Dustin McCormick became the head pro at the township-owned Glen Brook Country Club in Stroudsburg in 2014 when the course was struggling.
In the decade since then McCormick, a PGA of America member since 2013, turned the fortunes of Glen Brook around with a variety of initiatives.
As a result, McCormick was named the Philadelphia Section PGA’s Golf Professional of the Year for 2023. The Philadelphia Section recognizes its members for their play in tournaments, but it considers its Golf Professional of the Year award its most prestigious.
Golf Professional of the Year is the highest honor the Philadelphia Section can bestow on a Philadelphia PGA of America pro. The award recognizes qualities of leadership, strong moral character and a substantial record of service to the Philadelphia Section and to the game of golf.
McCormick got right to work at Glen Brook, utilizing market research, vendor changes and pre-booking to turn a profit in his first year, all without sacrificing any staff.
A Stroudsburg native, McCormick established a new membership platform, encouraging residents to join and then spread the word to their families and friends. The membership roster was just 43 when McCormick took over and he has been able to increase it to 325.
McCormick has restored pride in Glen Brook for the local golf community to the point that the facility now hosts nine leagues, 64 outings and tens of thousands of rounds annually.
With more people playing, McCormick has been able to make improvements at Glen Brook, including new cart paths and tee boxes and the removal of more than 400 trees. Adding a simulator/launch monitor in the pro shop has people stopping by to get their golf fix even in the winter months.
McCormick is quick to point out that he frequently leans on advice from fellow PGA professionals like Bill Lee, John Pillar and Greg Wall.
McCormick was also able to lure Alex Knoll, a two-time winner of the Philadelphia PGA Professional Championship, to join his staff as instructor. Knoll has increased the number of players in the Glen Brook coaching program from 25 to 150.
McCormick stays in touch with his clientele with his “Dinner With the Pro” program. He meets with groups of up to 20 people to answer questions and discuss ways to improve the operation at Glen Brook.
McCormick is active in the Section as well, currently as tournament director. He served two years as the director of Section affairs and also had a stint as the District 4 director.
McCormick is the chairman of the PGA REACH Philadelphia committee. PGA REACH is the charitable arm of the PGA of America and its mission is to positively impact lives through golf via three pillars: Youth, Military and Diversity and Inclusion.
McCormick also serves on the awards and teaching and coaching committees. He was honored by the Philadelphia Section in 2018 with its Merchandiser of the Year – Public Facility award.
A close second to Golf Professional of the Year among the 12 awards the Philadelphia Section doled out for 2023 is the Teacher and Coach of the Year award, which went to Nick Iacono, the lead instructor at Merion Golf Club.
Iacono became a PGA member in 2014 and worked at the Polo Club of Boca Raton, Fla., Elmhurst Country Club, Ardsley Country Club and Chester Valley Golf Club before arriving at Merion, among the most prestigious clubs in America and host to 19 USGA championships over its storied history.
The Teacher and Coach of the Year award recognizes Iacono’s outstanding services as a golf teacher, innovator and coach.
Iacono has worked with club leadership and Joanna Coe, the director of instruction at Merion, to improve the Merion Performance Center, making it a one-stop instructional shop for their students year-round.
Iacono has teamed with John Dunigan, a Golf Digest top 50 instructor and a four-time winner of the Philadelphia Section’s Teacher and Coach Award, on a staff education series and intern education in an effort to shape the next generation of PGA club pros.
Iacono’s coaching services have been in demand from some of the region’s top players, including his colleague at Merion, Coe, twice the Philadelphia Section’s Women’s Player of the Year who has played in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship five times, Braden Shattuck, the head of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club and winner of the PGA Professional Championship last spring, Shattuck’s Rolling Green colleague Anthony Sebastianelli, the Philadelphia Assistants’ Organization’s Player of the Year in 2023, and Westchester Country Club’s Mike Ballo Jr., one of the top players in the Metropolitan Section and the runnerup in the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in November.
Iacono is a certified national trainer for the PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) program, instructing club pros on how to teach the game to United States military veterans. PGA HOPE is the flagship military program of PGA REACH and PGA REACH Philadelphia.
Iacono has presented at multiple golf instruction summits and symposiums. He has appeared on Golf Digest Best Young Teachers of America and Best in State Teacher lists and has been named a Golf Magazine Top 100 instructor.
