, 2:00 – 6:00.  More information on each of these events:

Merchandise Show

Section Fall Meeting

Fall Education flyer

I would like to remind the PNWPGA membership that this year’s Fall Meeting is also the setting for our elections for Section Secretary.  This year’s candidates, John Grothe and Chas Holmes, will be present for this very important event.  This is a fantastic opportunity to meet the candidates, hear them explain their vision for the Section, and ask them directly about the topics and priorities that concern you and your colleagues.  And, if you still need an additional reason to visit the show, vote in the section election, and to benefit from the expertise of our education session presenters, consider this: you could soon be playing golf on some of Ireland’s finest golf course with a friend over the course of six days, compliments of our sponsor! Earn up to four entries into this year’s Merchandise Show Ireland Golf Bucket List Experience, presented by Garmany Golf, just by attending each of the eligible events between September 24-26, 2022.

Click here for more information

Tournaments are the single largest member services program we run as a section and their success is a result of your participation and the support of our growing roster of section sponsors. Please join me in welcoming our newest section partner, Cole Haan.  Cole Haan is our 2022 Supporting Sponsor for both the PNWPGA Merchandise Show and the PNWPGA Arizona Pro-Am. The iconic brand Cole Haan was founded in 1928, offering an array of products ranging from golf and dress to lifestyle and casual footwear in both men’s and women’s styles. Utilizing the highest quality materials and innovative technologies, Cole Haan sets themselves apart with their focus on fit, ride and traction, with a keen eye towards style and design. Their reputation boasts a rich history in the footwear industry and for the past two years they have been bringing that to their new golf line.  For any questions, please reach out to Jeff Morse (jeff.morse@colehaan.com).

As always, if I or any member of our phenomenal Section Staff can ever be of service to you, never hesitate to reach out to us, anytime.  I look forward to seeing you all in Tacoma!

Frank Talarico, CEO
ftalarico@pgahq.com

PNW PGA Callaway Golf Challenge

Tanner Mongtomery, PGA - Manager of Tournament Operations

The inaugural PNW PGA Callaway Golf Challenge took place at Gamble Sands GC in Brewster, WA on August 29-30. 18 teams consisting of one PGA Professional and three amateurs competed for the title of the PNW PGA Callaway Golf Challenge Team Champions as well as PNW PGA Callaway Golf Challenge Individual Champion. 

This new event is the result of the partnership between the Pacific Northwest PGA and Callaway Golf. To earn a spot in the tournament, PNW PGA professionals and their pro shop staff earned points based on support of Callaway Golf product from January 1 through July 15, 2022.

On August 29, the event opened with an optional Skins Challenge.  PGA Professional Ross Kukula of Arrowhead GC won the lone skin on the tenth hole worth $640. Amateur Ali Sadri of The Reserve Vineyards G&CC won the Odyssey Putting Challenge.

Winning the PNW PGA Callaway Golf Challenge Team competition was the team led by PGA Professional Geoffrey Buchanan, Robert Cline, Coby Lean and Todd Mohr of Butte Country Club with a 23 under in the 1 gross/1 net competition.

Winning the PNW PGA Callaway Golf Challenge Individual title was PGA Professional Anton Rosen of Manito G&CC. He fired a 8-under par round of 64.

Low amateur honors went to Jay Poletiek of Callaway Golf and Andrew Von Lossow of Manito G&CC.

The race is on! Points are already being earned for next year’s event, awarded on a rolling 12 months.  If you would like to know how you can secure your spot in this exciting event, contact your local Callaway representative!

Final results

PGA Jr. League

Branden Thompson, PGA - Player Engagement Consultant

Fall is here and I want to congratulate everyone who participated in PGA Jr. League this summer for a great season.  We topped our 2021 participation number—and it’s still growing with a number of you running fall programs.  If you are interested in a fall program, it’s not too late and it’s easy to do. Contact me and I’ll walk you through it.

I would like to recognize our 2022 PGA Jr. League PNW Section Champions and the other 3 teams that participated in the Regional Championships:

All these teams played last weekend at Canyon Springs in Twin Falls, ID.  The Bend Bombers fought valiantly to tie the defending national champions from Utah.  It came down to a tiebreaker consisting of the total number of holes won, which went to Utah.  What a great performance!  Although they didn’t get to the National Championship, I believe the Bend Bombers are one of the top teams in the country. 

