When golf courses all around the country were suddenly forced to shut down by the coronavirus pandemic in the middle of March, club pros all across America were faced with the kinds of challenges they had never, ever imagined.
And, like much of America, they responded in so many ways. That the game of golf ultimately not only survived, but thrived at golf courses big and small, public and private, in the face of the threat presented by COVID-19 is a testament to the talent and, in many cases, ingenuity of the club professional.
The Philadelphia Section PGA announced last week that St. Davids Golf Club head pro Dean Kandle was its Golf Professional of the Year for 2020 as well as the winner of its Professional Development Award. The Section’s Golf Professional of the Year is a great honor in any year, the highest the Philadelphia Section hands out.
But it might be even a little more special in 2020 because Kandle can accept it as symbolic of the achievements of all the pros in the Philadelphia Section who were presented with a seemingly impossible situation and just kept coming up with solutions.
Like many of his peers, Kandle, who has been the head pro for 10 years at the Donald Ross gem on the Main Line where Radnor Township and Delaware County meet Tredyffrin Township and Chester County, went to the Internet in the early days of Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home and stay-off-the-golf-course orders.
He and his staff put out videos from home to keep his membership updated on the latest news. But he also used videos to present golf swing tips, drills and challenges to keep his membership engaged during quarantine.
Kandle worked with the St. Davids board of directors to create an Action Committee to come up with a plan on how to responsibly reopen the golf operation.
Kandle was particularly proud of the staff relief fund St. Davids put together that provided cash bonuses to furloughed employees and caddies. It is a program that was duplicated, in various forms, at clubs throughout the region and was a true life preserver to many of its recipients.
Kandle was also behind the charity hockey game between pros from the Philadelphia and New Jersey sections that was a fund-raiser for the PGA REACH charitable foundation. Kandle established a partnership between the Flyers and PGA REACH that resulted in the charity hockey game between the pros from the rival sections to be played before a Flyers game at the Wells Fargo Center.
Kandle is what you would call a club pro’s club pro, which is why he is the winner of the Professional Development Award for the second straight year. It would be one thing if Kandle just mentored and developed the assistant pros on his staff, which he does quite successfully, but Kandle’s thoughts are available to club pros anywhere because of the “Golf Professional Growth” website he started in 2017 and his “Getting Better Now” podcasts.
Kandle was the winner of Bill Strausbaugh Award in the Philadelphia Section in 2018, which specifically goes to a club pro who makes educating, mentoring and developing young club pros a priority in his or her work.
The COVID-19 response will be a recurring theme in the list of the Philadelphia Section’s 2020 award winners.
That's certainly the case with LedgeRock Golf Club’s Andy Miller, who was named the Section’s Teacher & Coach of the Year. Miller, LedgeRock’s director of instruction, is a three-time winner of the Section’s Youth Player Development Award and the chair of the Section’s Teaching Committee, so his work is certainly no secret.
Miller jumped into action in the early days of the pandemic, filming 42 installments of “At Home With Andy” and putting them out on various social media platforms. Aimed in particular at youngsters stuck at home, Miller used distinctive situations and props, home schooling, homemade teaching and training aids, landscaping and treadmills to create a little golf fun at a time when fun was in short supply.
At LedgeRock in Berks County, Miller is already well known for initiatives like Golf Experiences for Her, mental performance clinics, High School Golf boot camps, Women’s Meet Up events, the development of a player development app, a Winter Elite program and golf and skills clinics.
The Bill Strausbaugh Award this year went to Anthony Malizia, the head pro at Bidermann Golf Club near Wilmington, Del. Malizia has learned from the best, having worked with his father, legendary club pro Bob Ford at iconic Seminole Golf Club in Florida and with Tom Gilbert at Gulph Mills Golf Club.
The Strausbaugh Award goes to a PGA professional who demonstrates exceptional character, integrity and leadership by teaching and mentoring other PGA professionals.
Malizia established a Professional Development program for his assistants that addresses all phases of a club pro’s duties. Malizia is the Section’s District 2 director and is a PGA Professional consultant to the Delaware State Golf Association.
Malizia also helped out at this fall’s KPMG Women’s PGA Professional Championship, an LPGA major that was staged at Aronimink Golf Club, the Donald Ross gem in Newtown Square. Originally scheduled to be played in June, the KPMG Women’s PGA was rescheduled for October and played without fans. It was a challenge that Aronimink and the Philadelphia Section met quite successfully.
John Carpineta, the head pro at Bensalem Township Country Club, was the winner of the Patriot Award for the third time in four years. Carpineta was the Section’s Professional of the Year in 2019.
A veteran of the military himself, Carpineta is unmatched in the Section when it comes to outreach for America’s heroes. He is a co-chair of PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) Philadelphia and is active in the Wounded Warriors Project and in the Philly VA Swings program.
There were no PGA HOPE clinics in 2020, a concession to the pandemic, but Carpineta created events in which veterans were able to sign up to play nine holes responsibly with tee times at PGA HOPE Philadelphia chapters. Carpineta serves on the Section’s Player Development and PGA REACH Philadelphia committees.