For the second time Overbrook Golf Club head pro Eric Kennedy has been named the winner of the Bill Strausbaugh Award, which recognizes a PGA of America professional who demonstrates exceptional character, integrity and leadership by teaching and mentoring other PGA pros.
A PGA member for 19 years, Kennedy won the Bill Strausbaugh Award in 2014 and was named the Philadelphia Section’s Golf Professional of the Year in 2015.
In his 18 years as a head pro, Kennedy has sent four of his assistants on to head pro jobs.
Kennedy’s philosophy is to help young PGA pros clarify their goals and emphasize the required skill set. Kennedy has learned to recognize and recruit passionate young pros, which, in turn, helps to improve club operations at Overbrook.
Kennedy has been involved in Section governance in the Philadelphia Section and previously with the Carolinas Section.
Kennedy is the current Philadelphia Section secretary and has served as the District 6 director and director of tournaments.
Kennedy has appeared on “Inside Golf,” on NBC Sports Philadelphia to promote Get Golf Ready, an industry-wide player development program, and is working on a new project that he hopes will highlight local PGA of America pros and their careers.
The Philadelphia Section’s Professional Development Award went to Brian Soule, an assistant professor and director of world campus programs for Penn State’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management and an assistant director for Penn State’s golf management program. Sounds like a busy schedule.
In 14 years at Penn State, Soule has mentored more than 250 future PGA professionals. He has organized the annual PGA Golf Management Intern Conference since 2011.
The conference, held each summer at different sites in the Northeast, provides education, networking and professional growth opportunities to PGA of America students enrolled in any of the 17 PGA of America accredited programs.
The conference has grown in popularity to the point where it attracts more than 400 students and industry professionals.
The Philadelphia Section’s Patriot Award went to Mike Wood, the director of golf at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem.
The award goes to a PGA pro who personifies patriotism through the game of golf and demonstrates an unwavering commitment and dedication to the men and women who serve and protect our country.
Wood has been at Saucon Valley since 2003 and became director of golf in 2021. He was the recipient of the Philadelphia Section’s Golf Professional of the Year award in 2022.
Saucon Valley has long supported Patriot Golf Day and since 2007 has raised $20,000 that goes toward scholarships for spouses and children of fallen and disabled military men and women.
Saucon Valley has hosted the Fields of Honor’s Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey Chapter’s Wingman Open in recent years, drawing fields of 292 golfers. In two years, the event has raised more than $500,000, making it the largest single-day Fields of Honor fund-raiser on the East Coast.
Wood led a team of veterans to victory in the inaugural Philadelphia Section HOPE Cup at Riverton Country Club. The team will represent the Philadelphia Section in the PGA of America’s Secretary’s Cup during PGA Championship week in May at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
The Philadelphia Section’s Player Development Award went to Robert Munkittrick, the director of tournaments and director of women’s Operation 36 at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Del.
The award recognizes a pro who has displayed extraordinary and exemplary contributions and achievements in the area of player development.
A PGA member since 1992, Munkittrick has PGA of America certification in teaching and coaching and has been certified by TPI, SuperSpeed Golf and Golf Genius. He was named a Top 50 teacher by Operation 36 in 2022.
At DuPont, Munkittrick is responsible for 34 club-wide member events, 39 weekly leagues and special league events, 42 corporate events and charity outings and six indoor leagues.
As director of DuPont’s women’s Operation 36 program the last three years, Munkittrick has seen 350 women go through the eight-week series of instruction and nine-hole play-day challenges. Operation 36 has used Munkittrick’s approach as a national model for other facilities hoping to replicate the kind of success he has seen at DuPont.
Munkittrick, who worked at Hartefeld National Golf Club just across Delaware’s border with Pennsylvania in Chester County before moving over to DuPont, was the head golf coach at Sanford for seven seasons and has remained involved with the program as an assistant coach.
The Philadelphia Section’s Youth Player Development Award went to Becky Dengler, an LPGA Master Professional who is an instructor at Ed Oliver Golf Club in Wilmington, Del.
The Youth Player Development Award recognizes a pro who has made extraordinary and exemplary contributions and achievements in the area of youth player development.
Dengler’s resume certainly matches that description. She started working with the Urban Youth Golf Program, an LPGA initiative at the time, in 1994 and stayed with it when that program became part of First Tee of Delaware.
While still with the Urban Youth Golf Program, Dengler started the Barbara Dengler Scholarship as a tribute to her mother. The scholarship fund has awarded $100,000 to high school seniors to help defray the cost of their college educations.