2023 Planning

This is the best time to start planning your 2023 season.  Here are some things you can start doing now to hit the ground running next spring:

  1. Outline a schedule and get it on your calendar, as well as the club’s calendar.
  2. Meet with the other coaches in your league.  If you want to work with another facility, let me know who it is so we can have that planned out.  This makes league creation much easier in the spring.
  3. Start promoting to your parents now.  Returning players are your best recruiters. 
  4. Be ready to publish your 2023 program as soon as possible.  2023 program registration will open up in late October. 

One-on-one Assistance

Use this link to set up a time to chat about anything you want help with or just to spitball.  It’s easy, just click it and see what time works for your schedule.

Click here to schedule

Thank you,

Branden Thompson, PGA
Player Engagement Consultant
Serving the Pacific Northwest and Southwest Sections
561-293-2585
bthompson@pgahq.com

Candidate for Secretary: John Grothe

“You’ve answered our questions… what else would you like the members to know about you?”

My fellow PGA Professional,

The goal of our PNWPGA Section Strategic Plan is very clear – “Grow the Game and serve the Section PGA Professional.” 

This statement resonates as a beacon as we navigate through any number of issues and concerns.  Beyond that, I believe in education; I believe in inspiring, motivating, and developing our PGA our professionals.  Most importantly, I believe in unity and supporting each other amongst our wonderful section and through the five chapters.  We are prepared to take this game into the future and must continue to be the experts in our regions and at our facilities. 

My passion is to improve the lives of each individual PGA Member. 

I feel the need to support our members through opportunities for advancement, compensation, mentorship, education, and work-life balance.  I am proud to be a PGA Member.  My efforts have been focused to continue to “polish the shine” of our Association.

It is my responsibility to give back to the game as well as to the numerous PGA Professionals who have helped me in my career. After having joined the Oregon PGA Chapter Board of Directors in 2015, it has been a personal honor to have a seat at the table these past 7 years and I can’t imagine not continuing.

Over my past 20 years, I have seen our Association improve greatly and I will work tirelessly to continue our advancement – especially for the individual PGA Member.

Thank you again for your time. If there is ever any question or I can be of service in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me. I appreciate your vote as your next Section Secretary.

Sincerely,

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

“You’ve answered our questions… what else would you like the members to know about you?”

Chas Holmes in a nutshell:

I am a blessed father of two, husband of one, friend of many, enemy to none, mentor to some, listener to all, and servant to you. My life is full yet balanced and I’m humbled every day with the opportunities I’ve been given. I’m driven by helping those around me and making others better and I am passionate about governance and continuing the positive momentum the Pacific Northwest Section PGA has going. I’m experienced in governance, executive leadership, and community involvement. Finally, I’m available! Please call, email, or text me anytime with questions, comments, concerns, feedback, or anything that is on your mind. I’ll be at Manito next week for the PNW PGA Professional Championship as well so please come say hi. 206.550.5135; holmes.chas@yahoo.com.

My Why/How in a nutshell:

I want our Pacific Northwest community to know how valuable we are as PGA Professionals and understand the importance of our jobs and what we do for them and our local communities. This will help make all of us better professionals and quite honestly, receive more appropriate compensation for our vast duties. Many of us are struggling with staff right now. I’m confident the education to our community about who we are and what we do will help put more young people into our profession. This will provide a more talented pool of Golf Professionals for our facilities and ultimately allow for higher compensation for those individuals. I want to implement a community outreach committee in the Section that oversees a similar committee in each chapter that will be tasked with communicating our profession to local organizations, businesses, and universities to help promote us as PGA Professionals. 

Please vote this fall at the Section meeting on September 26th at the Tacoma Convention Center or any of the Chapter meetings. Have a great close to the 2022 season! Thank you for all you do Pros. I appreciate you!

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

Taking Control of Your Future, Starting Today

Employment Opportunities

Click here to access the PNW PGA job postings

Have You Updated Your Profile Yet?

I would like to get straight to the point: Have you updated your compensation profile yet? (If not, why not? No, seriously, why not?)

Compensation Profile

It’s been three “crazy busy seasons” since the pandemic started in our game and business. We’ve seen golf professionals having great success, seeing wins in participation for events, merchandising sales growth and more…but we’ve also seen some feeling like they’re “burning out” (more than just feeling tired and ready for the aerification process to begin).

At the same time, we’ve seen the labor market go very soft, with multiple generations of our PGA Professionals (Gen-Z, Millennials, Gen-X, etc.) looking for better work-life balance, if not demanding it.

