They are the unsung heroes in the continued growth of the
game of golf.
The men and women who staff your pro shop, give you lessons
that help you improve your game, turn your kids on to the game, run all those
tournaments and outings, they’re the ones who make things happen at your
favorite golf course, whether it is private or public, or at your favorite golf
resort getaway.
There are many good players in the Philadelphia Section PGA,
I can tell you that just from trying my best to chronicle their achievements
for this blog. But there are so many more club pros in the Section who are
great managers and teachers. Almost without exception, winners of Philadelphia
Section PGA events are quick to give credit to the rest of the staff, to their
boss if he or she is an assistant pro, for any success they might have on the
golf course.
That’s why the Philadelphia Section PGA likes to celebrate
the best of the best each year in some of the less obvious off-the-course
areas. And the honors are deeply appreciated because the winners know how many
quality club professionals there are in the Philadelphia Section.
The Philadelphia Section PGA announced this week that Patrick
Shine, the director of golf at Commonwealth National Golf Club, is 2018’s Golf
Professional of the Year.
Shine was the 2017 winner of the Section’s Merchandiser of
the Year for private facilities and this year’s award takes it up a notch,
recognizing Shine’s contributions to the game on many levels.
It recognizes Shine’s role in player development for players
of all ages. He is particularly involved in the junior program at Commonwealth
National, which is run by assistant pro Dan Mrozinski, and is the Section’s Junior
Chairman. Shine is also the Secretary in the Philadelphia Section.
And he is very aware of how much competition he has for this
award.
“We have a tremendously talented collection of over 800 PGA
professionals in the Philadelphia Section, in addition to the professionals
that have won this award and it is tremendously humbling to be singled out
amongst such elite company,” Shine told the Philadelphia Section PGA website.
“I want to use this award as a springboard as I move along
as a member of the Section’s Board of Directors, to continue to highlight the
value of PGA professionals both on the golf course and in our communities. This
recognition is a starting line not a finish line.”
The Philadelphia Section PGA’s Teacher of the Year is John
Bierkan, the director of instruction at Aronimink Golf Club.
Bierkan, who won this award in 2014, has been on the Golf Digest list of Best Young Teachers
in America every year since 2010. If you follow the high school golf scene in
this area, you have to be impressed by how many good young players the junior
program at Aronimink produces.
And Bierkan can play a little, too, earning a berth in the
PGA Professional Championship six straight times from 2011 to 2016. Which, he
would argue, is one of the reasons he’s had success as a teacher.
“Being a strong player is not a prerequisite to being a
great teacher,” Bierkan told the Philadelphia Section PGA website. “However, if
you can do both, I believe it’s a winning combination and adds validity to who
you are as a teacher.
“Having the ability to demonstrate and play well in
tournaments is a great example to our students. The lessons we learn on the
golf course and in competition can be passed along to our students.”
Bierkan’s teaching philosophy is one that many aspiring
teachers seek to emulate as he is a guest speaker at dozens of teaching
seminars and summits.
The Assistant Golf Professional of the Year award went to
Ashley Grier, the trail-blazing woman on the Overbrook Golf Club staff. In
2017, Grier became the first woman to win a Philadelphia Section points event.
Grier, a four-time Middle Atlantic PGA Women’s Player of the
Year before she arrived at Overbrook, represented the Philadelphia Section PGA
in the 2018 KMPG Women’s PGA Championship, an LPGA major which was played at
Kemper Lakes Golf Club in suburban Chicago.
Grier emerged from a playoff for one of the top 12 spots in
the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship at Concord Country Club in
September with a berth in the PGA Professional Championship in April at Belfair
in Bluffton, S.C.
But the former Futures Tour -- known these days as the Symetra Tour -- performer is just as excited
about her role in the pro shop at Overbrook as she is about her game on the
course.
“I am honored to have received the Philadelphia PGA
Assistant of the Year award,” Grier told the Philadelphia Section PGA website.
“I’ve only been in the Philadelphia Section for three years and I often feel
most people think of me as just a good player, but I am more proud to be known
as a good person and a great golf professional.
“I hope that my enthusiasm and passion for my job and the
game of golf can inspire others to work hard both on and off the course,
knowing that you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other and you can be
successful in both areas.”
Like Aronimink’s Bierkan, White Manor Country Club Master
Teaching Professional John Dunigan is a teacher’s teacher. Dunigan, the
Philadelphia Section’s Teacher of the Year in 2008, ’15 and ’17, was named the
winner of the Horton Smith Award, a special honor that recognizes somebody who
has made and continues to make contributions to furthering the education of PGA
professionals.
Dunigan, recognized by Golf
Digest as one of its Top 50 Teachers in America in 2017, has laid out his
teaching philosophy in his latest book “Hole It!” When he talks about teaching
at seminars and clinics, young golf professionals listen.
The Bill Strausbaugh Award, which recognizes a pro who
mentors young professionals, went to Dean Kandle, the head pro at St. Davids
Golf Club.
Kandle frequently sends his St. Davids staff members on to
leadership positions throughout the industry. Kandle has taken his mentoring
beyond the St. Davids pro shop with his website Golf Professional Growth
(golfprofessionalgrowth.com), a site at which any young pro can find advice
that will help steer him or her on the path toward becoming a successful golf
professional.
For the second year in a row, the Player Development Award
went to Gerry Davis, the head pro at Flourtown Country Club.
Davis, a member of the Philadelphia Section’s Player
Development and Education committees, is a relentless promoter of the game. In
addition to his duties at Flourtown, Davis shows up as a volunteer at the
Philadelphia Golf Show, the ShopRite LPGA Classic, Drive, Chip & Putt
qualifiers and the PGA HOPE program for veterans.
The Youth Player Development Award went to Andy Miller, the
director of instruction at LedgeRock Golf Club in Mohnton, Berks County. Miller
is the chairperson for the Section’s Instruction Committee.
Miller has been so successful implementing the PGA Junior
League program at LedgeRock that the course has been able to form its own
league. LedgeRock is the site of the PGA Junior League Region 2 Championship.
The Philadelphia Section PGA champion Delaware 1 team emerged from that
regional to advance to last month’s PGA Junior League Championship at Grayhawk
Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Another repeat winner was John Carpinetta, the Bensalem
Township Golf Club pro who received the PGA Patriot Award. A military veteran,
Carpinetta is the co-chair of the PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere)
program, giving PGA HOPE a new local home at Bensalem Township Golf Club after the
previous site lost its lease.
Carpinetta is also involved with the Wounded Warriors Project
and the Philly VA Amputee Swing program.
The Merchandiser of the Year in the resort category went to
Sara Muldoon at Hershey Country Club. It is the third time in the last four
years that Muldoon has won the award, having previously received the honor in
2015 and ’16.
Dustin McCormick, the head pro at Glen Brook Golf Club in
East Stroudsburg won Merchandiser of the Year for public facilities.
The Golf Salesperson of the Year award went to Kevin
McClellan, a sales representative for Heritage Creations/Cutter & Buck in
Easton. McClellan’s territory includes eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and
Delaware.
McClellan received the same honor in 1999, nearly two
decades ago. He’s been part of the Philadelphia Section PGA scene as a sponsor
for events like the Doylestown Open, the Pro-President, the Match Play and the
Pro-Assistant Pro championships. He has also lent his support to the
Philadelphia Assistants Organization (PAO) and the Central Counties Chapter.
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