Aronimink head pro Jeff Kiddie, the Philadelphia Section president, had two 2020 honorees emerge from his pro shop, Abby Mann, winner of the Player Development Award, and Ron Pine, the Assistant Golf Professional of the Year.
Mann’s first season in the Philadelphia Section got off to a slow start due to the pandemic. Her women’s player development programs, the Saturday Scoring Schools and Performance Clinics, were limited by COVIS-19 restrictions, but quickly proved so popular, she had to expand them.
Mann also established Golf 101 for women new to the game that focuses on rules and etiquette, scoring principles and reducing anxiety that many new golfers suffer when they first take up the game. Mann also worked on corporate coaching events and youth clinics with The First Tee of Philadelphia.
Pine started at Aronimink in 2019 after stints at several courses, including Trenton Country Club and Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in the Philadelphia Section. With Aronimink shut down in the early days of the pandemic and with some of the greenkeeping staff furloughed, Pine jumped in to help out with golf course maintenance.
The chair of the Philadelphia Assistants Organization (PAO), Pine was the chair of the women’s 18-hole program at Aronimink in addition to his duties in merchandising and coaching.
Something tells me that even without fans, things got a little hectic for both Mann and Pine in the Aronimink pro shop when the best women players in the world descended on Newtown Square for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in October.
The Youth Player Development Award went to David Zimmaro, Overbrook Golf Club’s director of youth golf. Zimmaro arrived at Overbrook in 2016 after spending his first four years as a professional working with The First Tee of Philadelphia.
Zimmaro’s Overbrook PGA Junior League team has put together two straight undefeated seasons. Zimmaro also gives out Philadelphia Junior Tour memberships to deserving golfers through the PJT’s Affiliate Program. To work around COVID-19 restrictions, Zimmaro created a “pod system,” which incorporated social distancing guidelines into Overbrook’s youth golf clinics.
Zimmaro volunteers his time for golf initiatives throughout the region, including the Middle Atlantic Blind Golf Association, Widener Memorial School, La Salle Academy and the Department of Justice’s Students for Juvenile Justice program.
Jameson Wallace, the general manager at Chambersburg Country Club, was named Merchandiser of the Year among the Section’s private clubs. Wallace arrived at Chambersburg in 2009 as the head pro and became general manager in 2012. He has turned the Chambersburg golf shop into an Association of Golf Merchandising Platinum Award winner.
Like retailers everywhere, Wallace responded to the COVID-19 restrictions by creating “Merchandise Minute” videos on Chambersburg’s social media platforms to remain engaged with his membership. Wallace and his staff pushed on-line sales by offering extra value for customers.
Wallace also created an affordable youth golf equipment rental program that led to increased participation in Chambersburg’s junior program.
Kevin Edwards, the director of golf at the Olde Homestead Golf Club in New Tripoli, was named Merchandiser of the Year for public courses. Edwards previously received the honor in 2006 and 2008.
Edwards prides himself on his relationships with sales representatives, which enables him to make the most of his relatively small golf shop.
The Salesperson of the Year award went to Kevin McClellan, owner of KM Golf Sales and a sales representative for Cutter & Buck, Ahead USA, Heritage Creations USA, Dynamic Brands and Tommy John in Doylestown.
A 30-year sales professional, McClellan is involved with sponsoring several of the events on the Section’s calendar each year. McClellan has been a Philadelphia Section PGA partner each year since 1995.
Earlier this month, Overbrook assistant pro Ashley Grier received a prestigious national honor from the PGA of America as she was named the Omega Women’s PGA Professional of the Year for 2020.
“This is worth everything, all the hard work has paid off,” Grier told the PGA of America website. “Tons of credit goes to the (Overbrook) staff. They have always supported my passion for golf. The staff has always been there to cover for me when I am away at an event. This is a great achievement I am proud of.”
Grier, a 36-year-old native of Hagerstown, Md., was the PAO’s Player of the Year in 2020. Her third-place finish in the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship and a victory in a PAO event helped Grier pile up 327.5 points in the race for Women’s PGA Professional of the Year.
Jennifer Borocz of North Florida was the runnerup with 255 points. Sherry Andonian of Centennial, Colo. finished in third place with 230 points.
Joanna Coe, an instructor at Baltimore Country Club, finished in fourth place with 185 points. Coe was the inaugural winner of the Women’s PGA Professional of the Year award in 2019. She received the honor from outgoing PGA of America president Suzy Whaley at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink. Whaley was the first woman to become president of the PGA of America.
Grier also finished in a tie for second place in the Philadelphia Assistant PGA Professional Championship in August at St. Davids, earning a trip to the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship last month at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Grier was the only one of the five representatives from the Philadelphia Section to survive the cut at the PGA Golf Club and finished in a tie for 34th place.
Grier plans to tee it up in the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship in February back at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie. The top eight finishers will earn a ticket to next year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which will be held in June at the Atlanta Athletic Club in St. Johns, Ga. Grier has finished in the top five four of the last five years in the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship.
Grier will receive her 2020 Women’s PGA Professional of the Year award at the PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship at the PGA Golf Club in February.
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