Again, I know you’ve been very busy…sometimes to an extreme with the feeling of just getting by. You have likely been “buried by the urgent, and thus unable to focus on the important”. With that in context, and the hope that you’ll be able to focus on what is important (for you professionally, for your staff, etc.), I would like to share some resources with you. Consider these ideas and takeaways so you can have the most effective “off-season” possible and be better prepared for success next season.

Resources & Concepts

Focusing Your Efforts to be Most Effective

Check out my August 2021 article on the “Locus of Control”

Highlights include:

Work-Life Balance

Check out this TEDx talk by Dan Thurmon on “Off/Balance On Purpose”

In this video, Dan Thurmon manages to juggle around the idea of work-life balance, and instead pushes a more realistic, pragmatic concept to intentionally leaning into being “off balance, on purpose.” Not only is the topic engaging, Dan is very interesting in his stylistic speaking while using juggling and acrobatic skills to make his point. After you watch this, I hope it resonates with you to the point where you find ways to:

Understanding the Costs of Recruiting & Retaining Talent

Check out my July 2022 article, “More on Recruiting & Retaining Talent”

Great resource for GM’s and those who are trying to “educate upwards!” In it, there are recent and relevant charts on the following:

I hope that I’ve made my point, but just in case, I’ll state it again: Have you updated your compensation profile yet? (And, if not, why not?)

If you have any questions about how to apply or utilize these resources above, or if you have any other concepts that you would like to share with me and others, please feel free to reach out to me soon.

Monte Koch, PGA Certified Professional, CEIP
Regional Director, Member & Section Operations
West Region | PGA of America
Partnering with PGA Sections | Career & Business Coach for PGA professionals, facilities in the PNWPGA Section

206-335-5260 | mkoch@pgahq.comMy LinkedInMy Professional Blog

Gove Wins PNW PGA Senior Professional Championship

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

Jeff Gove of The Idaho Club won the PNW PGA Senior Professional Championship at Astoria G&CC on September 9. He fired rounds of 67-71—138 to win by three strokes over defending champion Bob Rannow of Ocean Dunes Golf Links and Billy Bomar of Bomar Putting Company. Players competed over 36 holes for the Senior Section Championship title and a chance to advance to the 2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac, held October 13-16, 2022, at Twin Warriors & Santa Ana Golf Clubs in Santa Ana Pueblo, NM.

Gove, Rannow and Bomar are joined by Jim Pike of Sahalee CC and Rob Clark of Desert Canyon Golf Resort, who all qualified for the 2022 Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac. PNW PGA Professional Jeff Coston has an exemption into the national event. First alternate Tom Sovay of The GC at Redmond Ridge will also represent the Pacific Northwest Section in October.

Winning the Senior Division (playing a shorter set of tees than the Championship Division) was Joe Peccia of Lake Oswego Municipal Golf Course.  Rick Edwards of Washougal, WA won the Senior Net Division.

Jim Pike of Sahalee CC captured the Hugh Starkweather award, which goes to the low player for both rounds that is 60 years and older.

The PNW PGA Senior Professional Championship was established in 1952.  Some can remember all the way back in 1965 when Harry Umbinetti was the top money winner of the event taking home a whopping $250 dollars.  Back then, the championship was held at the Yakima Elks’ Golf and Country Club with only 21 professionals battling it out for the mere sum of $920 dollars. The famous Bob Duden won the championship six times during the 70’s and seven times overall. Jeff Coston has won the event nine times since 2006.

Astoria Golf and Country Club began in 1923 and is considered one of the Northwest’s premier private golf clubs. The unforgettable and challenging 18-hole golf course, built on top of ancient sand dunes near the Pacific Ocean, combines elements of both links and parkland style golf. The course features a varied configuration, with four holes laid out between the bottom of the two largest dunes on the property, other holes routed in a manner that takes full advantage of the rolling terrain of the Clatsop Plains, and two holes require a water carry from the back tees.

The PNW PGA would like to thank PGA Professional Jared Lambert and the rest of the Astoria G&CC staff for a wonderful event!

Final results

Upcoming Events

The PNW PGA has three amazing destination pro-am events you can enter today. How would you like to play golf in Mexico? What about an escape to the enchanting Southwest or the tropical island of Maui? Treat yourself and your members to an unforgettable experience. We hope to see your team at a destination event in 2022-23!

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

Pelzer Golf Hawaiian Paradise Pro-Am

January 12-19, 2023
Maui, HI - Kaanapali Golf Courses
Enter online

PNW PGA Merchandise Show

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

September 15, 2022

Foreword Press

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