Dengler is a certified First Tee coach and helps train coaches for the national First Tee office.
Dengler has increased the percentage of girls active in the First Tee of Delaware program and has strongly increased its school-based programming to reach more inner-city schools.
Dengler hosts LPGA/USGA Girls Golf programs and runs clinics in conjunction with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Dengler also works with Women Golfers Give Back to offer six Player Program sites around the Philadelphia Section for girls who have moved beyond the introductory level of golf.
The Philadelphia Section’s Merchandiser of the Year – Private Category award went to Sam Ambrose, the head pro at Chester Valley in East Whiteland, Chester County.
The Merchandiser of the Year at a private facility goes to a PGA pro working at a private club who has excelled in business and merchandising in the promotion of golf.
A PGA member since 2011, Ambrose estimates he spends 40 percent of his day in merchandising for a golf shop that he owns. Ambrose’s merchandising philosophy is centered around exceptional customer service.
With Chester Valley celebrating its centennial in 2023, Ambrose worked with renowned artist Lee Wybranski on a Pennsylvania Railroad Lantern-themed logo, a homage to Chester Valley’s founding by railroad executives. The centennial logo proved popular among the membership.
The Philadelphia Section’s Merchandiser of the Year – Public Category award went to Brian Short, the head pro at the Penn State Golf Courses.
The Merchandiser of the Year at a public facility goes to a PGA pro who has excelled in business and merchandising in the promotion of golf.
Short became a PGA member in 2010 and was an assistant pro at the Penn State courses before taking over as head pro in 2017.
Short dedicates three to four hours of his day to the merchandising operation in addition to the pro shop’s thriving on-line golf shop. Short changes the physical shop’s layout monthly in order to keep things fresh.
The Penn State courses offer multiple logo options from the logo for the golf courses themselves as well as ones that incorporate the familiar Penn State Nittany Lion image.
The Philadelphia Section’s Deacon Palmer Award went to Fred Heller, a first assistant pro at Rolling Green Golf Club.
The Deacon Palmer Award, named for the father of The King, Arnold Palmer, gives special recognition to a PGA pro who personally displays outstanding integrity, character and leadership while overcoming a major obstacle in his or her life.
Heller was diagnosed with cancer in his leg in 2006 and had his knee and seven-and-a-half inches of his tibia removed. When the cancer returned in 2018, Heller had to have his right leg amputated above the knee.
The Deacon Palmer Award winner is someone who is an unsung hero or heroine in their pro shop and in their community who inspires, empowers and assists others, both inside and outside the game and Heller has proven to be an inspiration to the membership at Rolling Green.
Heller works as many disabled clinics as he can, including the Good Shepherd Learn to Golf Clinic, classes at Drexel University, National Amputee Golf Association clinics and the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s new adaptive golf programs.
Heller started coaching a junior golfer who had to have his leg amputated and that youngster has gone on to make his high school golf team.
The Justin Riegel PGA Assistant Golf Professional Award went to Bridget McLaughlin, an assistant pro at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield, N.J.
Named for the late Justin Riegel, a past winner of the Section’s Assistant Golf Professional Award, the honor recognizes a PGA pro who excels in business and merchandising in the promotion of the game of golf.
McLaughlin was at St. Davids Golf Club in Wayne before moving over to Tavistock and at both spots she said she has learned all aspects of a successful golf operation and how to adjust her involvement based on the club’s needs.
McLaughlin volunteers for the Philadelphia Section’s Women’s Committee to help create networking and educational opportunities for the Section’s women members. She recently ran a leadership summit for the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust.
When she was at St. Davids, McLaughlin was the head coach of the women’s golf team at Eastern University, just down the road from St. Davids and she has run clinics for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and the Operation 36 program.
The Philadelphia Section’s Salesperson of the Year award went, for the fourth time, to Kevin McClellan, the founder and owner of KM Golf Sales in Glenside.
The award recognizes a sales representative who contributes to the Section and is involved with sponsoring Section events. McClellan had previously been honored as the Salesperson of the Year in 1998, 2018 and 2020.
McClellan, who has spent 33 years in the golf industry, represents Cutter & Buck, Ahead, Heritage Creations, Dynamic Brands and Temercraft.
McClellan said he felt fortunate to have worked with some of the industry’s best buyers, merchandisers, designers, logo developers and business minds and that sharing that knowledge helps his customers become more educated and successful in their business ventures.
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